What I'd do differently if I had to start over from a layoff today

I lost my dev job in March. Here's what I'd do differently if I had to start over today.

Three months ago I was laid off from a senior dev role. I had savings for 6 months, a working laptop, and no plan. Six weeks later I have a Chrome extension live on the Web Store with paying users. Here's the honest play-by-play.

Week 1: Panic mode

I did what every laid-off dev does. I updated my LinkedIn. I applied to 30 jobs in 4 days. I read "How to negotiate your severance" articles.

None of it mattered. The market for senior devs in 2026 is brutal. Every posting has 200 applicants. The companies that want to hire senior devs already know who they want and they're not posting job ads.

Week 2: Stop applying, start shipping

I had an idea for an AI Chrome extension sitting in my notes for 8 months. I'd been telling myself "after this sprint at work" for two years. Without the work sprint to hide behind, I started shipping it.

The extension took 9 days to build. That's embarrassing to admit because I would have told you it would take 6 weeks. The lesson: most of what we think is "complex" is actually "we haven't carved off the first 10%."

Week 3: Launch without an audience

I published to the Chrome Web Store on a Wednesday. I posted about it on Reddit, Indie Hackers, and Twitter. I got 4 installs in the first week.

This was the lowest moment of the process. I expected at least 50. The reality is that 4 installs is normal for a launch from zero audience.

Week 4-6: Slow grind

I did two things differently from every "how to launch a SaaS" blog post:

I wrote content, not ads. I published 5 listicles on DEV.to comparing AI Chrome extensions. I didn't mention my own tool in any of them. Just honest reviews.
I engaged in communities where my users already hang out. Not "hi check out my tool" spam. Just useful answers in r/ClaudeAI, r/Chrome, r/SideProject. When my tool was relevant I mentioned it. When it wasn't, I didn't.

What I'd do differently

If I were starting over:

Skip the LinkedIn apply-spam. I burned 2 weeks on it. Got 0 callbacks. Should have been shipping instead.
Start content marketing in week 1, not week 4. Every listicle I published in week 4 brought maybe 1-2 installs. If I'd had 5 of them live by launch day, the launch wouldn't have flopped.
Don't build a "minimum lovable product." I spent 3 days on the welcome screen. No one cares about your welcome screen. They care if your core feature works.

Current state

6 weeks in. 15 users. 5 paying. Not life-changing money but the trajectory is real. I get 1-2 new installs per day now without doing anything.

If you're in the same position I was in March: stop applying to jobs for 2 weeks. Pick the side project that's been haunting you. Ship it. The job market will still be there in 2 weeks. Your side project might not be.

Tags: indie, layoffs, productivity, startup