The Streak Is the Product (Not the Features)

The moment I realized I was drifting

Last week, I found myself deep in the weeds of building new features for Indie10k. I was adding AI-generated content, automations, and all sorts of bells and whistles. On paper, these features sounded like a dream—more engagement, more users, more value.

But as I coded, I felt a creeping unease. Was I building the right product? Or just a fancier one?

The original vision: streaks as the product

When I started Indie10k, the core idea was simple: create a daily habit for indie hackers to share what they built. The streak—the uninterrupted chain of daily posts—was the real product. It was the glue that kept people coming back, day after day.

Everything else was secondary. The community, the features, the AI tools—they were just means to support the streak.

The danger of feature bloat

It’s easy to get distracted by shiny new features. AI-generated summaries, badges, leaderboards—they all seem like they’ll boost engagement. But if they overshadow the core habit, they risk diluting the product’s essence.

I realized I was at risk of building a feature factory, not a habit-forming product.

Rediscovering the streak doctrine

So I paused. I stripped back the new features and focused on the streak experience. How can I make it easier, more rewarding, and more meaningful to keep the streak alive?

I talked to users, watched their behavior, and refined the core loop. The AI features? They’ll come later, but only if they serve the streak.

The lesson: the streak is the product

This week was a reminder that products aren’t just collections of features. They’re habits, emotions, and rituals. For Indie10k, the streak is the product. Everything else is noise.

By focusing on what truly matters, we build products that last.

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Because the streak is the product. Everything else is noise.

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👉 Try Indie10k today. Do one rep, feel the streak build, and tell me what feels useful (or useless).
Your feedback literally shapes this thing.