How to build a successful website | Pieter Levels and Lex Fridman

Summary

The speaker discusses their approach to rapid learning, emphasizing the importance of taking action and building projects to acquire new skills. They share their experience learning 3D and virtual reality, and how they leverage AI for education. They also explore the power of building in public, the challenges of dealing with criticism, and the benefits of organic user acquisition through platforms like TikTok. The conversation touches on monetization strategies, the value of charging for services, and the importance of maintaining high profit margins while keeping costs low.

Takeaways

• 📚 Embrace continuous learning: The speaker emphasizes the importance of learning new skills every day, especially in rapidly evolving fields like AI and VR.
• 🚀 Take action to learn: The best way to learn is by doing. Start with small projects and iterate, learning from each step and improvement.
• 🔍 Use AI for guidance: Leverage AI tools like Google to find solutions and learn new concepts quickly, such as how to make a website.
• 🌐 Start with the basics: For beginners, using website builders or CMS platforms like Wix or Squarespace can be a good starting point.
• 💡 Set challenges for self-learning: Setting personal challenges, like building a project every day or a certain number of websites in a set period, can accelerate learning.
• 🛠️ Build with discipline: Self-learning requires discipline. Consistent practice and setting clear goals are crucial for progress.
• 🤖 Utilize AI influencers: AI influencers can help promote apps and gain traction by showcasing them to their audiences.
• 🎯 Focus on the next step: Instead of looking too far ahead, concentrate on solving the next immediate problem or challenge.
• 💸 Consider monetization early: Rather than offering free users, consider charging for your product or service from the beginning to build a community of engaged users.
• 💼 Keep costs low and margins high: Negotiate with vendors for discounts and keep operational costs low to maintain high profit margins.
• 👎 Embrace criticism: Constructive criticism from 'haters' can provide valuable insights for improvement, so don't ignore it outright.

Q & A

What is the speaker's approach to learning new skills quickly and effectively?

The speaker emphasizes the importance of learning the minimal amount necessary to build a project, taking action by starting to make things, and continuously improving through daily learning and problem-solving.

Can you provide an example of how the speaker applied their learning philosophy?

The speaker gave an example of learning 3D in a 30-day session, where they installed Unity and Blender and started learning about 3D to prepare for the rise of virtual reality technology.

What does the speaker suggest as the best first step in learning a new skill like coding?

The speaker suggests taking action as the best first step, such as making a website by searching for 'how to make a website', copying code, and tweaking it to understand how it works.

How does the speaker view the role of AI in education for learning new technologies?

The speaker believes that the power of AI in education will be immense, as it can provide clear guidance and help people anywhere start building projects and learn new skills.

What is the speaker's opinion on the effectiveness of coding boot camps?

The speaker is skeptical about the effectiveness of coding boot camps, believing that self-learning and setting personal challenges can be more beneficial.

What advice does the speaker give for dealing with criticism and haters online?

The speaker advises to grow a thick skin, take criticism with a grain of salt, and consider the points made by haters, as they can often have valid points that can help improve one's work.

How did the speaker's project Hood Maps gain popularity?

Hood Maps gained popularity by making it to the front page of Reddit, which led to a significant increase in traffic and almost caused the server to go down.

What is the speaker's view on the importance of building in public?

The speaker sees building in public as powerful for crowdsourcing feedback and ideas, but also acknowledges the negative aspects such as criticism and the need for a thick skin.

What monetization strategy does the speaker recommend for new startups?

The speaker recommends starting with a paid model rather than offering free users, as it can help build a community of people who genuinely care about the product and provide a sustainable income.

How does the speaker approach cost management in their projects?

The speaker focuses on keeping costs low, negotiating discounts with vendors, and ensuring high profit margins to maintain a sustainable business.

What is the speaker's perspective on the role of social media platforms like TikTok for user acquisition?

