I've launched 37 products in 5 years and not doing that again

Critique of “shotgun” product launching

• Many see “37 products in 5 years” as emblematic of shallow, visionless building: tiny widgets chasing quick money and virality instead of real customer problems.
• This is labeled “shotgun capitalism”: firing many low-effort shots hoping one hits, burning time, customers, and attention instead of coherently expanding around validated demand.
• Several argue that these aren’t really “products” so much as quickly-cranked-out web apps with no moat, in hyper-competitive niches.

Customer discovery and market fit

• Repeated theme: talk to real customers, ideally in domains you already know.
• Suggested process: hang out where they are, become part of their community, run many conversations, find a handful of early adopters, iterate with them for months.
• Books like The Lean Startup and The Mom Test are frequently cited as useful frameworks.
• Others push back that spending years “finding a problem” can be just as wasteful; most people want a middle ground: use existing expertise to narrow ideas, then iterate.

Indie hacker ecosystem, influencers, and survivorship bias

• Many commenters attribute this behavior to an influencer-driven “get rich quick” culture: build fast, tweet screenshots, sell tools to other builders.
• Strong skepticism about copying well-known solo founders, whose later success is heavily brand-driven and subject to survivorship bias.
• Some argue that much of the profit is in “selling shovels” (courses, templates, SaaS-for-SaaS) rather than solving real-world problems.

Ethics and quality of products

• The spammy marketing product that was sold for six figures draws intense condemnation: AI-generated replies, deceptive “testimonials,” exploiting vulnerable people.
• Commenters are disturbed that LLMs are so often used to create spam and low-trust content; some are glad those products don’t seem durable.

Marketing vs building; hobby vs business

• Strong divide: builders who love crafting solid apps vs those focused on validation and revenue.
• Several stress: if the goal is income, marketing and distribution matter more than code quality; if the goal is fun/learning, treat it as a hobby and drop business expectations.
• Slow, patient growth and sticking with one problem space are repeatedly recommended, but many admit they struggle with patience.

Economics, exits, and burnout

• The reported revenues and small acquisitions are seen by some as poor compensation for years of work; others note they could be life-changing in lower-cost regions.
• Some see quickly selling small products as a way to clear mental debt (“idea #3487”) even if the cash is modest.
• Several ex-indie hackers describe burning out on this cycle and switching to employment or more focused, long-term businesses.