It is nerfed even just for plans. It switches to Opus in the first few minutes of me trying to build a plan to extract a component out of my larger codebase.
Trying to minimize privileged access codebase and was careful not to mention security explicitly.
Validation is trivial, I simply used BenchmarkDotNet test and had AI flip git between latest HEAD state and current state.
Optimization is where the real work was - but also fun because I would just think of something, and AI would make it happen. It also had great ideas of its own. Feedback mechanism is crucial.
Launching for Postgres very soon (currently working on Supabase-optimal deployment). Continuing with Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL in the coming months.
Our superpower is a very fast parser with full static analysis engine. This enables not only blocking of destructive queries but also deep SQL rewrite for PII masking in real-time. It also means better syntax error messages which allow AI agents to adjust their SQL queries automatically.
Full workflow (parsing + static analysis + SQL rewriting + logging) takes less than 1ms.
This is not necessarily true. Wrong monetization can be the killing blow. Market can change and your business model which used to work can suddenly fall apart. A recent example for business model change is Tailwind where traffic to their open-source docs plummeted and suddenly not enough people are upgrading to their commercial licenses.
Startups die for a variety of reasons, even if products are popular and loved.
I have recently asked my LinkedIn audience if my company should build a great PostgreSQL IDE. That's my wish for many years, and I know exactly where we can provide significant value over existing solutions. Yet basically everyone said not to do it.
Too many free options, hard to get people to change habits, you can't charge enough because devs just don't want to pay if they can help it.
I decided we will build something else. That said, good luck to this developer, I hope their product takes off.
I went indie some 20 years ago because I needed money and I wanted full control over my life. Did some things right but many things wrong. Unfortunately, there is a price to pay to build your life in an unconventional way. Everything turned out well but it might have easily concluded with a disaster. Luck (or lack of it) plays a significant part however much you try.
What I would recommend to the "new indies":
- Build this on a side with a steady full-time job. If you can't get to a few thousand dollars per month by investing 2-3 hours per week day plus 10-20 hours on a weekend, going full time won't make a difference.
- If you have a family, be careful. You are making high risk decisions but people who depend on you didn't ask you to make a leap into unknown territory. Attempt to pull of indie business is stressful for everyone, may lead to years of strained relationship, and to a divorce.
- Do not share too much business information with your spouse. What is acceptable risk to you may cause dread to your significant other. They don't deserve all the emotional ups and downs that come with running a solo business. Absolutely do share important things because you are in this together - just don't frighten people whenever you are in a bad situation.
- Be mentally stable. If money is tight, if things are unknown, remember this was your choice.
- Don't be too proud - always be prepared to freelance or find a "real job" if needed. Remember that big success can take (many) years or it may never come. Do your best but do not self-destruct.
- Read "The E-Myth Revisited" to learn that your job changes. I was a spectacularly good developer when I started this. Today? Perhaps just a very good one because development turned out to be 10% of the job. You will wear many hats and some of those hats you will absolutely hate. You thought all you'll do is make state of the art software? Yeah, and you will also do sales, website, marketing, customer support, accounting, taxes. You will be exposed to all the shit you were blissfully unaware exists in business while at a steady job because it was someone else's job to handle all that. You will understand your past bosses much better.
All that said, I love the business I built. A beautiful lifestyle business for a quite a few years. It's a stable and growing business now, with a team of 20-ish people in 6 countries. We make great things, and have a great work-life balance.
You can do it, just don't sacrifice everything else. Nothing is certain but do your best. Always be kind to people. Remember to take care of the family first. Be there for them, spend time with them. Kids never grow up twice - what you missed, you missed for good.
A bit off-topic, bit hiring exceptional .NET developers is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Way more people have a ton of experience with JS and marginal experience with .NET, just writing very basic API endpoints - yet claiming serious experience.
If you came to me for an interview, your story would have been a breath of fresh air. So maybe try to mention it anyway, someone will be interested.
A lovely language with an incredible web framework (Phoenix, LiveView). However, not easy to pick up for people with only imperative programming experience.
I had to switch my project to .NET in the end because it was too hard to find/form a strong Elixir team. Still love Elixir. Indestructible, simple, and everything is easy once you wrap your head around the functional programming.
Trying to minimize privileged access codebase and was careful not to mention security explicitly.