Fourteen months ago, the author left a stable job as an Engineering Manager to pursue indie projects. He built seven to eight products, achieving around $45 in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) and attracting over 900 active users. Despite most projects failing financially, he gained insights on targeting broader audiences rather than niche markets. He anticipated many failures, but the emotional toll of constant setbacks proved challenging. His projects fell into three categories. The first, "The Dev Tools Trap," included efforts like Microfn and MCPNest, which struggled against established competitors. Microfn attracted just one user and ended up in maintenance mode, while MCPNest barely broke even with 14 weekly active users but continues as it pays for itself. The second group, "The Steady Utilities," featured simpler apps like Advanced AI Actions, which generated about $15 MRR with minimal development time, proving that users will pay for straightforward solutions. The Masked Email Manager also showed modest success with around 5-6 monthly unlocks. The third category, "The Consumer Bets," was the most promising. Fix My Japanese, which offers grammar correction through AI, attracted a decent user base but struggled to convert free users to paying subscribers. Quickshot, an AI-powered photo editor, drew six subscribers and $16 MRR. The author sees potential in this app due to its broad appeal, though it faces stiff competition from tools like ChatGPT. Along the way, he learned the importance of integrating a monetization strategy early in the development process and the value of building for a wider audience.