Pieter Levels also known as @levelsio has built a fascinating business and lifestyle that inspires solo founders looking to bootstrap online businesses while pursuing freedom and fulfillment.
In this article, we'll explore:
- Pieter's origin story and early realizations
- His "red pill" moment and nomad philosophy
- How he bootstrapped multiple businesses as a solo founder
- His transparent business model and lifestyle
- Key lessons for bootstrappers and solo founders
From MBA to Digital Nomad: Pieter's Origin Story
Pieter didn't start out wanting to be a nomadic entrepreneur. He actually has a master's degree in business administration and worked in the corporate world initially. However, Pieter became disillusioned with the "fake corporate stuff" and wanted to forge his own path. He was particularly inspired by the book The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and by the indie founder Patrick McKenzie.
In 2013, Pieter decided to go "nomad" — giving up his apartment and steady job to travel while working on his laptop and building startups. This was his "red pill" moment when he realized:
"You don't have to subscribe to the normal way of living. You don't have to stay where you grew up and live a conventional lifestyle.", Pieter says.
He started traveling between Thailand, Bali, and other parts of Asia, all while working on early startup experiments. This nomadic period exposed him to different cultures, experiences, and ways of living.
While his first startups didn't gain major traction, Pieter documented his journey. His early blogs ended up getting traction on Hacker News, allowing him to build an audience interested in the digital nomad lifestyle.
Bootstrapping Businesses with a Solo Founder Mindset
After honing his skills for a few years, Pieter had a breakthrough in 2016 when he launched Nomad List. Nomad List is essentially a giant directory for the best locations where digital nomads can move. It compiles key information on the cost of living, internet speeds, weather, and other data for popular nomad destinations. There's also a large community forum for nomads to connect.
Thanks to his existing audience and the growing interest in remote work/living, Nomad List took off quickly. It now generates over $2 million per year in revenue for Pieter's business.
But Pieter didn't stop there. He continued using his skills to identify needs in the nomad/remote work community, building new products when he saw opportunities.
Some of his other current projects include:
- Remote OK: A remote job board generating over $1M per year.
- Rebase: Helping people get Portugal digital nomad visas.
- Photo AI: An AI tool for generating images through text prompts
- Interior AI: An AI tool that generates interior design inspiration images for your spaces.
Pieter bootstrapped and launched these sites on his own, without raising any external capital. That's extremely impressive for a solo founder.
His "solopreneur" approach involves:
- Identifying niche needs in the nomad/remote work community
- Coding and launching small MVPs quickly to validate ideas
- Leveraging contractors to build out the products
- Using simple tech stacks for rapid iteration (PHP, jQuery, etc)
- Focusing heavily on organic marketing, SEO, and word-of-mouth
This blueprint has enabled Pieter to launch over a dozen niche products. And thanks to his transparency, we can see his combined monthly revenue across these projects now exceeds $250,000 per month.
Building in Public
One of the most fascinating aspects of Pieter's business is his radical transparency. He shares intricate details on his finances, revenues, salaries, and more.
For example, right on Pieter's Twitter bio, you can see:
- His annual revenue goal ($3 million per year)
- A real-time revenue meter tracking his progress
- All of his business expenses and salaries
Additionally, each of his websites has an /open page that discloses revenues, traffic stats, profit margins, and more.
This transparency serves multiple purposes for Pieter's business:
- Marketing — It differentiates him from other founders and businesses. It's an intriguing hook that earned him attention and fans.
- Philosophy — Radical transparency aligns with Pieter's principles around openness and honesty. He aims to show an alternative to "fake" corporate culture.
- Inspiration — By sharing revenue numbers, expenses, etc., Pieter demystifies the process of building a successful bootstrapped business. This helps attract and motivate other indie hackers.
- Accountability — Publicly posting his metrics keeps Pieter accountable. It forces him to ship products and make progress or else his numbers will stagnate.
Of course, total transparency has some downsides when you reach a certain scale. As your business and income grow, it introduces security and privacy risks.
But overall, Pieter's transparent approach has fueled his success and unique personal brand as a founder. It's a model others can learn from, even if they don't take it to the same extreme.
Pursuing Freedom Through "Digital Nomad" Living
In addition to an interesting business model, Pieter has crafted a lifestyle optimized for freedom, happiness, and fulfillment.
He explains that while the "digital nomad" label is catchy, it has the wrong connotations. Non-stop travel and constantly moving locations quickly get exhausting.
Instead, Pieter now practices what he calls "slowmad" living. This involves:
- Moving to new locations slowly — staying in each place for months at a time.
- Settling down in one place for an extended period when he wants (he's based in Lisbon currently).
- Surrounding himself with a community of friends who are fellow "slowmads."
- Keeping his cost of living low despite his high income.
- Buying little and owning few possessions.
- Working on business projects and ideas that excite him.
This lifestyle aligns with Pieter's values around simplicity, freedom, and happiness. He explains:
"I know that material goods don't really make me happy. I want to impress myself by being stable and having a stable happy life with people around me."
By applying constraints and intentionality, Pieter has achieved an enviable balance of professional success and personal fulfillment.
Key Takeaways for Solo Founders
Pieter's journey and unconventional business provide some excellent lessons for indie hackers and solo founders:
- Leverage your uniqueness — Don't try to hide what makes you different. Turn it into your superpower. Pieter's quirky personality and radical views are key pillars of his brand.
- Scratch your own itch — Build products that you want to use. Pieter forges his own solutions for issues he faces as a nomadic entrepreneur.
- Small can become big — Start tiny and focused. Aim to help a niche audience. Over time you can scale up products and expand your reach.
- Don't be afraid to charge — Pieter charges premium pricing because he serves high-value customers. Have confidence to charge what you're worth.
- Automate everything — Leverage tools and contractors to eliminate grunt work. This maximizes your time for high-level creative tasks.
- Have a mission — It's not all about the money. Pieter stays motivated by contributing value to the nomad community he cares about.
- Enjoy the journey — Build a holistic lifestyle you love. For Pieter that means community, freedom, and honesty. Don't just grind for some future payoff.
Pieter Levels proves that you can bootstrap a profitable digital business while living life on your own terms. His example provides inspiration and a potential roadmap for location-independent founders.
