Handmade-Inspired Companies

Hey Handmade folks,

Thanks for joining us at Handmade Boston this month! We finally hit the right formula for the masterclasses this year, and it really resonated with everyone. The speakers brought their A-game, and I’m incredibly grateful to them for making it all come together.

Handmade Boston Recordings

If you missed the online track, you can still catch it on Twitch:

The Twitch VOD will be up for another month or so. We’ll also upload each presentation to the Media page eventually.

In-Person Recordings

For those who couldn’t attend in person, we’re working on the recordings. I’m hoping they’re ready by the end of the month. If you want to support this indie conference and unlock the in-person recordings once they’re up, you can still grab an online ticket (discount applied):

Emerging ‘Handmade’ Businesses

In the last newsletter, I introduced our speakers, but I didn’t explain how several of them run their own businesses or lead at their companies. I’m excited that these speakers truly embody the Handmade ethos and are discovering ways to make a living.

The grimacing Lego businessman is a bit of dark humor. It’s my face upon learning their cursed fate: they are either small business owners (like me), bootstrapped companies, or puzzling over how to remain in charge if they accept investor funding. I salute them because, currently, there are far easier choices in this economy!

Mr. 4th Lab: Allen Webster founded Mr. 4th Lab to help programmers refine their craft. During the event, he sat down with me and dissected my programming choices for Terminal Click. Audience feedback was overwhelmingly positive—his insights were top-notch.

If you want to see more of Allen’s work, check out what he already offers for free, and consider becoming a paid member for exclusive material. It’s a great way to sharpen your skills.

Kagi Search: Zac Nowicki, tech lead at Kagi, shared how their search engine is embracing Handmade. While we wait for that masterclass recording, I recommend signing up for Kagi and taking it for a test drive: especially if you’re fed up with Google’s deteriorating search results.

I also learned they’re officially a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) now—a fascinating legal structure for a business I had no idea existed.

Legally speaking it means “[…] company directors and officers are given explicit permission to consider a purpose beyond simply maximizing shareholder value.”

Imagine that 🤯

Shared Memory LLC (Creators of Animal Well): Billy Basso is living the Handmade dream—creating and shipping a video game from scratch and attaining mainstream success. I wanted to investigate more, so near the end of our interview we discussed his foray into running a business. Note that he was the sole developer of Animal Well.

If you’re an aspiring indie dev, Billy’s business story is one to watch (see Twitch VOD above.)

Nilo Technologies: Nuno Leiria, former optimization lead for Unreal Engine 5, has launched his own startup: Nilo. He has a brilliant vision for making future video games. However, the reader knows I have a negative outlook on both startups and Generative AI, so I do put his feet to the fire (see Twitch VOD above.)

I will admit the moral clarity Nuno showed during our combative interview left me feeling impressed and optimistic. Perhaps not every single startup is the spawn of the devil, as tempting as it is for me to say that? I’d love to hear your own feedback about this.

Check out Nilo’s website and reach out to Nuno personally, so he can walk you through their prototype: hit that Early Access button!

Showing Some Love ♥

They are not sponsoring Handmade Cities (nor should they), but I want to see them succeed: consider supporting the companies above—whether it’s financially or just with encouraging feedback!

Every bit helps. Always.

Next up is Handmade Seattle 2024. Stay tuned for more updates soon: if you’re reading this as an email, you can reply to reach me directly. Otherwise please subscribe to receive newsletters in your Inbox!

Your indie organizer,
Abner

P.S. There are more brave souls embodying our ethos and starting a business, but today I wanted to focus on the stars of the Boston event.