Two years ago, I walked away from my VP of Engineering position to chase a dream that felt both terrifying and inevitable: building my own AI apps.
The plan seemed straightforward. Build something people want. Launch. Iterate. Scale.
Reality had other plans.
The First Failures Hit Different
My first couple of projects failed. Not "failed to become unicorns"—failed to gain any real traction.
And when you've just left a VP title to bet on yourself, every failure feels existential. Every quiet launch feels like confirmation that maybe you made a massive mistake.
The demotivation was crushing. I'd invested time, energy, hope—and gotten nothing back.
The Question That Changed Everything
Sitting in that funk, I asked myself: If I'm really in this for the long run, how many attempts do I actually need?
In baseball, even the best hitters fail 70% of the time. In startups, the failure rate is even higher. But here I was, devastated after 2-3 attempts, ready to pack it in.
That's when it clicked: What if I'm just not taking enough swings?
5 projects? Too easy to quit early.
10 projects? Still arbitrary.
50? Getting warmer...
Then I landed on 100. A number so large I couldn't possibly quit on a bad week. A number that forces persistence even when motivation evaporates.
That's how 100 Indie Bets was born—not from confidence, but from the need to build a commitment structure stronger than my feelings.
The Framework
The premise: Build and ship 100 small, independent product ideas. Each is a quick, measurable experiment. Each is tracked publicly with real revenue numbers and real lessons.
The rule: I don't get to quit or feel demotivated until I've shipped all 100. Not 99. Not "until I find a winner." 100 complete projects in pursuit of $10k MRR.
This isn't about stubbornness—it's about math. If the best indie makers have a 10-20% hit rate, I need volume. If I quit at swing 7, I'm leaving 90% of my potential wins on the table.
Where I Stand Today
7 apps shipped | $1,300 MRR | 93 bets remaining
My current portfolio:
- AutoAIReels: AI-powered iOS app for automatic video reel creation
- AiCover: AI music generation and cover creation for iOS
- Meditato: Meditation and mindfulness tools
- Plus 4 other experiments generating smaller amounts
$1,300/month isn't life-changing. But it's proof this can work. It's 13% of my goal achieved with just 7% of my attempts complete.
The math is working.
Why Volume Beats Perfection
Here's what I learned in my VP role that applies here: the teams that shipped frequently outperformed the teams that shipped "perfectly."
The same principle applies to indie products. I could spend 6 months perfecting one app, or I could ship 6 apps in that time. The latter gives me:
- 6x more market feedback
- 6x more learning opportunities
- 6x more chances at finding product-market fit
- 6x more lottery tickets for exponential growth
My best-performing app so far? Built in 3 weeks. My most carefully crafted app? Crickets.
The market rewards speed and iteration, not perfection.
The Anti-Demotivation System
Here's what committing to 100 does psychologically:
It removes the "should I keep going?" question. There's no decision to make. You committed to 100, so you build project 8. Then project 9. Then project 10.
It reframes failure. When project 11 flops, it's not "I failed"—it's "project 11 didn't work, what's project 12?" Failure becomes data, not identity.
It forces volume over perfection. I can't spend 6 months perfecting one app—I have 93 more to build. Ship fast, learn fast, iterate fast.
It gives luck a chance to find you. You don't know which idea will hit. But with 100 attempts, the odds shift dramatically in your favor.
When you commit to 100 in advance, you give yourself permission to fail without failure defining you. You can't spiral on project 11 when you've committed to 89 more.
Learn, Burn, Earn, & Fun
This tagline guides every bet I make:
Learn → Each project is education. Swift, AI APIs, App Store optimization, pricing strategies—I'm building skills that compound.
Burn → Some apps will crash. Some ideas will miss completely. That's fine. Burn through the duds to find the gems.
Earn → The target is $10k MRR. That's independence. That's the whole point.
Fun → Life's too short for boring projects. If I'm building 100 things, they better be interesting.
The Journey Continues
I'm 7% through my 100 bets. 13% toward my revenue goal. I have no idea which of the next 93 apps will work.
But that's okay. Because I'm not trying to predict anymore. I'm trying to persist.
Project 8 is already in progress. Maybe it'll do $500/month. Maybe $5. Maybe it'll change everything.
But regardless, there will be a project 9. And a project 10. And 90 more after that.
That's the commitment. That's why 100 Indie Bets works.
I left a VP role to chase independence. The first few attempts nearly broke my resolve. Then I stopped asking "Is this working?" and started asking "What's next?"
That shift—from seeking validation to committing to volume—changed everything.
I'm 7 down, 93 to go, and I'm just getting started.
Follow my journey, see every app, and track real revenue numbers at 100IndieBets.com