indie.biz

What indie.biz does

indie.biz is a Seattle-based private learning platform that delivers business fundamentals education to independent workers, freelancers, and aspiring entrepreneurs. Its core product is "What is Business?", a self-paced 10-class online course covering business models, marketing, value creation, and profit measurement, anchored on a color-coded adaptation of Alex Osterwalder's Business Model Canvas and supplemented by practice exercises, worksheets, and PDF downloads. The platform is entirely web-delivered with approximately three hours of video content and progress tracking, built on a standard online-learning content architecture rather than proprietary technology infrastructure.

The business model is a freemium-to-paid direct-to-consumer motion: three starter classes (0.0 Introduction, 0.1 What is business to you?, and 2.1 Business Model Basics) are offered free to drive lead generation, while the full 10-class course sells for a one-time $49 payment with lifetime access, no subscription, and no upsell. The company also operates an indie.biz Press publishing imprint, with founder Michael Megalli's book "Unfinished Business: A New Story for a New Era of Human Flourishing" announced for release on June 15, 2026 in paperback ($15.95) and Kindle ($9.99) editions. Distribution is self-serve through the indie.biz website with no sales team, relying on content marketing, SEO, email newsletter, community referrals, and customer testimonials rather than paid acquisition. The target market is large and growing—30.4 million US nonemployer businesses, 16.5 million self-employed Americans, and 79.8 million Americans freelancing full or part-time, projected to reach 87 million by 2027.

The company is founder-owned, bootstrapped, and operates with a small team of 1-10 employees. There are no disclosed funding rounds, no parent company, no institutional investors, and no M&A activity. Founder Michael Megalli brings 25 years of business experience, teaches Entrepreneurial Marketing at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business, and runs the Djinn Dept strategic brand consultancy. The company's positioning is explicitly anti-jargon and anti-MBA, framing itself as accessible business literacy for independents rather than corporate employees. Operating geographies are primarily North America/USA, although the web-based course is accessible globally in principle.

Name

indie.biz

Legal name

indie.biz

Website

https://indie.biz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

indie.biz is a Seattle-based online learning platform that teaches business fundamentals to freelancers, independent workers, and aspiring entrepreneurs through a self-paced 10-class video course priced at $49 with lifetime access, plus a forthcoming book from founder Michael Megalli.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Business Education

NAICS

Business Schools and Computer and Management Training (6114)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Learning & Training Content Development (EDAGAKAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Business Law, Ethics & Compliance (Contracts, IP Basics) (EDAMAHAL)

Keywords

• Online business course
• Business fundamentals education
• Entrepreneurship training
• Self-paced learning platform
• Independent worker resources

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Course Enrollment - Full Access: One-time payment of $49 for lifetime access to the full 10-class course, all practice exercises, supplemental worksheets, strategic frameworks, access to upcoming workshops, indie.biz book group, and first access to new course content.
2. Freemium Course Access: Free access to 3 introductory classes with practice prompts. Serves as lead generation for full course conversion.
3. Upcoming Workshops: Future workshop access included with full course purchase. Additional workshops may be offered separately in the future.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

indie.biz operates an online learning platform offering a 10-class crash course called "What is Business?" that teaches business fundamentals (business models, marketing, value creation, profit measurement, legal structures) to freelancers, independents, and aspiring entrepreneurs. The platform provides video lessons, practice exercises, and worksheets with 3 free introductory classes and lifetime access to the full course for $49 one-time. It also publishes books through indie.biz Press, including "Unfinished Business" by founder Michael Megalli.

Product overview

indie.biz is a learning platform for independent workers offering two main products: the 'What is Business?' online course (a 10-class crash course on business fundamentals with free and paid tiers) and 'Unfinished Business' (a published book on capitalism and entrepreneurship). The platform also provides practice exercises, worksheets, and references the Business Model Canvas framework by Alex Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• indie.biz Press: Publishing imprint for Michael Megalli's book 'Unfinished Business: A New Story for a New Era of Human Flourishing'

Products and services

• What is Business? A 10-class self-paced crash course covering business fundamentals including business models, marketing, value creation, profit measurement, legal structures, and the Business Model Canvas framework. Designed for freelancers, independents, aspiring entrepreneurs, and creatives. Includes video lessons, practice exercises, worksheets, access to upcoming workshops, an indie.biz book group, and first access to new content.
• Unfinished Business A book by Michael Megalli published through indie.biz Press arguing that capitalism is 'unfinished' rather than declining. Available in paperback ($15.95) and Kindle ($9.99).

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Skillshare: Subscription-based online learning community with a heavy catalog of business, creative, and entrepreneurship courses. Comparable in targeting independent learners and creators, though its business model is subscription rather than one-time.
• Section: Online business education platform offering courses on strategy, marketing, and operations aimed at working professionals and founders. Comparable in audience (founders and operators) and course-led delivery model.
• MasterClass: Premium, video-first online courses sold directly to consumers for a one-time annual fee. Closely comparable in the consumer-facing, video-course, self-paced model indie.biz uses, though at a much larger scale and price point.
• Maven: Cohort-based courses taught by practitioners targeting professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs. Shares indie.biz's positioning of practitioner-led business education outside traditional MBA programs.
• Fizzle: Long-running online education and community for independent ('indie') business owners, with courses, workshops, and a membership. Most directly comparable on the 'independent workers / indie entrepreneur' target audience.

Others

• MicroConf: Conference and community for self-funded software and 'indie' founders, with paid courses and events. Adjacent in audience and 'indie' ethos, more events- and community-led than indie.biz's pure course model.
• Y Combinator Startup School: Free online curriculum and community for aspiring founders. Adjacent — overlapping audience of aspiring entrepreneurs — but offered at no cost and without the same business-fundamentals framing.

Broad incumbents

• Udemy: Marketplace of on-demand video courses covering business, entrepreneurship, and many other topics. Comparable in self-paced, low-cost online course delivery, but vastly broader catalog and marketplace-driven.
• Coursera: Large online education platform partnering with universities and companies to deliver business courses. Comparable product format (self-paced business courses), but broader and more corporate in positioning.
• LinkedIn Learning: Subscription video library of business, technology, and creative courses integrated with LinkedIn's professional network. Overlaps with indie.biz on business fundamentals content but targets employed professionals.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/indiedotbiz
• Facebookfacebook.com/indiebiz-1815882005317677
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/indie-biz

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about indie.biz