Author
Pieter Levels
Platform
readmake.com
Duration
Self-paced
Price
$20-$30
Pieter Levels' MAKE transforms how developers approach entrepreneurship in 2025. This isn't another theoretical business course—it's a battle-tested playbook from someone who built 40+ profitable startups generating millions in revenue, all without taking a single dollar of VC funding.
The indie maker movement has exploded as developers realize they don't need massive teams or venture capital to build successful businesses. MAKE captures the exact methodology that allowed Pieter to create Nomad List and RemoteOK, two platforms generating $80,000+ monthly revenue through bootstrapping and smart automation.
Traditional startup advice pushes fundraising, hiring, and scale-at-all-costs mentality. MAKE flips this narrative entirely. You'll learn how shipping fast, solving real problems, and building profitably creates sustainable businesses that serve you—not investors.
The course follows a chronological framework covering the complete startup lifecycle. Starting with idea generation, Pieter emphasizes solving your own problems as the fastest path to product-market fit. When you build solutions for pain points you personally experience, you're building for an audience you deeply understand.
Core curriculum includes:
MAKE emphasizes rapid iteration over perfectionism. Each chapter includes homework exercises encouraging you to build and ship while learning. This action-oriented philosophy teaches you to gather real user feedback immediately rather than spending months polishing features nobody wants.
| Traditional Approach | MAKE Approach |
|---|---|
| Raise funding first | Bootstrap from revenue |
| Hire a team | Solo or tiny team |
| Build perfect product | Ship minimal viable version |
| Paid advertising | Organic community growth |
| Scale at all costs | Profitability first |
If you're a developer tired of the traditional startup playbook, MAKE provides an alternative path. The course speaks directly to:
No business degree required—Pieter himself is a self-taught developer who learned by doing. The course assumes technical competence but teaches entrepreneurship from scratch.
Pieter built this course using the same methodology it teaches—he sold 30,000+ copies before the book was even finished, validating demand through pre-orders. This meta-proof demonstrates the concepts actually work.
The content stays brutally honest about survivorship bias and failure rates. Unlike courses selling unrealistic overnight success, MAKE acknowledges that most startups fail and teaches you to stack odds in your favor through smart decisions, not lucky breaks.
The course receives ongoing updates as Pieter continues building new products and refining his approach. You're learning from someone actively in the trenches, not teaching outdated strategies from years-old successes.
While MAKE isn't exclusively about coding, it provides clarity on indie maker tech stacks. Pieter shares how to leverage no-code platforms, AI tools like ChatGPT, and automation to build faster with fewer resources.
The course complements modern AI coding tools by teaching you what to build and how to monetize it—skills that remain valuable even as development tools evolve. Tools like Claude Code, Lovable, and Bolt.new make shipping MVPs faster than ever, but MAKE teaches the business fundamentals that determine whether your shipped product actually succeeds.
The most actionable insight from MAKE: build solutions for your own pain points. This approach provides immediate advantages:
Perfectionism kills more startups than bad ideas. MAKE teaches you to:
In an era of dark patterns and user exploitation, MAKE positions ethical business practices as strategic advantages. Transparent pricing, respecting privacy, and building trust create sustainable competitive moats that paid advertising can't replicate.
The course teaches revenue models aligned with user interests:
MAKE specifically advises against ad-based models that misalign incentives and compromise user experience. You learn to charge directly for value provided.
Solo entrepreneurs hit scaling limits quickly. MAKE teaches you to:
The course provides detailed tactical advice for approaching launch platforms:
Product Hunt: Timing strategies, community building, creating launch momentum Hacker News: Writing headlines that resonate, following community guidelines, avoiding bans Reddit: Finding relevant communities, contributing value before self-promotion Niche forums: Identifying where your target users already gather
Pieter pioneered building in public as a marketing strategy. By sharing your journey, challenges, and wins transparently on social media, you:
Unlike courses that ignore exits or push "unicorn or bust" mentality, MAKE teaches realistic exit planning:
Many indie makers build portfolio businesses, selling some while keeping others. MAKE teaches this portfolio approach as a viable long-term strategy.
MAKE is available as a digital book for $20-$30 depending on promotions (occasionally 50% off during sales). The investment pays for itself if you successfully launch even one small product.
The 200+ page, 50,000+ word guide provides lifetime access with continuous updates as Pieter adds new learnings. No subscription required—one purchase gives you the complete playbook.
The course has been endorsed by Product Hunt and prominent entrepreneurs in the indie hacking space. With 30,000+ copies sold, the community provides validation beyond Pieter's individual success.
Readers consistently highlight how MAKE shifted their mindset from endless learning to taking action—a transformation essential for would-be entrepreneurs stuck in tutorial purgatory.
Strong fit if you:
Not ideal if you:
MAKE provides the business foundation that complements your technical skills. While modern AI tools handle more implementation, understanding product validation, launch strategy, and monetization determines success.
The indie maker movement continues growing in 2025 as developers realize building profitable lifestyle businesses beats grinding at startups or corporations. MAKE gives you the playbook to join this movement with proven strategies from someone who's actually done it—repeatedly.
Ready to build your first profitable product? MAKE teaches you how to solve problems people will pay for, launch to eager audiences, and build businesses that serve your life goals—not investor expectations.
You will learn the complete startup lifecycle from idea validation through profitable exit. The course covers bootstrapping, MVP development, multi-platform launch strategies, organic growth tactics, direct monetization models, business automation, and exit planning—all based on Pieter Levels' proven experience building 40+ profitable startups.
No business degree or prior entrepreneurship experience required. Pieter Levels is a self-taught developer who learned by doing. The course assumes technical competence but teaches business fundamentals from scratch, making it ideal for developers building their first profitable product.
MAKE focuses exclusively on bootstrapped, indie maker approaches rather than VC-funded startup strategies. It provides brutally honest insights about survivorship bias and failure rates, includes practical homework exercises for building while learning, and comes from someone actively building new products rather than teaching outdated methods.
While written by a developer for developers, MAKE applies to anyone building digital products. The principles work whether you code yourself, use no-code tools, or hire freelancers. The focus is on business strategy, validation, launching, and monetization—skills valuable regardless of technical background.
MAKE is a 200+ page, self-paced digital book you can read in a few days. However, the real value comes from implementing the homework exercises while building your product. Most readers spend 2-3 months actively working through concepts while shipping their first project.
Yes, MAKE receives continuous updates as Pieter Levels builds new products and refines his methodology. Your one-time purchase includes lifetime access to all current and future content updates, ensuring strategies stay relevant as tools and platforms evolve.
Pieter Levels built 40+ profitable startups including Nomad List and RemoteOK, which generate over $80,000 monthly revenue. He pioneered building in public and bootstrapped all companies without VC funding. He also used the MAKE methodology to sell 30,000+ copies of the book itself, proving the strategies work in practice.
Absolutely. MAKE is particularly valuable for developers with existing side projects seeking monetization strategies, launch tactics, and growth approaches. The chapters on launch strategies, organic user acquisition, and direct monetization can transform unprofitable projects into revenue-generating businesses.
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