Episode
Pieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
1:23:05
Published: Thu Jul 14 2022
Description
Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@TheSamParr) talk to Pieter Levels (@levelsio) about being a solopreneur who makes nearly $3M a year with no employees while living a nomadic lifestyle. Also, want $5,000? Check out the My First Million Clips contest. ----- Links: * Nomad List * RemoteOK * BuyNothing * Derek Sivers * Do you love MFM and want to see Sam and Shaan's smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. * Want more insights like MFM? Check out Shaan's newsletter. ----- Show Notes: (02:40) - How Sam gets in touch with people (05:50) - How much Pieter makes (13:25) - How to become a hit solopreneur (20:10) - What Pieter uses to build (23:45) - Building to earn vs. building to sell (29:55) - How movements grow (30:25) - Thinking big as a solopreneur/Indie Hacker (35:35) - Businesses that could earn you $20k a month (42:30) - How Pieter spends and invests his money (47:10) - Why Pieter believes in Asia (52:40) - What Pieter spends money on (01:01:15) - Who Peter admires ----- Past guests on My First Million include Rob Dyrdek, Hasan Minhaj, Balaji Srinivasan, Jake Paul, Dr. Andrew Huberman, Gary Vee, Lance Armstrong, Sophia Amoruso, Ariel Helwani, Ramit Sethi, Stanley Druckenmiller, Peter Diamandis, Dharmesh Shah, Brian Halligan, Marc Lore, Jason Calacanis, Andrew Wilkinson, Julian Shapiro, Kat Cole, Codie Sanchez, Nader Al-Naji, Steph Smith, Trung Phan, Nick Huber, Anthony Pompliano, Ben Askren, Ramon Van Meer, Brianne Kimmel, Andrew Gazdecki, Scott Belsky, Moiz Ali, Dan Held, Elaine Zelby, Michael Saylor, Ryan Begelman, Jack Butcher, Reed Duchscher, Tai Lopez, Harley Finkelstein, Alexa von Tobel, Noah Kagan, Nick Bare, Greg Isenberg, James Altucher, Randy Hetrick and more. ----- Additional episodes you might enjoy: • #224 Rob Dyrdek - How Tracking Every Second of His Life Took Rob Drydek from 0 to $405M in Exits • #209 Gary Vaynerchuk - Why NFTS Are the Future • #178 Balaji Srinivasan - Balaji on How to Fix the Media, Cloud Cities & Crypto * #169 - How One Man Started 5, Billion Dollar Companies, Dan Gilbert's Empire, & Talking With Warren Buffett • #218 - Why You Should Take a Think Week Like Bill Gates • Dave Portnoy vs The World, Extreme Body Monitoring, The Future of Apparel Retail, "How Much is Anthony Pompliano Worth?", and More • How Mr Beast Got 100M Views in Less Than 4 Days, The $25M Chrome Extension, and More
Chapters
The podcasting industry has its fair share of shady content including discussions on online drug dealing and spamming practices.
00:00 - 01:59 (01:59)
Summary
The podcasting industry has its fair share of shady content including discussions on online drug dealing and spamming practices. Although less notorious than other platforms, podcasts still have their fair share of shady content.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The podcast discusses early Slack communities and how people often want something from others, without putting in the necessary effort to get to know them.
02:01 - 06:38 (04:36)
Summary
The podcast discusses early Slack communities and how people often want something from others, without putting in the necessary effort to get to know them.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
A developer creates tools for server monitoring and inflation tracking, working like a SLA for server messages and tracking inflation rates.
06:38 - 11:10 (04:31)
Summary
A developer creates tools for server monitoring and inflation tracking, working like a SLA for server messages and tracking inflation rates. The independent developer works on these projects on his own using his laptop.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker discusses the pitfalls of travel blogging and how it is just another funnel to promote a certain lifestyle.
11:10 - 15:24 (04:14)
Summary
The speaker discusses the pitfalls of travel blogging and how it is just another funnel to promote a certain lifestyle. They also touch upon Tim Ferriss's truth about the brokenness of the traditional 9-5 work model, and how his book makes around 4k a month.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The transcript discusses the dissonance between society and the online drug dealer market.
15:24 - 20:08 (04:43)
Summary
The transcript discusses the dissonance between society and the online drug dealer market. While the market is still shady, it has become less so over the past few years, with less spamdexing and inflation.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker used to be obsessed with selling his startup until he realized the importance of community building.
20:08 - 25:46 (05:38)
Summary
The speaker used to be obsessed with selling his startup until he realized the importance of community building. His job board platform grew from $600-700K per year in revenue to $2.5M due to the pandemic boom and strong community culture.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The nomad lifestyle, an alternative to the FIRE movement, is a way of living that allows individuals to work remotely and travel the world.
