“The first idea isn’t really that important… just start moving and build anything.” — Sebastian Röhl, HabitKit

Indie app developer Sebastian Röhl's journey from a corporate programmer to a full-time app creator underscores the challenges and decisions involved in pursuing one's passion. Initially motivated by the desire for creative autonomy, Röhl left his stable job in 2021 to develop mobile apps, but his first app, Liftbear, failed to gain traction, earning only $100 in six months. Despite initial setbacks, his second app, HabitKit, showed early promise through social media engagement and quickly became profitable, earning $1.5k in the first month. Röhl returned to his corporate job while continuing to refine HabitKit, which later gained significant success by ranking high in app store searches and generating substantial revenue. By the end of 2023, HabitKit achieved 120k downloads and $51k in revenue, prompting Röhl to reconsider his career path. He ultimately committed to his indie app business full-time after the app's continued success into 2024, highlighting the importance of quickly identifying product-market fit and the potential necessity of pivoting.