Justin Chu

I do engineering & growth things at I also make my own games at

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

My indie hacker journey has always been fueled by inspiration from others

Back in 2016, @csallen's first IH interviews he shared on HN opened my eyes to a new path

Then @dvassallo's 2019 post about leaving his cushy AWS job to go indie was huge because it had parallels with my own career trajectory

During COVID, I quit my job to focus on my own projects and I was inspired by a new wave of indie makers, @dagorenouf was a huge part of that community

Now, nearly 10 years after my indie dreams first started, I got to chat through my indie journey with @dagorenouf on his podcast

Hopefully I can pay it forward and inspire the next wave of indie creators

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

@LubaYudasina @thesamparr Really great interview! I think @thesamparr is such a great role model, especially for aspiring entrepreneurs.

His confident honesty and commitment to a balanced life is super inspiring.

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

Sneak peek at some big changes I made in prep for Black Friday promos for https://t.co/spUTSro9Y4 this week:
- Adding in some awesome new artwork that Enrico, my artist for Bullish! did (📷@o_enricao on IG)
- When you buy a game, you will get coupons you can share with friends!

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

@dagorenouf I think the “superpower” for indie hackers is being so small and lean that you can profitably target tiny niches that VC’s wouldn’t bother investing in.

Indie hacking is much harder IMO because there is no safety net and you often have to do *everything* yourself

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

@dagorenouf I like following you because you aren’t afraid to shift. Way more authentic to real life!

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

Regardless, I think even the busiest of indie hackers wants to have a fun, memorable time w/ close friends!

LaunchDay #4 discounts expire in the next 16 hours - get all 3 games for the price of one

And just like board games, only you need to own the game.

Get it while you can!
https://t.co/9jtkvjgJLf

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

When I had a booth for my games at Gen Con 2021, Mobo Games was able to surpass $1k+ in sales for the first time.

I learned how to sell my games in person, and how important it was to sell to people when they were in the right mindset.

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

When I chose to be a part of Launch Day #4, I knew selling games would be an uphill battle.

Most viewers would be looking for B2B tools instead, not games (@dagorenouf fully warned me ahead of time, too).

I mainly just wanted to support and be a part of this growing community of indie hackers. It also gave me an external deadline to work towards.

If I make a few sales? Just the icing on top.

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

Launch Day #4 is live! 🎉🎉

It’s surreal to have my games be a part of a launch day with @dvassallo, one of my biggest indie hacker inspirations

Check it out: https://t.co/hfdX3x3hYs

[Dagobert @dagorenouf]

LaunchDay #4 starts now 🥳

I met with 11 indie makers from all over the world, each with a unique story:
- Arthur is just 20 years old, but already runs a 5-people agency. He recently started building his own products on the side
- Daniel left Malta for the USA a few years ago to work for AWS, then became one of the most successful indie makers in the world
- Lera quit her regular design job to build her own productized service, and now has a team of 5 people working for her
- ...and 8 more amazing people

Today they're all on https://t.co/WaPyqDQtFg, giving a huge discount on their products, for 48 hours only ⚡

So if you love indie makers, please go check them out, and retweet this post for reach.

Time to come together and help each other out 💙

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

In <10 hours, I'll be the first indie game maker on @dagorenouf's next LaunchDay (with the BIGGEST discount I've ever offered)

👀 2 characters from my latest game, Bullish! (real-time stock trading + deckbuilding) are pumped!!

(okay, maybe just one of them is excited)

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

Links
- Watch my convo w/ @dagorenouf on YT: https://t.co/46cKWSYi4w

- The first of @csallen's IndieHacker interviews that caught my eye: https://t.co/KZhQyE6LN6

- @dvassallo's "Only Intrinsic Motivation Lasts" (2019) that was a huge inspiration for me: https://t.co/KQcOW6WMeU

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

My indie hacker journey has always been fueled by inspiration from others

Back in 2016, @csallen's first IH interviews he shared on HN opened my eyes to a new path

Then @dvassallo's 2019 post about leaving his cushy AWS job to go indie was huge because it had parallels with my own career trajectory

During COVID, I quit my job to focus on my own projects and I was inspired by a new wave of indie makers, @dagorenouf was a huge part of that community

Now, nearly 10 years after my indie dreams first started, I got to chat through my indie journey with @dagorenouf on his podcast

Hopefully I can pay it forward and inspire the next wave of indie creators

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

@arvidkahl Tailwind has legitimately made frontend dev much more enjoyable and productive for me.

I learned about it via @IndieHackers podcast, and years later helped introduce it to the startup I work at.

(Honorable mention to their book Refactoring UI as well!)

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

@adamwathan 30% -> I know the tailwind naming, but just want to see the docs

50% -> I search by CSS name (or something similar)

20% -> I search without knowing either

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

While refactoring my side project, I discovered this masterful code I wrote at some point:

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

@AprilynneAlter @MeetKevon Can maybe snooze the email for 3 days or so?

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

Link to full write-up:
https://t.co/TCTsXiEi1I

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

Feel fortunate that in my day job I get to work with game studios making cool multiplayer games I actually want to play.

I helped @PlayWildcard prep for their @DreamHack Atlanta booth and got to write about it!

(+bonus get to hone my Figma skills to make these graphics)

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

@thepatwalls Wow! Love seeing board game design community overlapping with the indie hacker/entrepreneur community.

One thing worth noting is that margins can be kinda rough (materials costs, shipping).

@BGDesignLab has an amazing podcast where he interviews board game designers.

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

@RandallKanna 2.5. “How was this even working in the first place??” 😂

[Justin Chu @jstnchu]

Had a blast at #PAXWest2023 this year. My favorite game was easily @ShotOne_ (think Frisbee + Air Hockey + Overwatch).

It was fun meeting the team behind it! Here I am with Andrew, one of the game’s creators.