Dev.to
5/9/2026

I Built 21 Practical Guides for Indie Devs. 60 Days Later: 540 Views, €0 Revenue. Here's the Honest Post-Mortem.
Short summary
A developer spent 60 days creating 21 indie developer guides but earned zero revenue from 540 views. Post-mortem reveals critical mistakes: treating Dev.to as a sales channel instead of discovery, launching all 21 simultaneously without social proof, and poor distribution strategy. Key learnings: focus on one anchor product, build community engagement first, target platforms where buyers congregate (Gumroad, Indie Hackers).
- •Launched 21 guides, €0 revenue from 540 views; Dev.to is discovery-only, not a sales channel
- •Failed to validate demand first, didn't build distribution strategy, simultaneous launch without social proof
- •Pivoting to Gumroad, one flagship product, and community-first approach on platforms with active buyers
Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.
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