Your personal stories are valuable
Hey everyone!
I'm Bobby, an Indie Hackers team member and a moderator of the IH group Lessons Learned.
Thanks for the great lessons you all have offered here. Learning from one another is a pillar of IH and this group is a great platform from which to share.
To that end, I'd like to offer details on a personal storytelling effort that I'm leading with IH.
IHers love reading personal stories. In fact, personal stories are one of the most requested types of content that IHers want to see.
Personal stories can build community, create connections, inspire action, and offer valuable lessons. They also can create important dialogues, which I've seen recently in the vein of mental health, and finding fulfillment.
The problem is: IH only gets about 5-7 quality personal stories from founders and IHers per week.
I'm trying to improve that by reaching out to IHers that have produced thoughtful posts and/or comments.
The goal isn't to sell a product or ink a bunch of new subscribers (though that obviously can happen). The objective of this effort is to spur thoughtful, personal stories that other IHers can learn or grow from.
We all want this community to be helpful, supportive, and responsive to the needs of IHers. I believe personal stories are a natural conduit to achieving that.
Perhaps you've seen some recent examples of personal stories on IH, such as:
- How do you stay motivated as a founder?
- Is your self-worth tied to MRR?
- Almost 40 and I am broke. Again.
It's been inspiring to see Indie Hackers be so vulnerable in sharing their successes and challenges to help their peers. We've seen so many incredible stories but I'm certain there are more out there.
If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, I'd love to hear from you.
Please drop me a note in the comments — I'd love to connect!
Hi Bobby, I was encouraged by @IndieJames to write something and ended up going with a personal story. Would be great to hear what you think. Hopefully it helps the community. https://www.indiehackers.com/post/coding-mountains-and-mental-health-6d473dad7e
Love this post, Matt! Rarely do I meet people on here that share my passions of tech and outdoor adventure. Cheers man!
Hi Bobby, thanks for putting this call out. I too enjoy the personal stories here on IH - they are inspiring. I’ve been toying around with the idea about writing about my personal story here - but unsure if it will be useful to others or; if it could be useful, how to frame it properly: Stay at home Dad to three kids. Trying to start a “side business” (my primary job being raising kids and basically a family CEO). I’d love to run it by you for your thoughts. Feel free to email me via the address on my profile. Thanks!!
Hey Kurt! This would absolutely be valuable to many on IH. I'll shoot you an email.
While they may not be as vocal, there are tons of indie hacker parents on here. There are also many indie hackers that may soon become parents or want to be parents that are wondering if they can do both.
And in addition to the value of indie hacking while parenting, your personal story would seem to indicate insight on: 1. how you've gone about prioritizing your life (relevant to every person) 2. how to balance and manage your responsibilities and personal/professional desires (relevant to every person) and 3. how to get work done in a (presumably) distracting environment.
I'm sure there are many other angles, but you can see how in just this vein there is a richness in stories and experiences that can help others. This is true of so many people. Cheers!
I immediately start reading such posts because a person who's humble enough to share their failures ends up winning a lot of trust. I give them a follow on IH or Twitter after that :)
I recently published my personal story too.
Hey Bobby, I saw you on a post I recently made about hitting 500 installs for my app. I would love to share some stories that could help other indie hackers.
I'm relatively early on, but I still believe that early experiences can still be valuable, as experienced veterans slowly lose the perspective of a newbie. You can reach me anytime via the email on my profile!
Awesome thanks, Brian! Sent you some more info. 🙏
I just published another one. These days are grey and I can't help it.
I also love to read those stories as much as writing them.
Thanks for sharing, José. Your posts are always so thoughtful and well-written. I know it's been a darker time for you too and appreciate that you're willing to be open about that. I know other IHers appreciate it. Sending encouraging thoughts and positive vibes your way!
Thank you, Bobby.
Sometimes the posts write themselves. Those are the best. I sit and watch it as it happens.
And one day, somehow, something will work. And I will be pleased to write happy ones too.
Thank you and all the IHers that supported me during the last two years.
I just found this post at the perfect time as I recently sold a SaaS for 7-figures, and have started a newsletter to talk about that journey and share how I'm trying to do it again.
I've been wondering what is and isn't appropriate to include, as there're so many learnings, including emotional ones.
Now I'm inspired to be more vulnerable.
Thank you for this post!
For those interested, the newsletter is https://www.thesaasbootstrapper.co/
Hello Bobby, I had written my first post about my personal story. However the same was not posted to any groups: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/the-hard-truth-i-learnt-about-bootstrapping-in-2021-169be880e9
Hope it helps everyone in the community. It would be great if we can share it in the 'Lessons Learned Group.'
Hey Bobby, you ask for a story from me and I sent you a draft couple weeks ago but you never responded. I'm not sure if I understood the process correctly. Is there any feedback you can give me? Thanks.
Thank you for reaching out, Michael! Your email back to me must've gotten buried or I read it and forgot to mark it unread. In any case, my apologies for that! I shot you back an email. Thanks again!
*good stories. ;)
Nobody cares how personal your story if it isn't captivating in some way.
Haha this is very true!
Fortunately, many people have the awareness of what in their personal story is both compelling + useful to others. People lose their way in this narrative style when they're more interested in selling a product or bragging about themselves than being authentic.
That's typically why I encourage them to write about why they're building what they are and the challenges they've faced in getting there. Many of the best stories in the vein have little to do with operating a business and more about their experience i.e. the challenge and the transformation or lesson it provided.
I truly believe that everyone on IH has a compelling personal story to share. If they don't, I'm happy to help elucidate it with them : )
Hey there, Bobby!
I've actually got some ideas and drafts as to what I want to share here. I would be very glad to discuss it with you!
Hey Misha! Thanks for reaching out. Send you more info :)
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