The speaker sees social media platforms as a powerful tool for organic user acquisition, where creating engaging content can lead to virality and significant growth in users.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Rapid Learning and Skill Acquisition

The speaker discusses the process of quickly learning new skills to achieve a goal, using the example of a 30-day learning session on 3D and virtual reality. They emphasize the importance of continuous learning, seeking knowledge daily, and taking action to build projects as a means of accelerating learning. The speaker also highlights the power of AI in education, suggesting that setting challenges and building projects every day can lead to rapid skill development.

05:02

🚀 Building in Public and Handling Criticism

This paragraph delves into the concept of building projects in public, which involves constant problem-solving and learning from failures. The speaker shares their experience with live streaming their development process and the satisfaction derived from overcoming challenges. They also discuss the importance of not looking too far ahead and focusing on immediate problems. The speaker addresses the value of feedback, even from critics, and how it can be used to improve projects. They mention the impact of social media platforms like Reddit and the power of organic user acquisition through platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels.

10:02

💰 Monetization Strategies for Indie Apps

The speaker explores different monetization strategies for indie app developers, advocating for charging users from the outset rather than relying on free users who are less likely to convert. They suggest setting a higher price point to ensure profitability and to build a community of engaged users. The speaker also discusses the importance of keeping costs low, negotiating discounts with vendors, and leveraging personal branding to secure better deals. They touch on the benefits of community building through platforms like Discord and the challenges of dealing with spam and abuse when offering free services.

Keywords

💡Learning

Learning in the context of the video refers to the process of acquiring new knowledge or skills. It is central to the theme as the speaker discusses their approach to quickly mastering new subjects, such as 3D and virtual reality, to build projects. The speaker emphasizes the importance of continuous learning, as illustrated by their daily search for solutions and improvements in their skills.

💡3D

3D stands for three-dimensional, which in the video is used to describe the speaker's interest in learning about 3D modeling and virtual reality. The speaker's 30-day learning session on 3D is an example of how they immerse themselves in a new field to understand and create projects related to it.

💡Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual Reality is a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real or physical way by the user. The video discusses the speaker's initiative to learn VR around 2016-2017, recognizing it as an emerging technology with potential for future growth.

💡Unity

Unity is a cross-platform game engine developed by Unity Technologies, widely used for creating interactive games and experiences. In the script, the speaker mentions installing Unity as part of their learning process to understand and work with 3D and VR technologies.

💡Blender

Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software toolset used for creating animated films, visual effects, art, 3D printed models, motion graphics, and computer games. The speaker installed Blender to learn 3D modeling, which is crucial for their project development.

💡Action

In the video, taking action is presented as the best step to learn effectively. It refers to the act of starting projects and making tangible progress rather than just reading or passively consuming information. The speaker suggests that by making things, one can learn much faster.

💡Discipline

Discipline is the ability to control one's actions and emotions and to follow a specific path or plan. The speaker highlights the need for discipline in the learning process, especially in coding and project development, to maintain consistency and achieve goals.

💡AI

AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, which is the simulation of human intelligence in machines. The video mentions AI in the context of its sudden rise and the speaker's interest in learning about it. AI is also used to illustrate the power of technology in education and its potential to assist in the learning process.

💡Building in Public

Building in public refers to the practice of openly working on and sharing the development process of a project with others. The speaker discusses the benefits of crowdsourcing feedback and the challenges of public criticism, as experienced with their Hood Maps project.

💡Monetization

Monetization is the process of generating income or profit from a business, service, or product. The video discusses different strategies for monetizing apps or websites, with the speaker favoring a paid model over free users to ensure high-quality engagement and revenue.

💡Discord

Discord is a VoIP, instant messaging, and digital distribution platform that the speaker mentions as a common tool for creating communities around apps. It allows developers and users to interact, discuss features, and collaborate on projects.

💡Indie Hacker

An Indie Hacker is an individual or small team that creates and runs their own software product, often with the goal of achieving profitability independently. The speaker identifies as an Indie Hacker and discusses the financial and operational considerations of running an independent project.

💡API

API stands for Application Programming Interface, which is a set of rules and protocols for building software applications. The speaker mentions negotiating with API vendors for discounts, indicating the cost considerations involved in using third-party services for their projects.

