Independent developer to millionaire: 12 startups in 12 months

Pieter Levels is a Dutch programmer, designer, and entrepreneur best known for his work as an independent maker.

He taught himself programming and successfully created several companies with annual revenue exceeding $1 million.

Levels became famous for his "12 startups in 12 months" challenge, and his success proved that it is possible to live independently as an independent maker without relying on traditional employment or entrepreneurial paths.

From Nomad to Millionaire: The Pieter Levels Journey

After graduating in 2012, Pieter Levels embarked on a life-altering adventure that most can only dream of. Selling almost everything he owned and setting off to Thailand, Levels began his journey not in a luxurious office, but with a laptop and a desire to forge his own path.

Unlike many developers, he didn't have a formal background in computer science. Instead, he was completely self-taught, learning through practical projects and solving problems as they arose, often referring to Stack Overflow and relying on “Google searches” to code effectively.

While some criticized this approach as unstructured, Levels saw it as a means to an end—emphasizing that the profitability of a website was more crucial than the elegance of its code.

The 12 Startups in 12 Months Challenge

Levels’ rise to fame was catalyzed by his audacious challenge: to launch 12 startups in just 12 months.

This endeavor was born out of a self-doubt common among creators, who often fall into the trap of never-ending perfectionism—tweaking and adding instead of completing and launching. Levels recognized this as a barrier to productivity and set out to change his habits.

Each month, he would ideate, develop, and launch a new project, treating the process as a personal, ultra-fast-paced incubator. This challenge was not only about validating business ideas quickly but also about changing his mindset to focus on completion and learning through rapid iteration.

keep launching more projects

Pieter Levels’ entrepreneurial journey has been full of challenges and revelations. He candidly shared his experience: among more than 70 projects, only 4 projects actually made money and achieved growth. This means that more than 95% of projects fail and his success rate is only about 5%. Nonetheless, Levels’ strategy is simple – keep launching more projects

His income reaches $180k per month

Success Strategies for Pieter Levels

1. Identify a Niche: Start by finding a problem unique to a niche that you are passionate about or have expertise in.
2. Solve your own problems: Find problems in your own life and use technology to solve them.
3. Build quickly: Build your idea quickly using the tools you already know and build only the core functionality.
4. Develop Minimum Viable Product: Create a basic version of the product to introduce to potential users.
5. Launch multiple times early: Launch your product where your specific audience is, and do it in a friendly way.
6. Rapid iteration: Learn programming through practical operations and quickly iterate products to verify business ideas. Levels’ “12 startups in 12 months” challenge exemplifies this strategy.
7. Collect feedback and iterate: Use user feedback to improve your product. Stay agile and be prepared to make quick adjustments.
8. Emphasize practice over perfection: Levels emphasizes that it is more important to release an imperfect product than to pursue a product that is perfect from the beginning. He believes the key is to launch products quickly and make improvements based on real customer feedback.
9. Gradually expand: As your product grows in popularity, look for ways to expand operations without compromising quality or customer service.