Looking at the influence of Courtland Allen’s thriving 18,000 member Indie Hackers community and wildly popular podcast, you might think success was inevitable.
However, back when Courtland founded Indie Hackers, the concept of building a “lifestyle” business in tech carried a stigma.
As a graduate of MIT and Y Combinator, Courtland spent 6 years trying to build the stereotypical high growth Silicon Valley startup before he realized something…
He just wanted to build something that he could put online, charge money for, and make enough money to pay his bills.
Courtland had a hunch that there were other tech misfits like himself, who could use a space to share their stories and learn from one another.
It was out of that shift in perspective that Indie Hackers was born.
Today, the podcast he started for other Silicon Valley outcasts has reached 6 million downloads, proving that Courtland wasn’t the only one opting out of the startup grind.
Courtland joined Podcast Ally to talk about The Indie Hackers Podcast, which grew out the written interviews he was already creating for IndieHackers.com.
In this podcast episode, Courtland shares:
- Why he initially resisted starting a podcast and how he feels about it now
- What it’s like to reach out to successful founders and famous guests
- The evolution of Courtland’s research and pre-interview process
- The Indie Hackers Podcast’s current stats and big moments of growth
- Courtland’s approach for deciding show content, guests, and growing the podcast
- Why acquisition and retention are important parts of your growth strategy
- How Courtland’s goals have changed and what he wants for The Indie Hackers Podcast
- The power of inspiration and sharing your story—especially on podcasts
- Advice for podcasters: Do something that you love and don’t give up!
Please check out The Indie Hackers Podcast.
And if you enjoy this interview, consider leaving Podcast Ally a review on Apple Podcasts!