dude... I need to break free from the wagie existence too. any advice? besides the points you've made already :P

Build something people want.

Tired point, but it really is true. People will throw money at you if you do.

ok, I kind of knew that already LOL, but I don't have any questions that are more specific so I can't really complain. just gotta get after it i guess.

Yeah I don't know if there is such a thing as good advice in this regard, except the stuff that everyone is saying.

I guess "build something you want", the Temu-bought knockoff of the previous advice. It's not quite as bad advice as it sounds, as it's at least some validation of an idea, and much easier than playing 17D chess trying to predict the zeitgeist.

The luck surface area[1] also isn't quite as talked about as it should, but a good mental model if you're seeking serendipitous life-changing outcomes that I can get behind.

[1] https://www.codusoperandi.com/posts/increasing-your-luck-sur...

But that's sort of my point: you're not walking the walk of others. You are a solo dev. You are working on a project that can be developed by a solo dev, both in terms of size and time frames. It is a greenfield project, so you have been there since the beginning and therefore have a lot of context and knowledge of rationale, history, motives, etc. that rarely anyone has in industry, and certainly not early on.