What's New: Best language for coding beginners
(from the latest issue of the Indie Hackers newsletter)
Where should one start in learning how to code?
- What language is most helpful for a beginner to learn? Developers weigh in below.
- Letting go of a product that just isn't working can be one of the hardest things to do as a founder. Savil Lavingia's anecdote on painting can help you reframe your thinking when it comes to calling it quits.
- Solo founder Carsten Pleiser hit $12,000 in monthly revenue with his design company, Design Buffs. Here's how he achieved major growth by co-creating content with LinkedIn experts.
Want to share something with nearly 90,000 indie hackers? Submit a section for us to include in a future newsletter. —Channing
🛠 Learning to Code
I want to learn how to code! How do I start? Which language should I learn?
The case for JavaScript
Niecke thinks that, for many people, it is easy to start with JavaScript. There is so much on the web to help you start with JavaScript. Maybe take a look at freeCodeCamp as a starting point. The good thing with JavaScript is that it can be used in backend, and it can be used to write web apps.
You could also start with Python. It was actually formerly designed to teach people programming. I really like Python since I stopped using Java a few years ago, but I mostly write backend stuff.
Mathew Horner agrees: If you want to build SaaS products, you’re likely not going to be able to avoid JavaScript, on the frontend anyways. So, if you want to get started building products, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to learn a different language for backend development when you can just use JavaScript. You’ll also need HTML and CSS.
Dennis Moyo adds that it really depends on what you're wanting to do: It depends on your goals. For SaaS, any language will do, but I suggest JavaScript first, as it's the main language of programming.
Systems language
Csjh advises that, to actually be a programmer, start off with the traditional route of C. Ghidra adds more here: That's 100% correct in my view. Python and JavaScript, being dynamically typed, don't teach fundamentals of computing. Much is abstracted.
Learning a systems language such as C (or maybe Rust) teaches you about data types, memory allocation, and layout. This includes stack, heap, static, and code. C also teaches garbage collection and general computer architecture, if you wish. C has a clear mapping to x86.
Pro Ruby on Rails
For Leonid, if you want to focus on SaaS, Ruby and Ruby on Rails is the way to go. It's the perfect framework for building SaaS, and is the choice for most companies on the YC list.
The basic part of the service can be done very quickly. You can check out videos here.
Also, with the ready-made templates here, you can create the basics for your SaaS in a few minutes.
When it comes to language, use what works
Many developers argue that any language will do, but some say that language does matter. Evaluate your goals and situation before diving in.
Will Gardner summarizes this idea: It doesn’t hugely matter what language you learn. The important thing is that you keep at it consistently, and use a variety of solid learning resources. If you want to get up and running quickly with web dev stuff, Rails is a popular choice. Likewise, JavaScript is always a good bet. I recommend The Odin Project as a great starting point for both. Good luck!
What is your best advice on learning to code? Please share below!
Discuss this story.
📰 In the News
from the Volv newsletter by Priyanka Vazirani
😈 What is "weaponized incompetence" and why is it trending?
📉 Bitcoin has hit a six month low of $34K, amid major crypto selloffs.
💻 Here's why 2022 is shaping up to be the year of the laptop.
🤯 The S&P 500 is entering correction territory, as US stocks tumble.
👓 These new goggles offer infrared vision to blind people.
Check out Volv for more 9-second news digests.
⏲ How and When to Let an Idea Go
from the Indie Hackers Stories newsletter by Teela Fleischmann
I've been working on a side project with my cofounder for a little over a year. In the last few months we've had a couple of moments where we started realizing that what we were attempting to create probably wasn't going to turn out the way we hoped; in fact, in some ways, it wasn't going to turn out at all.
It felt really disappointing. At first, I wrestled with the feeling that I'd wasted my time. I was feeling like nothing had been worth the effort that I'd put in.
The painting
At some point, I realized that I've got a secret weapon: When I interviewed Sahil Lavingia of Gumroad, he shared an anecdote with me about his experience as a painter. This little story has changed my mood, my mind, and my life. It's the kind of story that can make a person brave enough to keep going, or brave enough to let it all go and start again:
Now that I paint, the number one question that people ask me is "Do you think [you made] a good painting?"
I don't know. I came in and painted for three hours. I win. It doesn't matter if it's a good painting or not, it's a painting. It didn't exist three hours ago. That means I was successful.
The product I'm making is not the painting. The product I'm making is this neural network in my head that is now better at painting. I know that neural network has three hours more data points [now] than three hours ago. Therefore, I succeeded. I just need to be better than I am, which is very freeing because it means I can't lose. As long as I show up, I can't lose.
When to let go
Personally, I struggle with knowing when to let go. But I know that I need to quit working on a product when I'm not experiencing at least one of the following:
- Fun.
