This hits very close to home, so I'll provide as much advice I can give. First: don't focus solely on the huge product launch / startup mentality. As a solo de

This hits very close to home, so I'll provide as much advice I can give. First: don't focus solely on the huge product launch / startup mentality. As a solo dev this is a recipe for a depressive disaster. Instead, I recommend you do a mix of things, like creating youtube videos, software courses, software consulting, and so on. This way you cast a wide net and if any one of those areas doesn't do well or hits a rough patch, you can put more effort into the others. Yeah, it's a grind, but that's kind of the social contract we sign when we go indy / soloprenuer. I have a modest following and I very often repeat your warnings about these so called digital nomad gurus and entrepeneuers, at least those you see all the time on socials. I hate that whole scene - the crap those people push out is mind bogglingly useless banter. It even drove me to delete my Twitter completely a few months back because I kept seeing like 6 of the same software accounts upvoted to the moon just by repeating stupid trope without any hands on advice, implementations, or anything of any real actionable value. Those people either got lucky or were first to market, but the overwhelming majority of them don't know a damn thing about software, let alone building full stack products or apps used by real customers. However, as you've said yourself: building any successful startup is extremely hard, time consuming, and can be extremely frustrating at times. If it helps further, I was exactly where you were only a few weeks ago and I posted nearly the same thing here on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33835532 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33835532. This industry is unforgiving and we all have weeks or even months of dark times. I had just felt cheated by a few people I had otherwise trusted (so a slightly difference sense than your post I guess, but same discouraged theme). Fast forward two weeks later and I'm working for myself again and loving it. and usually, once you're an entrepeneuer, it likely won't go away ;) just don't force it, who knows, you may return with a badass product weeks, months, or years from today! Hope this helps and that you can enjoy the holiday season with whomever you may have in your life. Take a break! Best of luck, happy holidays, and best wishes.