Four years ago, I quit my job as a developer at Google to create my own self-funded software company.

For the first few years, all of my businesses flopped. They all operated at a loss, and none of them earned more than a few hundred dollars per month in revenue.

Halfway through my third year, I created a network administration device called TinyPilot. It quickly caught on, and it’s been my main focus ever since. TinyPilot generated $460k in 2021, its first full year in operation.

Highlights

• I’ve launched a new TinyPilot product and debuted a new logo.
• TinyPilot’s revenue finished the year strong at $55k for December.
• I’ve learned to manage design projects more aggressively.

Goal grades

At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals:

Launch the Voyager 2

• Result: Launched the Voyager 2
• Grade: A

After many months of hard work, I finally launched the Voyager 2 last month.

Season 1 Recap Last year, I became a full-time indie founder just before COVID hit. In a matter of 3 weeks, the pandemic’s fallout obliterated my two main revenue streams: my travel blog and SaaS product, Affilimate. By the time I turned 30 in June of 2020, I earned just $538 in revenue for the entire month. Not even enough to cover rent. Despite turning things around with a successful launch at the end of the year, I still made a net loss after business and personal expenses.

Highlights

• TinyPilot’s sales jumped to $57k, and it might be sustainable.
• I’m just about to launch TinyPilot’s new product and branding.
• I reduced Google Cloud Platform fees by 90% on my side projects.

Goal grades

At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals:

Complete TinyPilot’s website rebrand

• Result: The rebrand is 95% done, but we haven’t published it yet.
• Grade: B

I’ve finalized a logo concept and color scheme with the design firm, but we’re still working out some fine details before we pull the trigger on the new branding.

A transparent look at how I generated $11,212 in profit ($14K revenue) from my indie product portfolio in November 2021.