Pieter Levels founded Nomad List in 2014 for digital nomads to find the best places to live and work remotely around the world.
Pieter is a unique and inspiring entrepreneur. He works alone and has founded many startups. Many of them have been successful, like Noamd List. Actually, Pieter started Nomad List in 2014 as part of his goal to launch 12 startups in 12 months. It was his 7th startup that year and most successful one. It skyrocketed as soon as it was launched.
Here is a list of all his projects for inspiration.
Early Life and Career
Pieter Levels, originally from the Netherlands, studied at university but didn’t pursue a traditional career path afterward. Instead, he took on various tech and design projects. He was interested in living and working in different countries.
Pieter started experimenting with small software projects and products to see what would gain traction.
Founding Nomad List:
The idea for Nomad List came from Pieter’s experience as a digital nomad. He was constantly seeking the best places to live based on factors like cost of living, internet speed, weather, and quality of life. He noticed that while there were travel resources, there was no comprehensive tool for digital nomads. So, he decided to build it himself.
In 2014, Pieter launched Nomad List as a simple website that compiled data on cities worldwide, ranking them according to metrics essential for remote workers and digital nomads. The website provided essential information on the cost of living, internet speeds, safety, weather, and more for cities worldwide, allowing users to find destinations suited to their lifestyle and budget.
The website was basically based on crowdsourced data from around the world (like cost of living, internet speed and safety).
When Pieter posted the website on Product Hunt, it quickly gained traction, resonating with the growing community of remote workers.
Growth of Nomad List
After the site’s early success, Pieter realized its potential and started investing more time into developing and expanding it. He incorporated user-generated content, allowing digital nomads to rate cities and provide tips for new travelers. This added a social element to Nomad List, helping build a community around the brand.
To monetize Nomad List, Pieter introduced a subscription model. Users could pay a membership fee to access more detailed city data, exclusive content, and a private Slack community where they could connect with other nomads.
This subscription model, combined with the site’s growing popularity, made Nomad List a sustainable business.
Crossing Million Dollar Revenue
Pieter Levels likely made his first million dollars through Nomad List and his other projects. By around 2020, Nomad List had crossed the million-dollar mark in revenue. Pieter openly shares the monthly revenue of all his successful projects on X.
Pieter’s life is inspiring to all solopreneurs. He built and managed Nomad List single-handedly.
You can find Pieter Levels on X and read his blog.
If you liked this story, you will like our other story of First Million here ➱
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