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Pieter Levels

What Pieter Levels thinks about startups

@pieter-levels · 179 positions · 2 changes of mind · On ppll ↗

Dutch bootstrapper who builds and runs his internet startups alone — Nomads.com, Remote OK, Hoodmaps, Photo AI and Interior AI — and has written about it at levels.io since 2013. Posts as @levelsio.

Pieter Levels did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

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Only Pieter Levels on startups. See everyone on startups

15 dated positions, 2024 to 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Pieter Levels has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingAI seems, in the author's view, great at combining many data sources such as bank, health, air quality, revenue, and email data into one.

    Their wordsI think AI great in combining lots of different data sources from your bank accounts, health sensor data, air quality sensor data, your startup revenue data from Stripe, investment returns, emails etc into one

    ↗@levelsio on Xx.com

  2. 12 days earlier

  3. Our readingSoftware is mostly dead and hardware is the way forward, as new Silicon Valley startups aren't even building software anymore.

    Silicon Valley

    Their wordsIn the most early adopting tech pioneering place that's Silicon Valley new startups aren't even building software anymore And it's debatable if anyone will actually need a custom harness or it won't just be generically offered by the AI frontier companies So software is mostly dead and hardware it is

    ↗Y Combinator's batch only has harness or hardware startups, so software is mostly deadlevels.io

  4. 12 days earlier

  5. Our readingIndie hackers are pivoting toward content, audience and distribution to find some moat, essentially becoming influencers.

    Their wordsSo indie hackers are pivoting toward content, audience and distribution to find some moat, essentially becoming influencers

    ↗@levelsio on Xx.com

  6. 5 weeks earlier

  7. Our readingBig AI is cannibalising the app businesses indie hackers used to build, and their revenue and traffic are falling as a result.

    Their wordsI'm seeing a trend here of declining revenue and traffic with indiehackers On my own projects too Maybe big VC products too but I wouldn't know cause they don't share revenue To me it seems clear BigAI is cannibalizing everything that used to be apps

    ↗BigAI is cannibalizing everything that used to be apps for indiehackerslevels.io

  8. 6 days earlier

  9. Our reading · no longer heldNow that everyone can build apps with AI, distribution is the thing that separates who wins.

    creativity

    No longer holdsI thought it'd be distribution but who knows, obviously creativity and ideas, but if you can copy a successful app in an hour, then how does that differentiating work?

    SaidI thought it'd be distribution but who knows, obviously creativity and ideas, but if you can copy a successful app in an hour, then how does that differentiating work?

    ↗Superintelligence has passed us and we're all running after the carrotlevels.io

  10. 2 days earlier

  11. Our readingAbout 5% is the most common final ownership stake for the founder of a VC-funded startup that works out.

    Their wordsYou think this is crazy low but ~5% ownership probably the most common final % most VC funded startups will have when they work out, especially when you have a co-founder

    ↗5% ownership is probably the most common final stake for VC funded startup founderslevels.io

  12. 4 days earlier

  13. Our readingAll you need to build a business today is free open source software, a VPS, an AI API and S3-style file hosting.

    open source

    Their wordsAll you really need today to build a business is 100% free open source software that charges you $0/mo a VPS server an API to do some required AI stuff some R2/S3 file hosting

    ↗All you need to build a business is free open source software a VPS an AI API and R2/S3levels.io

  14. 5 weeks earlier

  15. Our readingNow that everyone can build apps with AI, distribution is the thing that separates who wins.

    Their wordsI think the challenge is that everyone can now build apps But 1) almost nobody has distribution (like an audience), or 2) the money to pay for distribution (ads or UGC), or 3) the creative genius to get distribution for free (classically called guerilla marketing)

    ↗Everyone can now build apps with AI so now distribution is the real challengelevels.io

  16. 7 months earlier

  17. Our readingOnly the US and China have substantial startup activity left; the rest of the world cannot really do startups.

    China

    Their wordsI just realized the only 2 countries left with actual substantial startup activity now are literally only the US and China The rest of the world can't really do startups, doesn't have the funding, can't grow them and it's more like performative hobby projects for their governments Which might tell us where the future wealth will be concentrated in the world

    ↗Only the US and China have actual substantial startup activity nowlevels.io

  18. 15 months earlier

  19. Our readingAn idea is only validated when people take out their credit cards and pay for it; signing up proves nothing.

    Their wordsAnd I check if there’s demand and if people actually sign up and not just sign up, but if people actually pay money. They need to take out their credit cards, pay me money, and then I can see if the idea is validated.

    ↗Pieter Levels: Programming, Viral AI Startups, and Digital Nomad Life | Lex Fridman Podcast #440youtube.com 1st of 30 in this recording

  21. Our readingEvery AI startup presents its product as groundbreaking and perfect, when in truth it is bad about half the time.

    Their wordsMan, but this is the problem with AI startups, because they all act like it’s perfect, like this is groundbreaking, but it’s not perfect. It’s really bad half the time.

    ↗Pieter Levels: Programming, Viral AI Startups, and Digital Nomad Life | Lex Fridman Podcast #440youtube.com 5th of 30 in this recording

  23. Our readingThe campaign to get young developers onto new frameworks is a business model: give away the framework, then charge the startups that build on it to host it.

    Their wordsSo, there’s obviously a monetary incentive here. We want to get a lot of developers to use this technology, and then we need to charge them money, because they’re going to use it in startups, and then the startups can pay for the bills.

    ↗Pieter Levels: Programming, Viral AI Startups, and Digital Nomad Life | Lex Fridman Podcast #440youtube.com 7th of 30 in this recording

  25. Our readingThe tech stack is the least important decision when starting a business; the only thing that matters is validating that people will pay.

    Their wordsThe tech stack it’s not the most important of a business when you’re starting out a business. The important thing is that you validate that there’s a market, that there’s a product that people want to pay for.

    ↗Pieter Levels: Programming, Viral AI Startups, and Digital Nomad Life | Lex Fridman Podcast #440youtube.com 12th of 30 in this recording

  27. Our readingSelling an automated business at the usual three-to-five-times multiple makes no financial sense: wait three years, earn the same money, and still own the company.

    Their wordsSo, in my case, they’re all automated, so I might as well wait three years and I get the same money as when I sell and then I can still sell the same company.

    ↗Pieter Levels: Programming, Viral AI Startups, and Digital Nomad Life | Lex Fridman Podcast #440youtube.com 21st of 30 in this recording

  29. Our readingRegulation protects incumbents: Europe's AI rules are followable by a big company and impossible for a solo founder.

    Europe

    Their wordsSo actually, regulation is very good for big companies because they can follow it. I can’t follow it, right? If I want to start an AI startup in Europe now, I cannot because there’s an AI regulation that makes it very complicated for me.

    ↗Pieter Levels: Programming, Viral AI Startups, and Digital Nomad Life | Lex Fridman Podcast #440youtube.com 29th of 30 in this recording