“living the life that he wants to live that's my favorite interpretation of the Indie in Indie hacking building a life that doesn't require the approval or permission of others here or on Hacker News”

Indie hacking is building a life that requires no one's approval

The "Indie" in Indie hacking isn't a product taxonomy — it's the absence of needing anyone's approval. Investors' approval, Hacker News' approval, your old VP's approval, even the broader tech community's approval. Your business is successful if it sustains the life you want; nothing else is the scoreboard. Tony Dean built a screenshot tool, an analytics tool, and an AI wrapper that fund his life — and that's the whole win condition.