October 2023: I quit my job, LocalCan 2.0

Why I quit my Product Designer job and rejected two $120k+ job offers

Solopreneurship is my next thing! After a decade of building products, I decided to stop working as an employee and build products on my own. It wasn't an easy decision, but here's the deal: I love building software products and it was always my goal! Quitting and going solo was the natural next step toward reaching that goal. With the simples and leanest approach possible - bootstrapping. Without external capital, OKRs and team meetings. I’ve also rejected two $120k+ job offers in last few weeks which really put my determination to the test.

Magic skill set

A solo founder bootstrapping a business should be the default mode. But the reality is, most people lack the skills, expertise, confidence, or a mix of these needed to do it, which is totally understandable – it’s a lot, and it’s tough. But then, starting hiring and raising money makes everything 100x more complex, dilutes focus …and ownership.

\(Design + code + marketing = being\;unstoppable\)

This is the minimum skill set to build a software products. It’s easier than ever to pick up a complementary skill and become unstoppable! What’s stopping you - which skills you’d like to learn? Leave a comment!

Thoughts on roles

Companies created artificial buckets of specializations, e.g., frontend developer, marketing designer, customer support, and so on. This is convenient because it’s easy to replace a person of a given role with someone else, which means companies consist of modular elements – roles and teams. Modularity is good for systems, but is it good for individuals? Not always. Each person specialized in a role can’t do anything substantial alone! You’re dependent on the system - the company. Designers don’t know how to code, backend engineers don’t know how to design, product managers can’t do either coding nor design. These are strong reasons why they won’t start their own companies or build their own products, but will rather stick to their jobs.

LocalCan 2.0

I've released LocalCan version 2.0, which introduces persistent Public URLs (subdomains of localcan.dev), a refreshed UI, and an enhanced tray menu. Existing users can enjoy this update for free!

To make persistent Public URLs happen, I’ve built a custom backend service which was quite challenging. It uses a neat technology called SSH tunneling, something which big companies like Cloudflare or ngrok use as well. I can now control various aspect of the URL e.g. expiry date, subdomain name, transfer limits, bandwidth.

Public URLs do create a monthly cost on my end, while LocalCan's license remains a one-time payment. However, I see this as an experiment. I'm closely monitoring how actively this feature is being used, how many users are utilizing it, and how much they appreciate it. After a few weeks of learning, I'll be able to decide on the next steps. This could involve offering it as a paid add-on, limiting data transfer, or making no changes at all. We'll see, and I'm feeling optimistic!

What’s coming up

There are few interesting features coming out like incoming traffic inspection to help testing webhooks. But November will be mostly about marketing. I’ve noticed a decrease in purchases after the all the buzz from multiple launches in the summer is getting more quiet. So, I need to invest in longer term marketing strategy: SEO. First I’ll release LocalCan Blog with a few posts as a content marketing effort. If you have any wish for pretty much any topic related to local development, please leave a comment!

That’s all!

Stay tuned and I’ll see you next time! 👋

- Jarek