It's been a while.
If you're new here, welcome. If you're not - it's good to be back.
Hi, I'm Harley. I'm a developer turned business owner.
In 2022, I started sharing lessons about being a developer and building a career on LinkedIn under the banner of The 10X Developer. That became a newsletter, with almost 70 issues in under two years. By mid-2024, I had 60,000 followers, around 10,000 newsletter subscribers, and two published books… and I was earning six figures a year from content, residuals and sponsorships.
From the outside, it looked like everything was working. The numbers were soaring, the followers were growing and the money was rolling in. Then, I stopped. Without warning. Without letting anyone know. It was abrupt to say the least.
A lot of people reached out when I stopped. Asking if I was okay, why I had disappeared, and urged me to keep on writing. And honestly, that made it harder. Because I knew that stopping meant disappointing people who genuinely found the content and newsletter useful.
But the truth is simple: I outgrew my own identity. I realized that I was building a business and brand I didn't want to maintain.
I started The 10X Developer in 2022 when I was a developer. At the time, I was working for someone else, shipping code every day, living the life I was writing about.
By mid-2024, Origen (my company) had grown into a real business: key clients, over 10 team employees, and the kind of responsibility that changes your daily life. I was barely writing code anymore. And every time I sat down to write "developer advice," it started to feel… off. Like I was trying to stay loyal to a version of myself I no longer resonated with.
I wanted to write about more than code, about building a business, navigating pressure, ambition, discipline, relationships, meaning… the real stuff. But I couldn't figure out how to evolve the newsletter without forcing it. And I didn't know if my audience would follow or would want to hear my thoughts about the larger topics of life.
So instead of continuing to grow something that no longer seemed to fit, I stopped. And that taught me something: If you don't let your identity evolve, your work becomes a costume. Eventually, that costume won't fit anymore.
The truth is, I have genuinely missed writing. I missed thinking in public. I missed turning experience into something useful, and knowing it might help even one person out there. So I'm starting again.
And this time, it's different.
Origen is doing incredibly well, and I'm proud of what we've built. Building a business is hard, and over the last few years I've learned a long list of lessons I wish someone had handed me earlier. Beyond Origen, I've helped found other companies, I advise a few, and I've invested in more.
And outside of work, I'm still obsessed with the bigger questions. How to live well, how to become a better person, and how to make the most of the time we've got.
That's what Founder Philosophy is: building better businesses, building better careers, and building a better life. All at the same time.
Some weeks will be tactical. Some weeks will be reflective. If an issue isn't for you, skip it. If it is, I hope it sticks with you.
If you're building something (a career, a business or a personal brand) ask yourself these three questions:
1) Is this still true?
Are you still living inside the identity your work is built around… or has your life changed?
2) Would you still choose this in 12 months?
If you were starting today, would you build it again? Or are you maintaining it out of momentum (or guilt)?
3) Is it costing you something you can't get back?
Time. Energy. Health. Presence. Relationships. Joy.
If the answer to any of these is "no" or "I'm not sure"… you don't need to panic. You just need to adjust before the misalignment becomes resentment.
From now on, every issue of Founder Philosophy will follow a simple structure: A story from building. A principle worth remembering. One action to apply this week.