Pieter Levels

Overview

Pieter Levels (the surname is not his real one) (born July 11, 1987) is a Dutch entrepreneur, indie maker, and digital nomad. He is known for creating successful bootstrapped startups and promoting the remote work lifestyle. Pieter is most famous for founding Nomad List, RemoteOK, PhotoAI and dozen of other profitable online projects without external funding.

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Early Life and Education

Born and raised in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Levels studied music production at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Before becoming an entrepreneur, he was a techno music producer and DJ, performing under various aliases.

Notable Projects

Nomad List (2014-present)

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Nomad List is perhaps Levels' most influential creation. The platform helps digital nomads find the best places to live and work remotely by providing detailed city rankings based on various factors including cost of living, Internet speed, weather, safety etc.

Numbers

The site has become the go-to resource for the digital nomad community, with over 100,000 members. As of 2024, Nomad List has:

Hate

Despite the huge impact of the digital nomad culture, the project generates some angry users too.

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RemoteOK (2015-present)

RemoteOK is one of the largest job boards globally, connecting remote workers with companies offering remote positions. The platform generates $26K/m through job postings and has helped thousands of people find remote work opportunities. Key achievements include:

RemoteOK has pioneered the trend of niche job boards. Also, the platform experienced growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the global workforce shifted to remote work, with a 300% increase in traffic and a 150% surge in job postings between 2020 and 2021. This growth was fueled by the rising demand for remote opportunities, as companies adapted to hybrid and fully remote models.

MAKE Book (2018)

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"MAKE" is Levels' comprehensive guide to bootstrapping successful internet businesses. The book has been a significant success:

Key Topics Covered

  1. Finding profitable business ideas
  2. Building MVPs (Minimum Viable Products)
  3. Growth hacking and marketing strategies
  4. Automation and scaling
  5. Revenue optimization
  6. Solo founder mindset
  7. Technical implementation guides

Sales

Reader Feedback

Technical Infrastructure

Levels is known for his efficient technical approach across all projects:

Technology Stack

Development Philosophy

  1. Rapid prototyping and deployment
  2. Minimal dependencies
  3. Server-side rendering for performance
  4. Testing on production

Growth Strategy

  1. Focus on organic traffic and SEO
  2. Heavy automation of processes
  3. User-generated content
  4. Community-driven growth
  5. Regular feature launches
  6. Data-driven decision making
  7. Transparent business metrics

Philosophy and Approach

Levels is known for his "build in public" philosophy, where he shares his business metrics, revenue, and learning experiences openly on Twitter and his blog. His key principles include:

  1. Bootstrap instead of raising venture capital
  2. Build simple solutions to real problems
  3. Automate everything possible
  4. Share knowledge and progress publicly
  5. Focus on profitability from day one

Digital Nomad Lifestyle

Levels has lived as a digital nomad since 2014, having worked from numerous countries including:

Business Philosophy

Levels advocates for simple, straightforward business models:

Videos


Revision #7
Created 5 June 2024 11:14:26 by Alexander Isora
Updated 28 January 2025 15:14:41 by Alexander Isora