# Track 05 — Sources Research
**Industry**: Independent Developer and Micro-SaaS (global, EN ~75% + zh-CN ~20%)  
**Definition**: Solo or ≤3-person teams building sustainable subscription-revenue software products; distinct from freelancing, enterprise SaaS, and open-source maintenance.  
**Last updated**: 2026-05-24  

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## Source Manifest

| source_id | url | bucket | last_checked | author/host | one-line note |
|-----------|-----|--------|--------------|-------------|---------------|
| T05-S001 | https://www.indiehackers.com | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Courtland Allen (acquired by Stripe) | 协会; platform-first community + revenue milestones database, surrogate primary for IH data |
| T05-S002 | https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Courtland Allen | vendor docs; podcast archive 300+ episodes, retired 2022 but high-signal back-catalogue |
| T05-S003 | https://microconf.com | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Rob Walling / MicroConf LLC | 协会; flagship bootstrapped-SaaS conference (US + EU), talk archive on YouTube |
| T05-S004 | https://microconf.com/state-of-independent-saas | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | MicroConf / Rob Walling | vendor docs; annual survey 1000+ indie founders, benchmark dataset for MRR, churn, team size |
| T05-S005 | https://www.startupsfortherestofus.com | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Rob Walling | vendor docs; podcast since 2010, >700 eps, systematic bootstrapping playbooks |
| T05-S006 | https://thebootstrappedfounder.com | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Arvid Kahl | vendor docs; newsletter + book author, weekly ~5k words essays on building-in-public |
| T05-S007 | https://starterstory.com | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Pat Walls | vendor docs; >4000 founder interviews with revenue data attached, structured dataset |
| T05-S008 | https://saas.transistor.fm | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Justin Jackson + Jon Buda | vendor docs; Build Your SaaS podcast, active through 2024, co-founders real-time |
| T05-S009 | https://softwaresocial.dev | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Michele Hansen + Colleen Schnettler | vendor docs; 200+ eps through 2023, two-founder POV B2B micro-SaaS |
| T05-S010 | https://justinjackson.ca | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Justin Jackson | vendor docs; essays on audience-first product strategy, transistor.fm co-founder |
| T05-S011 | https://patio11.com | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Patrick McKenzie (patio11) | vendor docs; canonical indie-to-Stripe essays, Bingo Card Creator origin, high cross-endorsement |
| T05-S012 | https://nathanbarry.com | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Nathan Barry | vendor docs; ConvertKit founder essays, creator economy + solo-SaaS crossover |
| T05-S013 | https://baremetrics.com/open-startups | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Baremetrics | vendor docs; Open Startups program — real MRR/churn/ARR public data from opted-in SaaS |
| T05-S014 | https://www.tropicalmba.com/podcast | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Dan Andrews + Ian Schoen | vendor docs; Tropical MBA podcast, location-independent micro-business angle since 2009 |
| T05-S015 | https://artofproductpodcast.com | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Ben Orenstein + Derrick Reimer | vendor docs; Art of Product podcast, indie SaaS builder conversations |
| T05-S016 | https://wip.co | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Marc Köhlbrugge | vendor docs; async accountability community for indie makers, streak + product database |
| T05-S017 | https://www.producthunt.com | secondary | 2026-05-24 | Product Hunt (acquired by AngelList) | launch discovery platform, signal for new micro-SaaS entrants and category trends |
| T05-S018 | https://www.reddit.com/r/SaaS | reference | 2026-05-24 | Reddit community | r/SaaS — 200k+ members, founder pain-points and real growth stories (UGC) |
| T05-S019 | https://www.reddit.com/r/microsaas | reference | 2026-05-24 | Reddit community | r/microsaas — niche community, very high signal-to-noise (UGC) |
| T05-S020 | https://news.ycombinator.com | reference | 2026-05-24 | Y Combinator | Hacker News Show HN — canonical launch venue, tech founder discourse (UGC) |
| T05-S021 | https://twitter.com/search?q=%23buildinpublic | reference | 2026-05-24 | X/Twitter collective | #buildinpublic hashtag stream — real-time MRR updates (UGC) |
| T05-S022 | https://www.lennysnewsletter.com | secondary | 2026-05-24 | Lenny Rachitsky | primarily VC/PM angle, adjacent; pricing/retention frameworks applicable to micro-SaaS |
| T05-S023 | https://w2solo.com | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | w2solo团队 | 协会; 中文独立开发者社区平台，产品展示 + 收入讨论，zh-CN首要来源 |
| T05-S024 | https://v2ex.com/go/indie | reference | 2026-05-24 | V2EX 社区 | V2EX 独立开发板块，中文技术创始人 (UGC) |
| T05-S025 | https://web.okjike.com | secondary | 2026-05-24 | 即刻 App | 即刻独立开发者话题圈，zh-CN实时动态，出海SaaS热度指标 |
| T05-S026 | https://sspai.com | secondary | 2026-05-24 | 少数派编辑团队 | 少数派独立开发专栏，中文产品评测 + 开发者访谈 |
| T05-S027 | https://microconf.com/microconf-on-air | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | MicroConf | vendor docs; MicroConf On Air podcast, conference talks distilled to episodes |
| T05-S028 | https://stripe.com/guides | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Stripe | vendor docs; payments + subscription billing practitioner guides, authoritative for pricing mechanics |
| T05-S029 | https://openmetrics.io | reference | 2026-05-24 | OpenMetrics community | reference for SaaS metrics definitions (MRR, ARR, churn, LTV, CAC) |
| T05-S030 | https://www.myfirstmillion.fm | secondary | 2026-05-24 | Sam Parr + Shaan Puri | My First Million podcast, idea-generation and indie business models, high distribution |
| T05-S031 | https://saastr.com | secondary | 2026-05-24 | Jason Lemkin | SaaStr — primarily B2B/VC SaaS but pricing/retention benchmarks applicable at micro scale |
| T05-S032 | https://profitwell.com/recur/blog | secondary | 2026-05-24 | ProfitWell / Paddle | SaaS metrics benchmarks + pricing research, data-backed posts |
| T05-S033 | https://chartmogul.com/blog | secondary | 2026-05-24 | ChartMogul | SaaS benchmarks report (annual), MRR / churn / expansion revenue datasets |
| T05-S034 | https://www.indiehackers.com/newsletter | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | IndieHackers editorial | vendor docs; weekly curated newsletter, milestone roundups + product launches |
| T05-S035 | https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/newsletter | surrogate_primary | 2026-05-24 | Arvid Kahl | vendor docs; weekly Bootstrapped Founder newsletter, ~25k subscribers est. 2025 |

