In the past few years, I realized something important:

I don’t want to build the next billion-dollar unicorn company. I want to build a great lifestyle business.

I want to make $10k/month while working 2–4 hours a day, and spend the rest of my time living life on my own terms.

Traveling. Building cool stuff. Spending time with my wife. Training.
Actually enjoying my life while I build my way towards my financial goals.

And I think most people want the same, based on the engagement I got on my recent post:

Not working crazy hours. No VC pressure. Not a big team.
Just freedom, less stress, and the ability to work on things they love.

Sure, for some it might be more than 10k, especially those living in expensive places. But the idea is the same: build a business that earns enough money to live a good life while giving you more time to enjoy it.

A lifestyle business gives you that.
You still create value, help others, and build products people love, but the game is calmer. More sustainable.

That’s the path I’m choosing.
And this week pushed me closer to it.

This week, I ran a Black Friday sale for my unlimited 1-on-1 consulting service, and in just two days, I made 4 sales and earned a total of $2,749! 🥳

On top of that, I pulled in another $224 from X ads.

I’m now at $155,845 on my journey to $1M. You can check the progress on the grid here.

The consulting calls are surprisingly rewarding. People are booking calls about growing their audience and making more money from their products.
Sometimes, a focused 30-minute call with someone brings more value than any book or video tutorial ever could offer.

On the shipping side, unfortunately, I have failed you! 😬

I spent a day adding revenue attribution to my website, which I thought would take 30 minutes, and I spent another day having the consulting calls, so I didn’t manage to finish my app and officially launch it.

I hope to make up for it next week! 🤞

On the personal side, a milestone I’m really proud of: 8 straight weeks of going to the gym! 💪

Two months. No excuses.
This is something I’ve wanted for years, but never stuck to, until now!

The discipline I’m building here is affecting everything else I do, including writing this newsletter.

If you want people to talk about your product, you need a feature your users love to share.

Look at Marc Lou and his analytics tool DataFast.
He added a rotating globe that shows real-time visitors by location.
It’s simple, visual, and insanely shareable.

Creators are posting screenshots and videos of it every time their site goes viral, giving DataFast free promotion.

I did the same when my site blew up.
I shared my DataFast globe on X, and the tweet got hundreds of likes:

All because the feature was designed to be shared.

Lesson:
Build features your users naturally want to show off.
If you do it right, they’ll market your product for you.

This week, I discovered Andrew Zacker, a fellow creator on X, with some strong storytelling skills on YouTube.

He documents his indie hacking journey while working a 9-5, and his videos are real and honest. One of his recent uploads went viral:

He shares the highs, the lows, the doubts, and the breakthroughs while building a SaaS app. This is the real experience! If you enjoy his transparency, Andrew is worth following.

I’m more convinced than ever that the indie hacker dream is not about building the next unicorn, but it’s about building a life you’re proud of. One where you choose your work, your hours, and your future.

This week was another step toward that life.
Thanks for being here with me on this journey.

See you in the next one 🫶,
Florin Pop