Highlights

Learning new skills by building and learning the minimal amount needed for a project.

Documented 30-day learning session on 3D to quickly grasp new technology.

Emphasis on continuous learning in technology fields such as AI and VR.

Everyday learning through Google searches and community engagement.

The importance of taking action and building projects to learn effectively.

Using AI to generate code snippets for quick learning and application.

Basic steps to create a website using website builders like Wix or Squarespace.

The potential of AI in education to enable anyone to learn and build applications.

Setting personal challenges like creating multiple startups in a year to enhance learning.

Discipline as a key factor in self-learning and project completion.

The steep learning curve and frustration in coding and the importance of persistence.

Documenting the creation process publicly and the benefits of feedback loops.

The value of taking criticism constructively to improve projects.

The power of social media platforms like TikTok and Twitter for user acquisition.

Organic growth and virality as effective strategies for app or startup promotion.

Monetization strategies for apps, preferring paid users over free users.

Building a community through platforms like Discord for user engagement.

The financial viability of charging for app usage, especially for indie developers.

Negotiating costs with vendors to maintain high profit margins.

The benefits of crowdsourcing and the prevention of spam through paid models.

Transcripts

one of the things you do really really

well is learn a new thing like you're

trying to you have an idea you try to

build it and then you learn everything

you need to in order to build it you

have your current skills but you need

learn just the minimal amount of stuff

so you're a good person to ask like what

how do you

learn how do how do you learn quickly

and effectively in just the stuff you

need you did um just by way of example

you did a 30 days learning session on 3D

yeah where you documented yourself

giving yourself only 30 days to learn

everything you can about yeah I tried to

learn virtual reality cuz I was like

this was like same as AI it came up

Suddenly like 2016 2017 with I think hc5

these big VR glasses before Apple Vision

Pro and I was like oh this is going to

be big so I need to learn this so I I

know I know nothing about 3D I installed

like um I think unity and like blender

and stuff and I started learning all

this stuff um because I thought this was

like a new you know n technology was

going to be big and if I had the skills

for it uh I could use this to build

stuff and so I think with learning from

me it's like it I think learning is so

funny because people always ask me like

how how do I how do you learn to codes

like should I learn the codes and I'm

like I don't know like I'm Every Day I'm

learning it's kind of cliche but every

day I'm learning new stuff so every day

I'm searching on Google or asking now

cat gbt how to do this thing how to do

this thing every day I'm getting better

at my skill so you never stop learning

so the whole concept of like how do you

learn well you never end so where do you

want to be do you want to know a little

bit or do you want to know a lot do you

want to do it for your whole life or so

I think taking action is the best step

to learn so making things like you know

nothing just start making things okay so

like how to make a website search how to

make a website or nowadays you ask jbt

how do I make a website where do I start

it generates codes for you right copy

the code put it in a file save it open

it in Google Chrome or whatever you have

a website and then you start tweaking

with it and you start okay how do I add

a button how do I add a I features right

like nowadays so it's like by taking

action you can learn stuff much faster

than reading books or actually curious

let me ask perplexity how do I make a

website I'm just curious what it would

say I hope it goes with like really

basic vanilla Solutions Define your

website's purpose choose a domain name

select the web hosting provider choose a

website a builder or CMS website build a

platform like wig or Squarespace is what

said yeah the landing

page what what do I how do I say if I

want to programming it program it myself

design your website create essential

Pages yeah even tells you to launch it

right like start lach your website cool

well I mean you could do that yeah but

this is literally it like it's this is

if you want to make a this is the basic

like Google analytics but you can't make

Nomad list with this way so with Wix

like with ah no you can you can get

pretty far I think youy these website

Builders are pretty Advanced like all

you need is a grid of images right that

clickable that open like another page

yeah you can get quite far how do I

learn to

program choose a programming language to

start with your free code Camp is

good work through resources

tomatically practice cing regularly for

30 60 minutes a day consistency key join

programming communities like reddits

yeah yeah it's pretty it's pretty good

