How different people actually play the game
1. The Indie Hacker (single-bet archetype)
Core Traits
- Optimises for speed and visibility
- Ships thin vertical slices
- Values independence and identity
- Measures success via short-term revenue
Strengths
- Fast feedback
- High energy
- Good for simple, distribution-led products
Failure Mode
- Each project is isolated
- Little reusable infrastructure
- Emotional identity tightly coupled to outcome
- One miss feels existential
Typical Exit
“I tried indie hacking for a year. It didn’t work.”
What actually happened: They sampled once from a noisy distribution and over-updated.
2. The Lifestyle Founder
Core Traits
- Wants predictable income with autonomy
- Avoids deep technical or market risk
- Often consults or sells services
Strengths
- Stability
- Control over schedule
- Lower stress
Failure Mode
- Limited upside
- Skill ceiling
- Time-for-money trap
Typical Exit
“I’m happy where I am.”
Nothing wrong here, but this is not my game.
3. The Career Engineer
Core Traits
- Trades time for certainty
- Optimises for resume legibility
- Values peer validation and titles
Strengths
- Financial stability
- Clear progression
- Socially legible success
Failure Mode
- Linear growth
- Context switching destroys deep work
- Hard to reclaim autonomy later
Typical Exit
“I’ll build something on the side.”
Usually never compounds.
4. The Compound Systems Engineer (My Archetype)
This is the missing archetype.
Core Traits
- Optimises for long-term leverage, not short-term outcomes
- Treats code, infra, tests, tooling, and cognition as capital
- Separates project failure from strategy failure
- Plays a portfolio game, not a single bet
- Will tolerate ambiguity if slope is positive
Key Belief
Systems outlive products.
Cognition outlives code.
Leverage beats speed.
Why This Archetype Is Rare
- It produces little visible output early
- It looks like “overthinking” to outcome-driven observers
- It delays identity resolution
- It requires high variance tolerance
The Comparison Problem
When comparing yourself to others, ask:
- Are we playing the same game?
- Do we have the same leverage?
- Do we have the same runway?
- Do we have the same internal signals?
Often the answer is no. Stopping can be rational for them and continuing can be rational for you without contradiction.
