Getting Started with Solo Building

Building and shipping a web app solo is both liberating and challenging. You're the designer, developer, marketer, and support team all in one.

The Solo Builder Mindset

Ship fast, iterate faster. Don't wait for perfection. Your first version will be rough, and that's okay. Get it in front of users as quickly as possible.

Do things that don't scale. In the early days, manual processes are fine. Optimize for learning, not efficiency.

Focus ruthlessly. You have limited time and energy. Say no to features that don't directly serve your core value proposition.

Essential Tools

Here are the tools I use for every project:

Frontend: React, Next.js, or Astro (what this site uses)
Backend: Supabase or Firebase for quick MVPs
Hosting: Vercel or Netlify for static sites, Railway for backends
Payments: Stripe (the developer experience is unmatched)
Analytics: Plausible or Fathom (privacy-friendly, no cookie banners)

Your First Steps

Pick one problem you understand deeply
Build the absolute minimum that solves it
Ship to 10 people you know who have this problem
Learn from their feedback before building more
Repeat until you find product-market fit

The hardest part isn't the code—it's shipping. Start small, ship often, and learn as you go.