good yeah that's pretty good so I think

it's it's a very good starting ground

because imagine you know nothing and you

want to make a website you want to make

a startup this is like that's why the

man the power of AI for education is

going to be insane like people anywhere

can can ask this question and start

building stuff yeah it clarifies it for

sure and just start building like keep

build build like actually apply the

thing whether it's AI or uh any of the

programming for web development yeah

just have a in mind I love the idea of

like 12 startups and 12 months or

like build a project almost every day

just build a thing yeah and get it to

work and finish it every single day

that's a cool experiment I think that

was the inspiration there was a girl who

did

160 websites in 160 days or something

literally mini websites yeah and uh and

she learned to code that way so I think

it's good to set yourself challenges you

know like don't you can go to some

coding boot camp but I don't think they

actually work I think it's better to do

like for me aod deduct like

self-learning and setting yourself like

challenges and just getting in but you

need discipline you know you need

discipline to keep to keep doing it and

coding you know coding is very it's a

steep learning curve to get in it's very

annoying working with computers is very

annoying uh so it can be hard for people

to keep doing it you know yeah that

thing of just keep doing it and don't

quit that urgency that's required to

finish a thing that's why it's really

powerful when you documented this the

creation of hood Maps or the like a

working prototype that there's a just a

constant frustration I guess it's like

how do I do this and then you look it up

and you're like okay you have to

interpret the different options you have

you're like and then just try it and

then and then there's a dopamine Rush of

like oh it works cool man it's amazing

and it's I I live streamed it it's on

YouTube and stuff people can watch it

and it's amazing when things work it's

look it's just like amazing that you I

look very not I don't look far ahead so

I only look okay what's the next problem

to solve and then the next problem and

at the end you have a whole app or

website or thing you know but I think

most people look way too far ahead you

know they look it's like this poster

again like you shouldn't you don't know

how hard it's going to be so you should

only look like for the next thing the

next little challenge the next step and

then see where you end up and assume

it's going to be

easy yeah exactly yeah be naive about it

because it's it's you're going to have

very difficult

problems a lot of the big problems won't

be even Tech will'll be like public

right like maybe people don't like your

website like um you will get canceled

for a website for example like a lot of

things can to happen what's it like

building in public like you do like

openly where you're just iterating

quickly and you're getting people see

back so there there's the power of the

crowdsourcing but there's also the the

negative aspects of people being able to

criticize

so man I think haters are actually good

cuz I think a lot of haters have good

points and it takes like stepping away

from the emotion of like uh ah your

website sucks because blah blah blah and

you're like okay just remove this your

website sucks because it's personal you

know what did he say why did he didn't

not like it and you figure out okay you

didn't like it because the sign up was

difficult or something or it wasn't the

data they say nor this data is not

accurate or something right okay I need

to improve the qualityy data this hater

has a point I think it's it's dumb to

completely ignore your haters you know

and also so you man I think I've been

there when I was like 10 years old or

something you're on the internet you

just shouting crazy stuff that's like

most of Twitter you know or the half

Twitter so you you have to take it with

grain of salt um yeah you man you need

to grow a very thick skin like on

Twitter on X like people say but I mute

a lot of people like I found out I muted

already 15,000 people recently I checked

so in in 10 years I muted 15,000 people

so that's like like that's one by one

manual 15 yeah oh so, 1500 people per

year and I don't like to block cuz then

they get angry they make a screenshot

and they say ah you block me so I just

mute and it disappear and it's amazing

she mentioned Reddit So Hood maps that

make it to the front page of Reddit yeah

yeah it did yeah yeah yeah it did it was

amazing and my server almost went down

and I was checking like Google analytics

was like 5,000 people on the website or

something or crazy and it was at night

it was amazing um I man I think nowadays

honestly Tik Tok

uh YouTube Reals Instagram reals a lot

of apps got very big from people T

making Tik Tok videos about it so let's

say you make your own app you can make a

video for yourself like oh I made this

app uh this is how it works blah blah

blah um and this is why I made it for

example and this is why you should use

