Backstory

Marc Louvion, a French indie hacker, transformed his life after hitting rock bottom in 2021—depressed, jobless, and living with his parents. Inspired by a tweet from Pieter Levels about solo entrepreneurship, he moved to Bali and adopted a rapid-product-launch approach, shipping 16 products in two years. Named Product Hunt's Maker of the Year in 2023, Marc now earns $100k-$141k/month, leveraging his 95k X followers and "build-in-public" strategy. A 2025 security issue with an app sparked controversy, but he addressed it by hiring help, maintaining his influence through engaging marketing and transparency.

The Journey

Marc's rapid shipping, inspired by Levels' "12 startups in 12 months," led to ShipFast's success, targeting indie hackers' need for quick launches. His humorous, transparent content—shared via X and YouTube—builds trust and drives sales, despite criticism for focusing on "shovels" (tools for makers).

Timeline

  • Founded: 2021
  • Team Size: Solo founder
  • Industry: Developer Tools

Products & Ventures

ShipFast

A NextJS boilerplate for SaaS startups, integrating landing pages, authentication, and Stripe payments

Visit Product →

CodeFast

A coding and monetization tool

LogoFast

A logo design tool funneling users to his ecosystem

Habits Garden

A sold habit-tracking app that reached 10,000 users

Key Insights from X

"In 2021, I was depressed, living with my parents and 0 income. One day, I saw a tweet from @levelsio: A guy building startups with a laptop and no employee — Freedom. I took the plunge, moved to Bali, and shipped like a madman. I showed up every day, even when I didn't feel"

Jan 24, 2024 View Tweet →

"Free tool marketing: - Helped @tibo_maker grow Tweet Hunter to $10M ARR - Increased @DanKulkov's revenue by 226% - Added 2,000 users to my habit tracker"

Jan 21, 2024 View Tweet →

Key Strategies

  • 🎯 Rapid product shipping (16 products in 2 years)
  • 🎯 Build-in-public strategy on X
  • 🎯 Viral video skits and engaging content
  • 🎯 Ecosystem approach with interconnected products
  • 🎯 Transparent revenue sharing

Challenges & Lessons

  • ⚠️ Security issues with apps
  • ⚠️ Criticism for focusing on "shovels" vs real solutions
  • ⚠️ Managing multiple products simultaneously