25:46 - 30:36 (04:49)
Summary
The nomad lifestyle, an alternative to the FIRE movement, is a way of living that allows individuals to work remotely and travel the world. This lifestyle gained popularity among a small group of people in Silicon Valley in 2014 and has since become a popular trend.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The idea of winning the startup lottery by inventing the next big thing, or working for years to save the same outcome in paying taxes, is not the only way to become a millionaire.
30:36 - 33:59 (03:23)
Summary
The idea of winning the startup lottery by inventing the next big thing, or working for years to save the same outcome in paying taxes, is not the only way to become a millionaire. Achieving multi-million revenue is not always the goal for entrepreneurs who quickly raise VC.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
A discussion on the difficulty of finding affordable and long term rentals in expensive cities like New York.
33:59 - 38:00 (04:01)
Summary
A discussion on the difficulty of finding affordable and long term rentals in expensive cities like New York.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker talks about how the stress of constantly monitoring his digital currency investments was taking a toll on his day-to-day quality of life and highlights the need for stress-reducing products to help high-end remote tech workers manage their investments effectively.
38:00 - 43:14 (05:13)
Summary
The speaker talks about how the stress of constantly monitoring his digital currency investments was taking a toll on his day-to-day quality of life and highlights the need for stress-reducing products to help high-end remote tech workers manage their investments effectively.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
In this podcast, the speaker discusses the recent disappearance of Jack Ma and the impact it has had on the investment community's view of China, as well as the decision of companies like Vanguard to pull out of the market.
43:14 - 47:33 (04:18)
Summary
In this podcast, the speaker discusses the recent disappearance of Jack Ma and the impact it has had on the investment community's view of China, as well as the decision of companies like Vanguard to pull out of the market.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The podcast hosts discuss the value of experiences over goods and the importance of authenticity in travel and leisure activities.
47:33 - 52:30 (04:56)
Summary
The podcast hosts discuss the value of experiences over goods and the importance of authenticity in travel and leisure activities.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker discusses the philosophy of packing and the importance of meaningful work, connections with others, and personal interests as central to packing priorities.
52:30 - 55:43 (03:13)
Summary
The speaker discusses the philosophy of packing and the importance of meaningful work, connections with others, and personal interests as central to packing priorities.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
A Facebook group in a small town has created a bartering system where people can exchange goods instead of purchasing new items.
55:43 - 59:11 (03:27)
Summary
A Facebook group in a small town has created a bartering system where people can exchange goods instead of purchasing new items. This alternative lifestyle is highlighted as sustainable and environmentally conscious.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
In a podcast episode, it is mentioned that Elon Musk and Derek Sivers have similar philosophies on living a simple life, being mindful of who you want to impress, and connecting with people who are not "crazy."
59:11 - 1:02:44 (03:33)
Summary
In a podcast episode, it is mentioned that Elon Musk and Derek Sivers have similar philosophies on living a simple life, being mindful of who you want to impress, and connecting with people who are not "crazy."
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker discusses concerns about their pet's ability to handle the experience of flying, but notes that there are options for keeping a pet safe and comfortable during air travel.
1:02:44 - 1:06:09 (03:25)
Summary
The speaker discusses concerns about their pet's ability to handle the experience of flying, but notes that there are options for keeping a pet safe and comfortable during air travel.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker shares how walking around with a niece, nephew, or kid can be a great way to meet women, as it makes the person appear eclectic.
1:06:09 - 1:10:57 (04:47)
Summary
The speaker shares how walking around with a niece, nephew, or kid can be a great way to meet women, as it makes the person appear eclectic.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker expresses annoyance at the sales calls required to use location service APIs and believes that while sales teams are necessary for rapid growth, a more streamlined sales flow would be preferable.
1:10:57 - 1:15:01 (04:04)
Summary
The speaker expresses annoyance at the sales calls required to use location service APIs and believes that while sales teams are necessary for rapid growth, a more streamlined sales flow would be preferable.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The speaker emphasizes the importance of honesty and transparency in building an indie company and sharing every up and down.
1:15:02 - 1:18:39 (03:36)
Summary
The speaker emphasizes the importance of honesty and transparency in building an indie company and sharing every up and down. She also shares her personal experience of not revealing her business' earnings and avoiding commitments on social media to prevent becoming a target.
EpisodePieter Levels: Making $2.7M A Year With No Employees
PodcastMy First Million
The guest on the podcast, Alex Hermosy, talks about the benefits of making short educational videos explaining small topics, citing Derek Sivers' strategy.
1:18:39 - 1:20:01 (01:22)
Summary
The guest on the podcast, Alex Hermosy, talks about the benefits of making short educational videos explaining small topics, citing Derek Sivers' strategy.