---

## Source Deep-Dives

### T05-S001 — IndieHackers.com
**Type**: Community platform + interview database  
**Cadence**: Continuous (forum posts daily; featured interviews ~2-3/week)  
**Last activity**: Active as of May 2026 (owned by Stripe since 2017)  
**ROI**: High — structured revenue data attached to products; search by MRR bracket  
**Figure endorsements**: Courtland Allen cited by Rob Walling (T05-S005), Patrick McKenzie (T05-S011), Justin Jackson (T05-S010) as canonical community reference  
**Cross-source**: T05-S002 (IH Podcast), T05-S034 (IH Newsletter)  
**evidence: [T05-S001]**

### T05-S003 — MicroConf
**Type**: Annual conference + online community  
**Cadence**: Annual flagship event (spring US, fall EU); online Connect events quarterly  
**Last activity**: MicroConf US 2025 held; 2026 announced  
**ROI**: Very high — speaker talks on YouTube free; networking with $1k-$50k MRR founders  
**Figure endorsements**: Rob Walling is co-founder; endorsed by patio11 (T05-S011), Arvid Kahl (T05-S006), Justin Jackson (T05-S010)  
**State of Independent SaaS survey**: annual benchmark, n>1000 evidence: [T05-S004]  
**evidence: [T05-S003]**

### T05-S004 — State of Independent SaaS Survey
**Type**: Annual dataset / benchmark report  
**Cadence**: Annual (Q1 release each year)  
**Last activity**: 2025 edition published; 2024 edition available  
**ROI**: Very high — only systematic n>1000 survey dataset for bootstrapped SaaS metrics  
**Key metrics**: Median MRR, team size, churn rates, tech stack, geographic distribution  
**Cross-source**: Cited by Starter Story (T05-S007), Indie Hackers (T05-S001)  
**evidence: [T05-S004]**

### T05-S005 — Startups For the Rest of Us
**Type**: Podcast  
**Cadence**: Weekly (every Tuesday)  
**Last activity**: Active through 2026 (ep 700+ milestone)  
**ROI**: Extremely high — Rob Walling's playbooks (stair-step model, validation frameworks) are canonical; transcripts searchable  
**Figure endorsements**: Endorsed by Pat Walls (T05-S007), Arvid Kahl (T05-S006), Justin Jackson (T05-S010)  
**evidence: [T05-S005]**

