Well, a few articles ago, I had come to the conclusion that to sell on Instagram, you need to create something simplistic. But I think that might have been a worse simplification.
I feel kind of stuck because I may have picked up the wrong path. The problem essentially is, I have created something that provides value after 4-5 uses. And you need to use it on PC, and the distribution channel I am using to talk about it is Instagram, where everybody is watching whatever I’m posting on phone. So that creates a bit of channel incompatibility. So either I pivot my product or pivot my marketing. I’m stuck with Instagram because that’s something that I can do for free. I don’t have capital to commit to something like this right now. But if I go on to create something that is compatible with Instagram, I don’t know what to create other than something like a habit tracking or addiction quiting app. My limited vision is telling me that either I need capital to run ads for something serious like a code analysis tool, or I need to make really simple things so that I can sell it on Insta.
But then I see qoves creating demand for something really complicated using Instagram, so I’m just curious. Because even the terms they use in their videos are really complicated.
Well, then, how do they get away with complexity? Didn’t I just come to the conclusion that if something is complicated, people won’t engage? Well, I think the Instagram retargeting is what’s doing the work for them. Multiple exposures to such complexity about something they will be curious about, like their face, is what works. To expose complexity and to be tasteful enough to microdose it to someone, you need to be fairly well exposed to that complexity. If not a subject matter expert, you need to be someone who knows the town. To be organic and sell either by micro-dosing complexity or by positioning yourself as a guru, you need to have proper knowledge either way. So, niche selection becomes the primary thing because after niche, you studied yourself, get yourself emerged in the lingo, create content, micro-dose people into complexity, may be position yourself as a authority. And then pull people to your product. At this point, the product can be information, or software, or anything physical also. I think a lot of things can be done the gym way also. Where people don’t have actually the physical science education, but because they have done it enough, they have enough knowledge. Reading a bit can also help. So, it is another game of just doing something valuable so that you know valuable things and what are the problems in that value creation process. You create content about it.
I guess another reason why Rohkun isn’t really something I’m confident in is because I am a vibe coder. What do I know about code analysis lmao. All I did was duct tape the best-in-class open source static code analyzers .Yes, my app is capable of doing the work, but I am not capable of promoting it. Yeah, you know what? I can create apps that can work no matter what, but I need to stay in my own lane. Like even for something as complicated and dry as architecture, Dami Lee has created a content empire, and she can easily launch a product and promote our own services. I guess complexity was never the problem; it was the ability to create intrigue around it so that you can sell your services or product. And how can you create intrigue around something you are ignorant of? People can see through that or even if you can create something people can’t look through, how much can you even do?
Well, then let’s say I am someone who is a jack-of-all-trades but expert of none. But I can make things work. I am on a meta level, not on an expert level, in anything. Someone trying to make the midi effect happen by taking things from different domains. Maybe I have no domain. I am my own niche, and I need to document my own actions. Maybe what I am right now cannot be something which can have influence that can flow downstream to a product. The product that is viable for me right now might be myself and the content. Videos like “I Tried Faking It Till You Make It and created a code analysis tool in a month, tried to market it got 200 followers, and this is what I learned about channel incompatibility.” Yeah, basically you can sell more if you don’t become a sellout. If I become a sellout and just fake things, I don’t think that’s going to be good for me.
That way I can talk about how I came up with the idea, the infrastructure I used, why I use client-side infrastructure, why I decided to go with Dodo Pay, what are merchants of payment. How do you host an app? What is a domain?How do you write code without losing your mind? What is Softex, and what are the filings you need to do if you are exporting software?
When I came back from my internship, I realized how much can be done in two months and how documentable the whole thing can be. That’s because we had to make internship projects and presentations.I even thought of dividing my life into two-month blocks every time, so that I can better document it. Like, I can set objectives for two months, try to do it, and see what happens. Rohkun , in many ways, was just that. I started building it in November, and now it’s 6th January. So maybe I can keep having two-month side plots and keep creating content about them.
