# 7 Years as an Entrepreneur: Ship More

> A retrospective framework using annotated GitHub heatmaps to track shipping velocity

This framework uses year-over-year GitHub contribution graphs annotated with personal and business milestones to reflect on output. It illustrates Marc Lou's multi-year shift from overthinking unlaunched projects to building momentum through rapid shipping. It provides a visual template for evaluating how consistent building correlates with indie hacking success.

## The framework

GitHub contribution heatmaps 2015–2022, annotated: 2015 — 'believed i was Mark Zuckerberg', 'built a startup i never launched'; 2016 — almost blank; 2017 — 'got lost into VC shit'; 2018 — 'made first internet $'; 2019 — 'built another startup i never launched'; 2020 — 'depression' (completely empty year); 2021 — 'started indie hacking'; 2022 — 'built 10 startups' (densely active year). Takeaway: '7 years as an entrepreneur and 1 takeaway: Ship more'.

## What it is for

- Reflect on annual output and building consistency across multiple years
- Identify personal bottlenecks that prevent side projects from launching
- Motivate a shift toward high-velocity shipping rather than perfectionism

## Key points

- Multi-year timeline tracking GitHub commit heatmaps alongside life events
- Visual contrast between empty planning years and high-output shipping years
- Core philosophy emphasizing high release frequency over protracted development

## Pricing

Free

## Details

- Type: Framework
- Category: [Business & Money](https://xiry.app/topics/business-money.md)
- Open source: no
- Platforms: other
- For: Indie hackers, solo founders, and software developers struggling to launch
- Tags: indie hacking, shipping, founder tips, github, productivity, retrospective

## Why it was saved

- [@jasonleowsg, 9 January 2023](https://x.com/jasonleowsg/status/1612397365159428103): A memorable visual framework for reflecting on one's own shipping habits: annotate each year's contribution graph with what actually happened, then compare output across years.

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Updated 11 October 2026. Page: https://xiry.app/resources/7-years-as-an-entrepreneur-ship-more

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