Learning from Pieter Levels: Lessons for Individual Developers

Pieter Levels (@levelsio) is one of the most successful indie hackers and solo developers of our time. From building million-dollar businesses from his laptop while traveling the world to pioneering the digital nomad movement, Levels has created a blueprint that individual developers can learn from. Let’s explore his most famous projects and extract actionable lessons for aspiring solo developers.

🆕 2025 Update: Recent Developments

Updated December 2025

Current Revenue Numbers

Project Monthly Revenue Notes
Photo AI ~$155,000 >$1.8M ARR, flagship AI product
Interior AI ~$50,000 Steady performer
Fly Pieter ~$5,000 New AI-built game
Total Portfolio $3.1M+ annually Solo-founded startups

New Project: Fly Pieter (February 2025)

Pieter launched Fly Pieter, a browser-based flight simulator built entirely with AI:

  • How it was built: Used Cursor AI + Three.js
  • Peak concurrent players: 17,000
  • Monetization: In-game ads + aircraft purchases
  • Elon Musk praised the project as an example of AI’s potential in gaming

This project exemplifies the new era of AI-assisted development—Pieter built a functional flight simulator without being a game developer, purely by leveraging AI coding tools.

Major Investment: $1M+ in Alphabet (December 2025)

In a surprising move, Pieter invested over $1 million in Google’s parent company Alphabet—notable because he was a longtime vocal critic of Google.

Why the change of heart?

  • Return of co-founder Sergey Brin to lead AI efforts
  • Google’s TPU (tensor processing unit) hardware advances
  • Belief that “hardware is the end game” for AI dominance
  • Views Google as positioned to compete with xAI and Chinese AI companies

Key 2025 Insights

  1. AI-first development: Now building products faster than ever using Cursor AI
  2. Diversified income: Expanded beyond SaaS into games and strategic investments
  3. Continued transparency: Still publicly sharing revenue numbers on X/Twitter
  4. Betting on AI infrastructure: Moving from just building AI apps to investing in AI companies

Famous Projects by Pieter Levels

1. Nomads

What it is: A platform and community for digital nomads to find the best cities to work remotely from, complete with cost of living data, internet speeds, weather, and safety ratings.

Success metrics:

  • Generates over $500k+ annually
  • 50,000+ members in the community
  • Became the de facto resource for digital nomads worldwide

Impact: Helped establish the remote work culture and was eventually acquired.

2. Hoodmaps

What it is: A crowdsourced map that shows the character of different neighborhoods in cities around the world, color-coded by attributes like “hipster,” “rich,” “suits,” etc.

Innovation: Simple concept with viral potential that provides real value to travelers and locals.

3. PhotoAI

What it is: An AI-powered service that generates professional photos of people using just a few uploaded selfies.

Success metrics:

  • ~$155,000 MRR (as of late 2025)
  • Over $1.8M annual run rate
  • Flagship AI product in his portfolio

Business model: Subscription tiers with majority of users on Premium plan ($99/month).

4. InteriorAI

What it is: AI-powered interior design tool that can redesign rooms from photos.

Success metrics:

  • ~$50,000 MRR
  • Steady growth following PhotoAI’s success

Strategy: Replicated the PhotoAI model in a different vertical.

5. Fly Pieter (New in 2025)

What it is: A browser-based flight simulator built entirely using AI coding tools.

Success metrics:

  • 17,000 peak concurrent players
  • ~$5,000/month from ads and in-game purchases
  • Built in weeks using Cursor AI + Three.js

Innovation: Demonstrates that AI tools enable solo developers to build products in domains they have no prior expertise in.

Key Lessons for Individual Developers

1. Solve Your Own Problems First

Pieter consistently builds solutions to problems he personally experiences. Nomad List came from his own struggles finding good places to work remotely as a digital nomad.

Actionable takeaway:

  • Start with problems you face daily
  • You’ll understand the pain points intimately
  • You’ll be your own first user and can validate quickly

2. Ship Fast and Iterate

Levels is famous for building and launching projects incredibly quickly, sometimes in just days or weeks.

His approach:

  • Build MVP in 1-2 weeks
  • Launch publicly immediately
  • Iterate based on user feedback
  • Don’t overthink the initial version

Actionable takeaway:

  • Set artificial deadlines to force shipping
  • 80% ready is better than never shipping
  • Users will tell you what to improve

3. Build in Public

Pieter shares his journey, revenue numbers, and lessons learned publicly on Twitter and his blog.

Benefits:

  • Builds an audience before the product
  • Creates accountability
  • Generates free marketing
  • Establishes thought leadership

Actionable takeaway:

  • Share your building process on social media
  • Be transparent about successes and failures
  • Document your learning journey

4. Keep Technology Simple

Despite building successful tech products, Pieter often uses simple tech stacks and avoids over-engineering.

His philosophy:

  • Use familiar technologies
  • Avoid complex architectures initially
  • Focus on functionality over technical perfection
  • Optimize for development speed, not engineering beauty

Actionable takeaway:

  • Choose technologies you’re comfortable with
  • Resist the urge to use the latest frameworks
  • Simple solutions often scale better than complex ones

5. Revenue-First Mindset

Levels focuses on generating revenue from day one rather than building for millions of users first.