- Learning that feels meaningful.
- The satisfaction of scratching an itch for myself or someone in my community.
If I've hit the point where I'm not feeling at least one of these three, quitting or selling (if possible) makes the most sense to me.
For a more seasoned perspective, Seth Godin writes about knowing when to quit in his book, The Dip. The book was published in 2007, and has a lot of helpful, relevant advice. He poses questions like:
- Does continuing on this path somehow meaningfully involve your best abilities and strengths?
- If you do persevere through "the dip," what are the rewards on the other side?
- Has anyone else ever done this before?
These types of questions can help you determine when to let go. Indie hacker Toni recommends this short, sweet evaluation:
A product is dead when the cost of continuing to try is greater than the amount you're willing to spend.
How do you know when to let go of a product? Let's chat below!
Discuss this story, or subscribe to Indie Hackers Stories for more.
🛠 Crafting Your Sales Page
Allow a prospective buyer to ask you a question directly. This is an upsell opportunity, and it also gives you the ability to promote your social networks.
Discuss this story.
👨💻 Carsten Pleiser Hit $12K MRR With Design Buffs
from the Growth & Acquisition Channels newsletter by Darko
Carsten Pleiser is the founder of Design Buffs, a productized service for hiring pre-vetted designers. Design Buffs recently hit $12K MRR. As a solo founder, Carsten utilized some really interesting growth tactics. Read on for his insights!
The background
I’ve been in the startup growth and marketing space for over 15 years, specifically focusing on B2B industries. I started my career in sales, and spent five years doing Enterprise software sales. From there, I went into growth roles. I built a couple of side projects with no-code tools, and fell in love with the Indie Hackers community.
I live in the Berkshire countryside here in the UK with my wonderful wife and three-year-old. Today, I'm focusing on building and growing Design Buffs, and working as a consultant for product-led SaaS companies. I love the constant learning that comes with working with founders!
What motivated you to get started?
As a marketer myself, I know that design and creative bottlenecks are part of our job. You can either wait weeks for your in-house designer to get back to you, or you have to hire an agency. Most agencies can’t be bothered dealing with the small stuff (i.e. ad design, blog headers, and social media graphics), or are way too expensive.
The last option is to work with freelancers. These folks may be super talented, but good ones are also in high demand. Sometimes, freelancers lack the processes and systems in order to best serve clients. Others are flaky, or lack communication skills. Of course, some are also really great.
Design Buffs fits right in the middle here. If clients don’t want to deal with any of the above issues, they come to Design Buffs. We’re a systemized service powered by software, and we help B2B marketers get designs done at scale, without adding headcount or breaking the bank.
How have you attracted users?
The first phase of getting users was through cold emailing and pitching on LinkedIn. Once we got our first few clients, we started growing through word-of-mouth. We then started focusing on SEO, and created this valuable article on LinkedIn Carousel Posts; it now ranks number one on Google.
This article alone gives us loads of new leads each month. We really found an underserved keyword opportunity, and none of our competitors was writing about this. We involved loads of LinkedIn experts and co-created the content, so by the time it was ready for publication and distribution, everyone was sharing it on LinkedIn and other channels. This gave us immediate traction. It just shows that quality content matters. If you can help answer people’s questions in the best way, you never have to worry about optimizing for Google in the first place.
We also built side projects within Design Buffs early on. For example, we built a Zoom background generator, thanks to the awesome API by Bannerbear (I wrote an article on Indie Hackers about this a while ago). This generator gives us very cold, top-of-funnel leads that we nurture further, or reach out to on LinkedIn when we think they fit our ideal customer profile.
We launched this as a side project on Product Hunt, and while we didn’t end up on page one, we’re still getting lots of traffic and building awareness.
What's your business model?
We’re on a monthly subscription model, and have two different plans. Our clients, primarily B2B marketers in scale-ups and creative agencies, get two or four hours per day for design services. We have a dedicated team of creatives, including illustrators, graphic designers, UI/UX designers, and motion designers.
Initially, we were super cheap, charging $350 per month. We kept increasing our pricing, and we've had no complaints. Today, our Essential plan starts at $849 per month, and our Growth plan starts at $1,499 per month.
Have you found anything particularly advantageous?
The more we niched down, the more successful and focused we became. The more focused we became, the more we could charge. Differentiation is key.
Discuss this story, or subscribe to Growth & Acquisition Channels for more.
🐦 The Tweetmaster's Pick
I post the tweets indie hackers share the most. Here's today's pick:
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Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to Sergio Ramirez, Priyanka Vazirani, Teela Fleischmann, Ivan Romanovich, and Darko for contributing posts. —Channing
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