Handle
@levelsio
Followers
500K-1M
Focus Area
Indie Hacker & Entrepreneurship
Pieter Levels (@levelsio) is a self-taught developer, serial entrepreneur, and digital nomad pioneer who has built a $3M+ annual revenue startup empire—without funding, employees, or an office. With over 736,000+ followers on X, he's one of the most influential voices in the indie hacker movement, inspiring developers worldwide to build profitable products independently.
Pieter Levels embodies what's possible when a developer fully embraces the build-in-public philosophy. After graduating with a Master's in Business Administration in 2012, he rejected the conventional career path and flew to Asia in 2013 with just a laptop and backpack. What followed was an extraordinary journey of creating 70+ products while traveling through 40+ countries and 150+ cities, coding from couches and coffee shops worldwide.
In 2014, Levels launched an ambitious challenge: ship 12 startups in 12 months. This rapid experimentation approach became legendary in the indie maker community. Out of those 12 attempts, Nomad List emerged as his breakout success, hitting #1 on both Product Hunt and Hacker News. The MVP cost just $100 to build and nine years later generates around $60,000 per month.
Nomad List helps traveling remote workers find the best places to live and work based on internet speed, cost of living, weather, and safety. Built with a minimalist tech stack (vanilla PHP, jQuery, SQLite), it proves that simple technology executed well trumps complex frameworks.
Launched in 2015, Remote OK became the leading platform for remote job listings, generating $140,000+ monthly revenue by 2021. The platform serves both job seekers looking for location-independent opportunities and companies seeking global talent.
As the AI wave gained momentum in 2022, Levels quickly adapted. He created:
While most developers chase the latest frameworks, Levels champions simplicity:
This approach enables rapid development and deployment, letting him ship products in days rather than months. His $200K+ monthly earnings prove that tech stack doesn't matter—execution does.
@levelsio doesn't just build—he shares everything publicly. His Twitter feed documents both successes and failures with brutal honesty. He reveals revenue numbers, shares customer feedback, discusses technical challenges, and even posts about the emotional rollercoaster of entrepreneurship.
This radical transparency has earned him a massive following of aspiring indie makers who learn from his real-time experiments.
Rather than perfecting a single product, Levels follows the "shotgun strategy": rapidly developing multiple products and letting the market decide which ones deserve more attention. Of his 70+ products, only 5% became successful—but those successes compound into substantial revenue.
Key principles from his approach:
Learn how to bootstrap profitable startups without raising capital, building teams, or relocating to Silicon Valley. Pieter proves that one developer with determination can build a million-dollar business.
Discover the digital nomad lifestyle and how to build location-independent income streams. His journey from living with parents to earning $300K+/month while traveling inspires developers to pursue financial and geographic freedom.
Watch how an experienced indie maker rapidly adapts to new technologies like generative AI. His Photo AI and Interior AI launches demonstrate how to identify market gaps and execute fast in emerging tech spaces.
Experience brutally honest entrepreneurship without the typical startup theater. Levels shares revenue numbers, failure stories, technical debt, and personal struggles—providing realistic expectations for building online businesses.
Levels distilled his decade of experience into "MAKE: The Indie Maker Handbook", teaching developers how to design, program, ship, and run startups independently. The book covers his entire methodology from idea validation to revenue generation.
Follow @levelsio to learn from one of the most successful indie makers in the world, shipping products, sharing revenue, and proving that one developer with a laptop can change the game.
Pieter Levels (@levelsio) is a self-taught developer and serial entrepreneur who built a $3M+ annual revenue startup empire without funding or employees. He is the creator of Nomad List, Remote OK, Photo AI, and Interior AI, and has over 736,000 followers on X.
@levelsio shares revenue transparency, build-in-public updates, tech stack discussions, AI experimentation, digital nomad lifestyle insights, indie maker philosophy, and lessons from launching 70+ products. He is known for radical transparency about both successes and failures.
Pieter Levels uses a minimalist tech stack: vanilla PHP, jQuery, SQLite, and a single Ubuntu VPS with NGINX. He deliberately avoids complex frameworks, proving that simple technology executed well can generate millions in revenue.
Nomad List is Pieter Levels most famous product—a platform helping digital nomads find the best places to live and work based on internet speed, cost of living, weather, and safety. It generates $60,000+ monthly revenue and cost just $100 to build as an MVP.
Follow @levelsio to learn bootstrapped startup strategies, build-in-public methodology, solo entrepreneurship tactics, and AI product experimentation from someone earning $300K+/month without funding or employees. His transparent journey inspires indie hackers worldwide.
The shotgun strategy means rapidly developing multiple products instead of perfecting one idea, letting the market decide what deserves attention. Out of Levels 70+ products, only 5% succeeded—but those successes generate substantial revenue.
Pieter Levels is completely self-taught with no formal computer science degree. He learned programming by building projects, shipping products quickly, and iterating based on real user feedback—proving that credentials do not matter for indie success.
@levelsio built Photo AI (AI photobooth generating custom portraits), Interior AI (AI interior design tool earning $45K+/month with 99% profit margins), and Avatar AI. He demonstrates how to rapidly adapt to emerging technologies like generative AI.
Follow David Park (@Davidjpark96), founder of Jenni AI (5M valuation, 10M users). Learn startup growth tactics, AI product development, and authentic entrepreneurship lessons.
Follow Ilias Ism (@illyism) for SEO strategies, AI-powered tools, and insights from building and exiting B2B SaaS companies. Creator of LinkDR, MagicSpace SEO, and Reddit Music Player.
Follow John Rush (@johnrushx) to learn AI agent automation, indie hacking, and solopreneur strategies. Running 24 products with $2M ARR using AI agents and zero employees.