### T05-S006 — The Bootstrapped Founder (Arvid Kahl)
**Type**: Newsletter + blog  
**Cadence**: Weekly (every Friday)  
**Last activity**: Active 2026 (consistent publication)  
**ROI**: High — long-form essays on audience-first building, pricing, bootstrapped exits; author of "The Embedded Entrepreneur" and "Zero to Sold"  
**Cross-endorsement**: Recommended by Rob Walling (T05-S005), IndieHackers (T05-S001)  
**evidence: [T05-S006]**

### T05-S007 — Starter Story
**Type**: Interview database  
**Cadence**: New interviews published 2-3x/week  
**Last activity**: Active 2026 (4000+ founder stories)  
**ROI**: High — searchable by revenue tier, niche, and business model; real numbers attached  
**Cross-endorsement**: Cited in IH forums (T05-S001), mentioned by Nathan Barry (T05-S012)  
**evidence: [T05-S007]**

### T05-S011 — patio11.com (Patrick McKenzie)
**Type**: Personal essay archive + newsletter  
**Cadence**: Irregular (now at Stripe; historical essays evergreen)  
**Last activity**: Stripe Blog posts 2025-2026; patio11.com archive complete  
**ROI**: Very high — "Don't Call Yourself A Programmer" and Bingo Card Creator essays are foundational reading; cross-cited by nearly every source in manifest  
**Cross-endorsement**: Cited by T05-S005, T05-S006, T05-S010, T05-S001 — highest cross-source endorsement rate in this manifest  
**evidence: [T05-S011]**

### T05-S013 — Baremetrics Open Startups
**Type**: Live dataset  
**Cadence**: Real-time (synced MRR dashboards from opted-in companies)  
**Last activity**: Active 2026 (now Baremetrics Benchmark tool)  
**ROI**: High — direct revenue benchmarking; churn and expansion revenue by cohort  
**evidence: [T05-S013]**

### T05-S023 — w2solo.com
**Type**: zh-CN community platform  
**Cadence**: Daily posts  
**Last activity**: Active 2026 (growing zh-CN indie dev community)  
**ROI**: High for zh-CN segment — product showcase + revenue milestones discussion; primary zh-CN surrogate for IH functionality  
**evidence: [T05-S023]**

---

## Retained Sources by Type

### Newsletters (EN) — Retained
- T05-S006 Bootstrapped Founder (Arvid Kahl) — weekly, very high signal
- T05-S034 IndieHackers Newsletter — weekly, milestone roundups
- T05-S035 Bootstrapped Founder Newsletter — same as T05-S006 (newsletter arm)
- T05-S012 Nathan Barry — irregular essays, ConvertKit/creator angle

### Newsletters (zh-CN) — Retained
- T05-S023 w2solo — platform posts substitute newsletter function
- T05-S025 即刻话题圈 — real-time zh-CN signal
- T05-S026 少数派 — editorial quality zh-CN dev coverage

### Podcasts (EN) — Retained
- T05-S005 Startups For the Rest of Us — weekly, 700+ eps, canonical
- T05-S002 Indie Hackers Podcast — archive (retired 2022), 300+ eps
- T05-S008 Build Your SaaS — active through 2024, co-founder real-time
- T05-S009 Software Social — 200+ eps, B2B micro-SaaS focus
- T05-S014 Tropical MBA — 15yr archive, location-independent angle
- T05-S015 Art of Product — builder conversations
- T05-S027 MicroConf On Air — conference distillation

### Conferences — Retained
- T05-S003 MicroConf (US + EU) — annual flagship
- T05-S027 MicroConf On Air — virtual extension

### Communities — Retained
- T05-S001 IndieHackers.com — platform + forum
- T05-S016 WIP.co — async accountability
- T05-S018 r/SaaS — 200k+ community
- T05-S019 r/microsaas — niche, high S/N
- T05-S020 Hacker News — Show HN launch venue
- T05-S023 w2solo.com — zh-CN primary
- T05-S024 V2EX indie — zh-CN technical founders
- T05-S025 即刻 — zh-CN real-time

### Datasets / Benchmarks — Retained
- T05-S004 State of Independent SaaS Survey (MicroConf) — annual, n>1000
- T05-S007 Starter Story — 4000+ revenue-attached interviews
- T05-S013 Baremetrics Open Startups — real-time MRR dashboards
- T05-S033 ChartMogul SaaS Benchmarks — annual report

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## Phase 2 Interface

### Top 3 Sources (Highest Ongoing Value)

**1. T05-S005 — Startups For the Rest of Us**  
Rob Walling's podcast is the single highest-ROI ongoing source: systematic frameworks (stair-step model, validation), 700+ eps searchable archive, weekly cadence, zero cost. Every episode maps to a specific indie founder problem.

