Laid off at 37 after 13 years in software — how do you rebuild as an indie?

Hey everyone. I'm a software engineer with 13 years of experience, mostly backend and architecture work. But honestly, I feel like my career might be ending.

My company is struggling, the economy where I live isn't great, and at 37 I've found that finding a new job is... not realistic anymore. Companies here want younger and cheaper.

So lately I've been trying to build my own thing to get out of this situation. I'm working on a small tool site (planning to launch it on Hypership Day, actually), and experimenting with ad networks for monetization. Small steps.

But I'll be honest: most days I can't see any hope in this. I don't know if I'm on the right path, or just wasting my runway. I don't know what I should do next.

If you've been through something like this — laid off, career dead-end, starting over as an indie in your late 30s:

• How did you deal with the mental side, the "no hope" days?

• How did you know if a small project was worth continuing or should be dropped?

• Looking back, what do you wish you had done differently?