Following What Feels Right is a Process: Indie Hacking

There's something beautiful about watching someone build exactly what the world needs, exactly when it needs it. Not because they followed a business plan or market research, but because they trusted their internal sense of direction. That's the story of John O'Nolan and Ghost—and it's becoming my story too.

The Great Professional Identity Crisis

Here's what I've learned about roadmaps: they're written by other people, for other people's destinations.

My husband was my first serious boyfriend. I was 19 at the time and I thought most ideas around relationships were hypocrisies. I hated the games. In the first 6 months, everyone around me said that I should play games with him, to hook him. Instead, I showed myself fully vulnerable, calling him in despair when I felt insecure that he didn't want to be my boyfriend, even if I didn't believe in having boyfriends. I guess emotionally focused therapists would call those attachment requests. Normal people would call me crazy.

Instead of trying to research methods to follow other people's paths, I created my own. I decided if I hadn't failed in any relationship before, I would choose to fail this one my own way, learn, and then decide whether to follow others. We have been together for almost 20 years now, so I still haven't learned the importance of playing romantic games.

I feel the same about my business. I am doing things differently—I don't have a formal business plan, a clearly defined target audience, or even a traditional "purpose statement." But I want to be fully authentic. If I fail, I will learn and iterate.

Learning in Public: My "Those-Who-Did-Not-Deliver"

I don't have a product yet (maybe a couple prototypes), but I have this blog and you reading it. While many Indie Hackers #buildinginpublic, I'm also #learninginpublic. And that means sharing the setbacks alongside the wins.

Although it's been only a couple months since I entered this solopreneur route, I can already pinpoint a couple of errors for which I am thankful. With each of them I learned, iterated, and hopefully grew.

THE-ONES-WHO-DID-NOT-DELIVER

Initially, I had grand visions of building a comprehensive platform for families and couples—something that would revolutionize how we connect digitally. I trusted 10 undergrads from a top Computer Science program to build it. They said they could build the whole thing in 12 weeks for $5,000.

They didn't deliver.

But here's what I learned: a platform like that would take years to build, and I needed to start small if I wanted to get anywhere. Luckily, I had enough experience to sign a contract where I wouldn't pay if they didn't deliver. So no harm done—just learning and iterating. They taught me what a design document is, what Cursor is, and a lot more, which is now allowing me to get back on track. Thank you, THE-ONES-WHO-DID-NOT-DELIVER!

THE-GUY-WHO-STOLE-MY-WEBSITE

Discovering my website had been hijacked was initially terrifying. One day I logged in to find my site replaced with gambling links. I cried. I called a Software Engineering friend who had been my Empathy Buddy (an NVC practice) for both empathy and advice. I didn't even have the courage to click the links.

But amidst this unsettling experience, facing an impersonal support system incapable of genuine human connection, a clear realization surfaced: I saw my own emotional and mental limitations in this entrepreneurial journey. If I were going to do this alone, at least I would have to have the right tools with the right Customer Support.

After the initial shock wore off, I began searching for more secure, supportive hosting solutions. That's when everything changed.

The Discovery That Changed Everything

Because of THE-GUY-WHO-STOLE-MY-WEBSITE, I discovered Ghost and its founder, John O'Nolan. I immediately got inspired, and I'm falling deeper in love with the story behind Ghost as I learn it and use it to host my website—a true Indie Hacker story.

To understand Ghost's origin, you need to know about WordPress. On May 27, 2003, Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little introduced the first version of WordPress, built on an abandoned blogging platform called b2/cafelog. They made it Open Source, which means anybody could work with it for free. What started as a simple blogging tool grew into something much bigger—today, WordPress powers over 43% of all websites.

But by 2012, John O'Nolan—who had been deputy head of the WordPress UI team—felt frustrated. WordPress had evolved from its humble blogging roots into a complex content management system. In November 2012, he wrote a blog post about his vision for something different: a platform focused purely on publishing, not general website building.

That single blog post went viral, reaching the top of Hacker News and garnering over 30,000 email signups from people who wanted this simpler publishing platform. No product, no company—just a vision articulated clearly and a simple email capture form. The post struck such a chord that when they launched their Kickstarter campaign in April 2013, they raised £196,362 in just 29 days.

Today, Ghost generates around $7.5M in annual revenue as a distributed non-profit foundation which gives away all of its intellectual property under a permissive MIT license. The company has no investors and, in fact, no owners of any kind. He's living HIS dream instead of chasing "THE" dream.

What makes Ghost's story so compelling isn't just its success—it's O'Nolan's fundamental approach. Instead of asking "What's the next unicorn I can flip for maximum profit?" he asked himself: "How can I build a company that I want to work for throughout my life?"

More than anything, O'Nolan inspired me to do what feels right without questioning. All of his decisions felt like a natural progression. He had an internal sense of direction about his next step. A very "Tollean" concept that I am trying to live by.

My Own Vision: Building Jongu

O'Nolan had his WordPress experience and vision for better publishing tools. I have my Jongu vision: building a co-creation platform where people can choose collaboration over competition, starting with the most fundamental unit of society—our relationships.

It might be far-fetched, but with consistency and patience, I am sure I will enjoy the ride and, if reality constraints allow, build everything in my vision over the next couple of years: a digital gathering place that propels relationships and creativity. One key difference between my and O'Nolan's vision is that mine is much more complex. He wanted to simplify an existing platform. I want to build something complex out of the blue. And I am already learning to simplify (thank you again, THE-ONES-WHO-DID-NOT-DELIVER).

So I started building. Not the massive platform I originally envisioned, but smaller, focused prototypes that address real needs:

AI-powered kids' story creation tools - For families separated by distance who want to create magical moments together, even when apart. Or simply for parents who know what they want to teach their kids, but want some creative inspiration to transform it into a story.

NVC (Nonviolent Communication) journaling tools - Simple, accessible ways to practice conflict resolution and emotional clarity without overwhelming complexity.

DIY short movie creation guides - Because meaningful content shouldn't require technical expertise or expensive equipment.

Each tool reflects what I've learned: start small, focus on genuine connection, and make transformation accessible to everyone.

Why Indie Hacking Calls to Me

This is why indie hacking resonates so deeply. It's about creating your own path to freedom and building something meaningful without conforming to external expectations or giving up control to investors who might push you away from your authentic vision.

Gratitude is owed unexpectedly to those setbacks—to THE-ONES-WHO-DID-NOT-DELIVER and THE-GUY-WHO-STOLE-MY-WEBSITE. They weren't really failures at all—they were tuition for the education I'm getting in real-world building.

I don't have all the answers. I don't know if Jongu will succeed or if my tools will find their audience. What I do know is that I'm following my internal compass, just like I did when I chose vulnerability over games in my relationship, just like O'Nolan did when he chose purpose over profit.

The beauty of indie hacking isn't in following someone else's blueprint—it's in trusting your own vision enough to build it, one authentic step at a time.

Sometimes the most revolutionary act isn't playing by the rules. Sometimes it's having the courage to write your own.

Want to join this experiment? Check out Jongu.org and help shape what digital co-creation could look like. Or explore the tools I'm building for deeper relationships and creative expression.

To learn more about the indie hacker community: Indie Hackers

This journey is far from over. I'm learning in public, building in the open, and trusting that authenticity will guide me to where I need to be.