In this episode of Code & Conquer, Dominik Sobe, a full-time digital nomad and indie hacker, discusses his journey as a solopreneur and the development of his product, HelpKit. He shares his experience of overcoming burnout and the importance of having a supportive community. Dominik also talks about the power of building in public and how it helped him gain traction for his product. He shares the creative idea of creating a fake customer support shop as an April Fools' joke and the positive response it received. Overall, Dominik emphasizes the importance of finding the right market fit and leveraging creative marketing strategies as an indie hacker. Dominik Sobe discusses his journey as a digital nomad and indie hacker. He shares how he transitioned from wanting to become a management consultant to becoming a software developer and building his own products. He talks about the benefits of being a digital nomad, such as living in affordable locations and experiencing different cultures. He also discusses the importance of healthcare and insurance while traveling and provides insights into finding a balance between work and enjoying the travel experience. In this final part of the conversation, Dominik discusses the sketchy parts of living in Southeast Asia, including safety concerns, theft, corruption, and drug laws. He also shares his plans for the future, including growing HelpKit and potentially selling it to achieve financial independence. Dominik emphasizes the importance of finding a community of like-minded people, both online and offline, to combat loneliness while nomading. He advises new indie hackers to try many different things, focus on marketing and distribution, and be comfortable with failure.
--- Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Technical Difficulties
18:08 Building in Public and Finding Initial Traction
30:08 The Value of Side Projects and Prioritizing Mental Health
43:11 Navigating Healthcare and Insurance
56:19 Finding Work-Life Balance
01:06:26 Is Digital Nomadism Right for You?
01:20:09 The Future of HelpKit and Financial Independence
01:29:11 Struggles and Demoralization as a Founder
01:37:25 Finding Community and Combating Loneliness as a Nomad
01:46:06 Excitement for Analog Photography and Advice for New Indie Hackers
---
Dominik's Twitter: https://twitter.com/sobedominik
HelpKit: https://www.helpkit.so/
NomadKit: https://nomadkit.co/
FilmTypes: https://www.filmtypes.com/
My own website: https://icebearlabs.com
You can find this podcast on https://codeandconquer.fm
Find our product here: https://www.repodcasted.com/
Related Episodes
#020 From music to no-code with Justin
In this episode, we go behind-the-scenes with Justin, the creator of Quda- a platform for bite-sized educational content and expert Q&A. Justin shares his incredible journey transitioning from the music industry into the indie hacker life, while juggling a day job and family. Hear the fascina...
#019 Charge More, Earn More with Steve McLeod
In this episode, Steve McLeod shares the lessons he's learned from building and growing his SaaS product Feature Upvote. Steve discusses his unconventional journey from an IT consultant to a successful indie hacker, including the surprising ways his target market evolved over time. The conver...
#018 Building in public with Kevon Cheung
In this episode, I sit down with Kevon Cheung, a leading voice in the #buildinpublic movement. Kevon shares his unique journey from studying business in university to becoming a self-taught developer and then transitioning into teaching others how to build an audience while creating products. We ...