Plus I am really amateurish about scale and lean operations that I forget services category. That even if the leverage is not the same, but services is still a really huge thing to make money in.
From claude
“How can you create intrigue around something you are ignorant of?”
You can’t. Or you can’t sustain it. Qoves, Dami Lee, fitness influencers – they all have one thing in common: they’re genuinely steeped in their domain. Dami Lee lived and breathed architecture school, worked in the field, has the war stories and frustrations and insider perspective. That authenticity is what makes the content work.
You calling yourself a “vibe coder” who duct-taped together analyzers is brutally honest. You built something functional, but you’re not the person who gets excited talking about cyclomatic complexity or technical debt patterns. You don’t have the depth or passion there to create months of compelling content.
The real question: What could you talk about for 100 Instagram posts without feeling like a fraud? What domain do you actually live in, where you notice patterns, have opinions, get frustrated, see things others miss?
Two-month blocks give you:
1. Natural story arcs
- Beginning: “Here’s what I’m building and why”
- Middle: Problems, pivots, learning
- End: “Here’s what happened, what I learned, what’s next”
2. Built-in accountability You have to ship something in two months. Even if it’s small, even if it fails. That constraint forces action and generates content.
3. Variety You’re not locked into one thing forever. Rohkun didn’t work out? Fine – document the learnings and move to the next experiment. Each block is a fresh start.
4. Portfolio of experiments Over a year, you’d have 6 different projects/experiments documented. Even if individually they’re small, collectively they show someone who ships, learns, adapts.
The internship parallel is perfect – those projects had constraints (time, scope), required presentations (documentation), and produced tangible outputs. You’re just applying that structure to your own work.
Practically, this could look like:
- Start of block: “For the next 2 months, I’m building [X]. Here’s why, here’s the plan”
- During: Weekly updates on progress, problems, pivots
- End: Retrospective video – what worked, what didn’t, metrics, key learnings
- Then: Next block begins
Some blocks might produce revenue. Some might just produce learning. But all produce content.
Pieter Levels is probably the most famous example of someone who embodies what you’re talking about – a generalist who ships, documents everything, and turned that into a successful indie business.
The basics:
- Dutch digital nomad/indie maker
- Built 12 startups in 12 months (2014) – most failed, but the experiment itself got attention
- His successful products: Nomad List (for digital nomads finding places to live), Remote OK (remote job board), Photo AI (AI headshots)
- Makes millions per year from these, runs them solo or with minimal help
- No VC funding, no team, no office
Why he’s relevant to you:
1. He’s not a traditional “expert”
- Self-taught coder, admits his code is “spaghetti”
- Not a designer, not a marketer by training
- His superpower is shipping fast and finding what works through iteration
2. He built in public before it was cool
- Shared revenue numbers publicly
- Documented every experiment, success and failure
- Tweeted his process constantly
- The transparency became part of his brand
3. Generalist approach
- Nomad List isn’t the best-coded travel site
- Remote OK isn’t the most sophisticated job board
- But they solve real problems he encountered (where should I live as a nomad? where are remote jobs?)
- He builds from personal need, not market research
4. Content = distribution
- His Twitter following came from documenting the journey
- His products get users because people already follow him
- The meta-story (solo founder making $X/year) is as interesting as the products
5. Embrace constraints
- No fancy infrastructure
- Ships “ugly” but functional
- Iterates based on real usage
- Doesn’t let perfectionism stop shipping
His famous quote: “Ideas are worth nothing. Execution is everything.”
The criticism: Some people say his success is hard to replicate because:
- He was early to the digital nomad trend
- He’s charismatic and good at self-promotion
- His “build in public” worked partly because fewer people were doing it then
But the principles still apply:
- Ship fast, iterate based on real feedback
- Document the process
- Build for problems you actually have
- Don’t let lack of expertise stop you
- Transparency builds trust and audience
He’s basically living proof that you don’t need to be the best coder, designer, or marketer – you need to be good enough at all three and willing to ship.