The portfolio math. When 30 small apps beat 1 big one.
The article, published on DEV Community on May 19, 2026, challenges the long-standing indie hacker playbook of focusing on one product. It claims that between November 2025 and April 2026, eight solo founders reached $20,000 per month in revenue not by concentrating on a single product, but by building a portfolio of multiple small apps. The author presents an economic case for this portfolio approach, including a mathematical model and a kill rule to determine when to drop a product. A working spreadsheet calculator is provided for readers to assess their own situation. The article contrasts the single-product strategy (high build cost, defensible moat, large addressable market, slow feedback cycle) with the portfolio approach, suggesting that the latter is now the better default for most solo operators.
Solo developers may need to rethink their product strategy to increase revenue stability.