it and if it's a good video will take

off and you will get man you I got like

$220,000 extra per month or something

from a Tik Tok from one Tik Tok video

like it made a photoi by you by some by

some random guy so there's all these AI

influencers that that they write about

they show AI apps and they then they ask

money later like when a V video goes vir

all I can do it do it again and send me

$44,000 something I'm like okay I did

that for example but it works like Tik

Tok is a very big platform for user uh

um acquisition yeah and organic like the

best user acquisition I think is organic

you don't need to buy ads you probably

don't have money when you start to buy

ads so use organic or write a banger

tweet right that's MH can make an app

take off as well well I mean yeah

fundamentally create cool stuff and have

just a little bit of a following enough

to like for for the cool thing to be

noticed and then it becomes viral if

it's cool enough yeah and you don't need

a lot of followers anymore because that

on on X and a lot of platforms because

Tik Tok X I think Instagram reals also

they have the same algorithm now it's

not about followers anymore it's about

they test your content on a small subset

like 300 people if they like it it will

gets tested to thousand people and on

and on so if the thing is good it will

rise anyway it doesn't matter if you

have half a million followers or a

thousand followers or 100 what's your

philosophy of monetizing how to make

money from the thing you build yeah so a

lot of starters they do like free users

so you could sign up and can use the app

for free which is um it never worked for

me well because I I think free users

generally don't convert and I think if

you have VC funding it makes sense to

get free users because you can spend

your funding on ads and you can get like

millions of people come in predictably

how much they convert and give them like

a free trial whatever and then they sign

up but you need to have that flow worked

out so well for you to to make it work

that you need like it's very difficult I

think it's best to start and just um

start asking people for money in the

beginning so show your app like what are

you doing on your landing page like make

a demo Whatever video and then if you

want to use it pay me money pay $10 $20

$30 I would ask more than $10 per month

like Netflix like $10 per month but

Netflix is a giant company that can you

know they can afford to make it so cheap

Rel ly cheap if you're individual like a

Indie hacker like you are making your

own app you need to make like at least

$30 or more on a user to make it uh wory

for you you need to make money you know

and it builds a community of people that

actually really care about the product

also yeah making a community like making

a Discord is very normal now every AI

app has a Discord and you have the

developers and the users together in

like a Discord they talk about they ask

for featur they build together it's very

normal now and um and you need to

imagine like if you're if you're

starting out getting a th users is quite

difficult getting thousand pag is quite

difficult and if you charge them like

$30 you have 30k a month that's a lot of

money that's enough to like live a good

life yeah live a pretty good life I mean

that could be a lot of cost associated

with hosting so that's another thing I

make sure my profit margins are very

high so I try to keep the cost very low

I don't hire people um I I try to

negotiate with like AI vendors now like

can you make it cheaper you know which

is I discovered this you can just email

companies and say can you can you give

me discount cuz too expensive and they

say sure 50% I'm like wow very good and

and I didn't know this you can just ask

and especially in like like now it's

kind of recession you can ask companies

like I I need a discount or I kind of

need to like you don't need to be

[ __ ] about it say you know I kind of

need a discount or I need to go maybe to

another company so maybe like a discount

like here and there and it says sure a

lot of them will say yes like 25%

discount 50% discounts cuz you think the

price on the website is the price of the

API or something it's not like you know

and also you're a public facing person

oh that helps also and there's love and

Good Vibes that you put out into the

world like you're actually legitimately

trying to build cool stuff so a lot of

companies probably want to associate

with you because you're trying to do

yeah it's like a secret hack but I think

even without secret person it depends

how much discount they will give you

know they'll maybe give more but you

know that's why you should [ __ ] post on

Twitter so you get you know discounts

Maybe

[Music]

yeah yeah um but and also the when it's

crowdsourced I mean paying does prevent

spam or help prevent spam also yeah yeah

it gives you high quality users free

users are s but they're horrible like

it's just like millions of people

especially with AI startups you get a

lot of abuse so you get millions of

people from anywhere just abusing your

app just just hacking it and

whatever for