From Roller Coaster Designer to Indie App Developer: A Journey of Purpose and Focus

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Lucas Chae is a Seoul-based indie hacker and solopreneur who has built a fascinating career path - from aspiring roller coaster designer to UX designer to product manager to now building his own apps focused on helping people with ADHD and focus challenges. With over 7,000 YouTube subscribers and videos reaching hundreds of thousands of views, Lucas shares his journey of finding product-market fit as a solo founder.

In our wide-ranging conversation, we discuss his unique upbringing across multiple countries, his transformative military service experience dealing with difficult customers, his transition into entrepreneurship, and his mission to help people overcome focus challenges through technology. Lucas opens up about the internal and external motivations that have shaped his path, while offering practical insights about building in public, finding your purpose, and creating meaningful products.

Some key takeaways from our conversation:

Finding your true purpose requires questioning external validation and focusing on internal motivation. Lucas initially pursued roller coaster design because it was part of his identity and brought external validation, but later realized he wanted to create broader impact. The key is maintaining awareness of whether you're driven by internal purpose versus external expectations.
Military service, while challenging, can build valuable entrepreneurial skills. During his mandatory service in Korea dealing with difficult customers at an administrative office, Lucas learned how to handle criticism, stay calm under pressure, and reframe negative situations into opportunities for growth. These skills now help him deal with negative feedback as an entrepreneur.
When building products, start by solving your own problems and validate manually before automating. Lucas built his focus app to address his own ADHD challenges, testing the core solution himself before coding anything. This ensures you deeply understand the problem and can create an authentic solution before scaling.
Distribution and storytelling are as important as the product itself. Lucas found success by documenting his building process through YouTube videos, which helped him build an audience and get early users. The key is focusing on authentic storytelling rather than just chasing views.
Having a clear mission and vision is crucial for long-term motivation. Rather than just focusing on metrics like user numbers, Lucas realized he needed to paint a picture of how his product would meaningfully change people's lives - helping them overcome shame and achieve their goals through better focus.
The most sustainable path is doing things you genuinely enjoy rather than what seems most profitable. Lucas left a well-paying product manager role to build his own apps because he wanted to spend his time on things he owned and cared about. While the income is lower initially, the internal motivation makes it more sustainable.
Building in public and sharing your journey can create powerful feedback loops. By documenting his process through videos, Lucas not only holds himself accountable but also gets valuable user feedback, builds an audience, and refines his product vision. The key is being authentic rather than overly polished.

Where to find Lucas Chae:

X: https://x.com/lucas_chae
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lululucaschae

Where to find Sam Sung:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samsung1/
Twitter: https://x.com/samuelsung
YouTube (Learning Entrepreneur): https://www.youtube.com/@Learning-Entrepreneur
YouTube (The Missionary Company): https://www.youtube.com/@TheMissionaryCompany

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Sun Kitchen (Restaurant in Hapjeong): https://naver.me/5qRAygf4
Anthracite Coffee (Cafe): https://naver.me/G3JhtsPL
Nol Soop - Gangnam Station (Comic book cafe where you can take a nap!): https://naver.me/5oQiGgxw
Menya Hanabi (Sinsa Station): https://naver.me/G99sA8hn