Hey, I’m Sia.
By day I’m a frontend engineer, working the usual 9-5. By night, I’m trying to buy my freedom. The plan is simple (but not easy): build small products in public, learn as I go, and one day quit my job when those products pay the bills.
I’m giving myself 2 years. 8 products. The target: $5k/month.
Who I Am
I live in Amsterdam. I write code for a living. And like many of you, I’ve been sitting on the dream of “one day I’ll build my own thing.”
I don’t want “one day” I want now.
So instead of just thinking about it, I’ve committed to building in public. Posting every day. Shipping something new every 3 months. Sharing numbers, fails, and everything in between.
What It’s Cost Me Till now
Money always matters, so I’ll share that too. So far:
Total so far: ~$115
Not much yet, but the costs will add up over time. I’ll keep this section updated so you see the real price of trying to build your way out of a 9-5.
What I’ve Done So Far
Before jumping into my first proper product, I wanted to test my speed. Could I actually ship things after a full day of work?
I used Cursor (Tried it for the first time) to build a few tiny Chrome extensions. Nothing crazy, just tools for myself:
Screenshot → Gradient
I take a boring screenshot, upload it, and it spits out a nice gradient background so I can post it online without it looking ugly.
Brand Kit Helper
A little extension that asks me a few questions based on my idea, then it takes those answers and turns them into a simple brand kit: core values, story, problem → solution framing, Positioning, and more …
Were they life-changing? Nope.
But they gave me the confidence that I can actually keep up this “build fast, share fast” cycle.
(If you’d like to test it or maybe what prompt I’m using for it just ask me on X)
My First Real Project
Now I’ve moved on to my first proper product.
I’m building it with a simple but solid stack:
Next.js → frontend and Backend
Prisma → database layer
Supabase → auth + database hosting
TailwindCSS → styling and consistent design system
Resend → email handling
I’ll share more details about what the product actually does soon.
For now, I just wanted to show the foundation I’m building on.
Progress on X
One of my goals is to grow an audience that cares about this journey.
This week, I went from 185 → 200 followers. It’s not a lot, but it’s proof that sharing daily works.
The best part? People actually reply. Strangers. Indie hackers. Builders who are going through the same stuff. It makes this less lonely.
What’s Next
I’ll share more about the product itself soon, what problem it solves, why I picked it, and how I’ll launch it.
For now, this first issue is just a marker in the ground. Day one.
If you’re reading this, thanks for being here early. I hope watching me stumble, figure stuff out, and (hopefully) win a little inspires you to build your own thing too.
Let’s see where this goes.
Sia 🚀