Leaping into indie making and entrepreneurship

Hello everyone,

This is my first newsletter issue, and I'm nervous and excited at the same time.

You are 96 incredible people willing to read The Maker Journey and learn with me—that's crazy support!

Thank you 🙏

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Today I wanna talk about going indie.

For the past 6 years, I have dreamt of sipping margaritas on a beach in Indonesia while getting loads of payment notifications and earning passive income.

During that time, I worked 10+ hours a day as a freelance in marketing, hoping one day to achieve the freedom to choose how to live.

Reading success stories, reaching that turning point seemed easy. Except there is a strong bias toward success stories. No one sees how hard it actually is to achieve that freedom and how much people should work their asses off to sustain an indie life.

I once tried. It scared me enough to stay in the safe lane for a while.

But late last year, frustration was all over the place.

Getting sick twice in a month made me realize I worked on other people's dreams for too much.

I wanted a future where I work because I want to, instead of having to.

My ideal future is a world where I create my own products, run my business and detach money from the hours worked.

Funny how every change in my life started with me having enough of something.

That's when I joined Twitter intending to grow an audience (without knowing what to do).

With the experience of a failed product launch behind me and no credibility to my name, building an audience was the smallest step I could've taken to get close to the goal once and for all.

And it was the right choice!

Delivering two products and helping more than a thousand customers made me feel confident.

So I leaped two weeks ago.

I am in charge of my choices now.

But without any side business, despite what people suggest, there will be no money income for a while.

That's why I want to share with you three tips that changed my vision as a maker.

1. Prepare for the worst.

Leaping into indie-making is a tough decision.

It took me six months to develop a plan. Getting things running requires at least 18-24 months of runway, hence budgeting and understanding the feasibility is a strong point you won't want to miss. Quitting early due to no survival is not an option, thanks.

Money always feels short, so I can freelance on the side and trade some time to feed the cash flow as a fallback.

2. Shift your mind.

Leaping is a challenge you make with yourself.

Despite what I thought back in the day, there is no guaranteed or predictable success. What worked for others might not work for me.

That's why I view my journey as an adventure. I see myself as an explorer with a backpack and a torch in the middle of the jungle, searching and surviving enough to find the hidden treasure.

How cool is this picture?

3. Explore.

The creator's path is not linear.

Look for things you like; go out of your comfort zone; test with a learner mindset; enjoy the small wins.

There might be times when you will be full of doubts.

Listen to your feelings, embrace courage and do great things!

"Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it."
— Mark Twain

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Build in Public Bites

Earlier this week, I shared a flexible plan on where I intend to focus my efforts in the next few months. It's a great exercise to understand which products to build while leaving room for opportunities.

I leave it here in case you want to check.

Mattia Righetti 🐙 @heymattia

I leaped—now what? Life is unpredictable, so better not to plan too far ahead. Here is my idea to conquer the world in the following months: (and become pizza profitable in 2023)

If you don't know what pizza profitability is, it comes from the term "ramen profitable," which means reaching a point where you don't need to raise more money to survive.

It's just that I love pizza too much! 🍕

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Looking forward to hearing if you like this format!

See you in two weeks.

Mattia