Strategies:

  • Simple payment systems (Stripe)
  • Clear value propositions
  • Direct monetization models
  • Focus on paying customers, not just users

Actionable takeaway:

  • Build revenue streams into your MVP
  • Validate willingness to pay early
  • Small paying user base > large free user base

6. Community-Driven Growth

Many of Levels’ projects succeed because they build strong communities around them.

Examples:

  • Nomad List Slack community
  • Twitter engagement
  • User-generated content

Actionable takeaway:

  • Build community features from the start
  • Encourage user interaction and content creation
  • Be active in your own community

Pieter is excellent at identifying and riding waves:

  • Digital nomadism (2014)
  • Remote work (2015+)
  • AI boom (2022+)
  • AI-assisted development (2024+)

Actionable takeaway:

  • Stay aware of emerging trends
  • Build solutions that align with societal shifts
  • Don’t be afraid to pivot to trending markets

8. Embrace AI-Assisted Development

In 2025, Pieter has fully embraced AI coding tools like Cursor AI to accelerate development.

How he uses AI:

  • Built Fly Pieter (a flight simulator) without game dev experience
  • Uses AI to prototype ideas in hours instead of weeks
  • Treats AI as a multiplier for solo developer productivity

Actionable takeaway:

  • Learn to use AI coding assistants effectively
  • AI enables building in domains you don’t have expertise in
  • Speed of iteration matters more than ever—AI helps you ship faster

9. Bootstrap and Stay Independent

Levels has largely bootstrapped his projects, maintaining control and keeping all profits.

Benefits:

  • No investor pressure
  • Complete creative control
  • Keep 100% of profits
  • Faster decision making

Actionable takeaway:

  • Start with personal savings or early revenue
  • Grow organically when possible
  • Consider alternatives to VC funding

10. Use Data to Make Decisions

Despite his rapid shipping approach, Levels uses data extensively to improve his products.

Examples:

  • A/B testing different features
  • Analytics to understand user behavior
  • Surveys and direct user feedback

Actionable takeaway:

  • Implement analytics from day one
  • Make decisions based on user behavior, not assumptions
  • Regularly survey your users

11. Marketing Through Transparency

Levels markets his products by sharing the behind-the-scenes process of building them.

Strategies:

  • Tweet about daily progress
  • Share revenue numbers
  • Explain technical decisions
  • Document failures and learnings

Actionable takeaway:

  • Your building process is content
  • Transparency builds trust and audience
  • Education-based marketing works

Common Patterns in Levels’ Success

The “Boring” Business Model

Many of Levels’ successful projects solve mundane but important problems rather than trying to be revolutionary.

Rapid Validation

He launches quickly and lets the market determine what deserves more investment.

Personal Brand

His personal brand amplifies every project he launches, showing the value of building in public over time.

Global Perspective

His projects often serve international markets, not just local ones.

Key Takeaways for Individual Developers

  1. Start small but think global: Build simple solutions that can scale internationally
  2. Speed beats perfection: Launch fast and improve based on real user feedback
  3. Build your audience while building your product: Use social media to document your journey
  4. Focus on revenue early: Validate that people will pay for your solution
  5. Solve real problems: Start with problems you personally experience
  6. Keep it simple: Complex solutions are harder to build, maintain, and explain
  7. Be consistent: Ship regularly and maintain momentum
  8. Learn from data: Let user behavior guide your product decisions
  9. Leverage AI tools: Use AI coding assistants to build faster and expand into new domains

Conclusion

Pieter Levels has shown that individual developers can build successful, profitable businesses without teams, funding, or complex technology. His approach prioritizes speed, simplicity, and solving real problems over technical perfection or revolutionary innovation.

The key is not to copy his exact projects, but to adopt his mindset: ship fast, build in public, solve real problems, and focus on revenue. In an industry often obsessed with the next big thing, Levels proves that consistent execution on simple ideas can lead to extraordinary success.

Whether you’re a solo developer looking to build your first product or an experienced developer considering going independent, Pieter Levels’ journey offers a proven roadmap for building successful businesses as an individual developer.

Recent Interviews & Talks

Want to learn more directly from Pieter? Check out these recent interviews:

2024-2025 Appearances

Lex Fridman Podcast #440 (August 2024)

  • 3+ hour deep dive into his entrepreneurial journey
  • Topics: Programming, viral AI startups, digital nomad life
  • Discusses building 40+ startups and what he learned

Cheeky Pint Podcast (July 2025)

  • Building in public philosophy
  • Digital nomad lifestyle insights
  • Validating ideas and building sustainable businesses

My First Million Podcast (July 2022)

  • How he makes $2.7M+/year with no employees
  • Solopreneurship strategies
  • Behind-the-scenes of his business model

Follow His Journey

  • X/Twitter: @levelsio - Daily updates, revenue numbers, and transparent building in public
  • Blog: levels.io - Long-form posts about his experiences and insights

What aspects of Pieter Levels’ approach resonate most with your development journey? Are there specific lessons you’d like to implement in your own projects?