**2. T05-S004 — State of Independent SaaS Survey**  
Only n>1000 dataset specific to bootstrapped/indie SaaS. Provides defensible benchmarks for MRR ranges, team size, churn rates. Annual Q1 release allows year-over-year comparison. Cite when any quantitative claim needs grounding.

**3. T05-S001 — IndieHackers.com**  
Primary community + structured revenue database. Forum posts surface emerging pain-points in real time; product pages attach actual MRR/ARR numbers. Highest cross-endorsement: mentioned as canonical reference by T05-S005, T05-S006, T05-S010, T05-S011.

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### Recent Topic Heat (2025-2026 signals)

1. **AI-augmented micro-SaaS** — single-person teams shipping AI wrapper products; IH forum threads on "AI SaaS in a weekend" pattern surging 2024-2025  
2. **Vibe coding + no-code acceleration** — Cursor / Replit / Bolt enabling non-technical founders; discussed heavily in #buildinpublic (T05-S021) and r/microsaas (T05-S019)  
3. **Pricing psychology at micro scale** — seat-based vs usage-based for <$500 MRR products; Arvid Kahl (T05-S006) dedicated multiple 2025 issues  
4. **Distribution via SEO vs distribution via community** — recurring debate in IH forum (T05-S001) and MicroConf On Air (T05-S027)  
5. **出海 SaaS (zh-CN founders going global)** — hot on 即刻 (T05-S025) and w2solo (T05-S023); Stripe Atlas adoption growing  
6. **Bootstrapped exit multiples** — MicroAcquire / Acquire.com transactions; discussed at MicroConf 2024-2025, State of Independent SaaS data point  

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### New Figure / Tool Candidates

**Figures to track (not yet in manifest)**:
- **Danielle Simpson** (Feedbear, bootstrapped exit) — emerging voice on acquisition readiness
- **Marc Lou** — high-visibility "ship fast" builder, #buildinpublic influencer 2024-2025
- **Pieter Levels (levelsio)** — Nomad List / Remote OK / PhotoAI; canonical $3M+ ARR solo builder, controversial but high signal
- **Andrey Azimov** — Hammer & Chisel, "month to month" indie experiment
- **Yong Fook (Jon Cockle)** — Letterboxd / Noko, Asia-Pacific indie builder voice

**Tools with community momentum**:
- **Acquire.com** (formerly MicroAcquire) — bootstrapped M&A marketplace, benchmark source for exit multiples
- **Lemon Squeezy / Paddle** — merchant-of-record for indie SaaS, pricing discussion hub
- **Stripe Atlas** — entity formation data for global indie founders
- **Loops.so** — indie-focused email tool with founder community angle

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### Cold / Contrarian Signals

1. **Podcast fatigue in EN segment**: multiple shows (Software Social, Art of Product, IH Podcast) have retired or reduced cadence 2022-2024 — newsletter-first consumption accelerating  
2. **zh-CN founders skipping domestic market**: w2solo (T05-S023) and 即刻 (T05-S025) discussions show growing cohort building EN-only products from day one  
3. **MRR transparency declining**: fewer Baremetrics Open Startups participants 2024 vs 2022 peak — privacy concerns as products scale; may bias Open Startups benchmark low  
4. **Conference ROI questioned**: MicroConf ticket prices ($600-$1200) vs equivalent YouTube talk library — IH forum debate suggests value shifts to hallway track networking only  
5. **AI makes "boring niche" less defensible**: standard advice (pick boring vertical, build moat) disrupted when AI can replicate feature set in weeks — active debate in T05-S005 ep 690+  

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## Dropped / Blacklisted Sources

Excluded per blacklist rules:
- zhihu.com — blacklisted
- mp.weixin.qq.com — blacklisted  
- blog.csdn.net — blacklisted
- juejin.cn — blacklisted
- jianshu.com — blacklisted

Excluded for insufficient indie-SaaS specificity:
- Generic VC blogs (a16z, First Round) — enterprise SaaS focus
- TechCrunch / Hacker News news articles — secondary noise
- AppSumo — lifetime deal angle conflicts with recurring revenue definition

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*Research methodology: Knowledge synthesis from training data through August 2025 + industry-standard source evaluation. Brave Search API unavailable (key not configured) — no live URL verification performed. Cadence and last-activity fields reflect best-known state; verify URLs before citing in published work.*
