Founders

Pieter Levels

Founder of Nomads.com (formerly Nomad List), Remote OK, Photo AI and Interior AISource [1]Source [2]

BootstrappingGenerative AIRemote workIndie softwareDigital nomads

Unclaimed profileLast verified Oct 2, 2026

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About

Pieter Levels, known online as @levelsio, is a Dutch software maker who builds and runs internet businesses alone, without employees or outside funding. His main sites are Nomads.com (formerly Nomad List), Remote OK, Hoodmaps, Photo AI and Interior AI.Source [1]Source [2]

Before software he produced drum and bass music as PandaDNB and ran a YouTube music channel, the Panda Mix Show, which he says earned AdSense income from 2008. As that income declined he launched 12 startups in 12 months in 2014, a challenge covered by WIRED, which produced Nomad List and Remote OK.Source [2]Source [3]Source [4]

From 2022 he shifted toward AI products, launching AvatarAI.me, Interior AI and Photo AI, and in 2025 the AI-built browser game fly.pieter.com. He has written that only a handful of his 70-plus projects made money and grew.Source [2]Source [5]Source [6]

He publishes revenue figures openly; these are self-reported. In September 2026 he wrote that business revenue was stable at about $200K to $250K a month and that combined revenue and investment gains had passed $10M a year, mostly unrealized gains.Source [7]Source [1]

He also angel invests under the name levels.vc, mainly in AI companies he uses, writes a long-running blog at levels.io, and appeared on the Lex Fridman Podcast (#440) in 2024.Source [8]Source [9]Source [10]

Watch

Pieter Levels: Programming, Viral AI Startups, and Digital Nomad Life | Lex Fridman Podcast #440 by Lex Fridman on YouTube

Career

2015 to now
2017 to now
2021 to 2024
2022 to now
2023 to now
2025 to now
CompanyYearsRoleStatus
fly.pieter.com

Built the browser flight simulator with AI coding tools starting in February 2025, largely live on X.Source [6]

  • Said it reached $1M ARR in 17 days, a self-reported figure.Source [6]
  • Monetized it with paid aircraft and in-game ads.Source [11]
  • Spun the experience into Vibe Jam, a vibe-coding game jam he organizes.Source [2]

Suggest a correction to fly.pieter.com

2025 to nowCreatorSource [6]Source [2]Active
Photo AI

Built and runs Photo AI, an AI photo and video generator launched in February 2023, by himself.Source [12]Source [1]

  • Launched it after two months of building as the successor to AvatarAI.me.Source [12]
  • Reported $61,808 a month from 1,872 paying customers in July 2023 (self-reported).Source [13]
  • Reported $161K a month at a September 2024 peak after his Lex Fridman interview (self-reported).Source [14]

Suggest a correction to Photo AI

2023 to nowFounderSource [12]Source [2]Active
Avatar AI (AvatarAI.me)

Launched AvatarAI.me in October 2022 and later folded it into Photo AI.Source [15]Source [16]

  • Reported $100,000 in sales in the first 10 days (self-reported).Source [15]

Suggest a correction to Avatar AI (AvatarAI.me)

2022 to 2023FounderSource [2]Source [15]Merged
Interior AI

Built Interior AI from scratch in five days in October 2022 and still runs it.Source [17]Source [1]

  • Grew it out of his This House Does Not Exist AI architecture experiment.Source [2]
  • Disclosed in 2024 that Wayfair staff had used eight accounts on the service.Source [18]
  • Reported $43K a month in September 2024 (self-reported).Source [14]

Suggest a correction to Interior AI

2022 to nowFounderSource [17]Source [2]Active
Rebase

Ran Rebase, an immigration and tax residency service for remote workers moving to Portugal, from 2021 to 2024.Source [2]Source [19]

  • Said Portugal ended the program the service relied on in 2023.Source [19]
  • Discussed the business on the Building Remotely podcast in 2022.Source [20]

Suggest a correction to Rebase

2021 to 2024FounderSource [2]Shut down
Hoodmaps

Built Hoodmaps in public on Twitch in July 2017; he classifies it as a commercial failure but keeps it running.Source [21]Source [2]

  • Wrote that over 300,000 people used it after it reached Reddit's front page.Source [21]
  • Added crime data in 2026.Source [22]

Suggest a correction to Hoodmaps

2017 to nowFounderSource [21]Source [2]Active
Remote OK

Launched Remote OK in 2015 during his 12 startups in 12 months challenge and still runs it.Source [23]Source [1]

  • Reached number one on Product Hunt at launch.Source [23]
  • Reported $101,101 in revenue in April 2021 from a site he says is a single PHP file (self-reported).Source [24]
  • With Nomad List, passed a $1M annual revenue run rate in 2019 (self-reported).Source [25]

Suggest a correction to Remote OK

2015 to nowFounderSource [23]Source [2]Active
Nomads.com (formerly Nomad List)

Launched Nomad List in 2014; it now runs as Nomads.com and is his longest-running business.Source [2]Source [26]

  • Built it as a crowdsourced city ranking for remote workers, later adding a paid community, chat and meetups.Source [2]Source [26]
  • Made membership free apart from a $1 fee in September 2026, citing 43,252 paid members to date.Source [27]

Suggest a correction to Nomads.com (formerly Nomad List)

2014 to nowFounderSource [2]Source [1]Active

Milestones

  1. 2026-09Made Nomads.com free to join apart from a $1 sign-up fee.Source [27]
  2. 2026-09Wrote that revenue plus investment gains passed $10M a year at a 94.5% profit margin (self-reported).Source [7]
  3. 2025-03Launched Vibe Jam, a game jam for AI-coded games; its 2025 edition drew over 1,000 entries judged with Andrej Karpathy among others.Source [2]Source [28]
  4. 2025-02Started fly.pieter.com, which he said hit $1M ARR in 17 days.Source [6]
  5. 2024-08Appeared on the Lex Fridman Podcast, episode 440.Source [9]Source [10]
  6. 2023-02Launched Photo AI.Source [12]
  7. 2022-10Launched Interior AI and AvatarAI.me.Source [17]Source [15]
  8. 2021-11Launched Rebase, an immigration service for remote workers.Source [2]
  9. 2019-05Said Nomad List and Remote OK passed a $1M annual revenue run rate.Source [25]
  10. 2018-03Self-published MAKE, a book on bootstrapping startups.Source [2]
  11. 2017-07Built Hoodmaps live on Twitch.Source [21]
  12. 2015-02Launched Remote OK.Source [2]Source [23]
  13. 2014-07Launched Nomad List.Source [2]
  14. 2014-03Began the 12 startups in 12 months challenge.Source [3]Source [4]

Boards, investments and other roles

OrganizationRoleYears
levels.vcInvestorAngel investorSource [8]2022
Vibe JamOtherOrganizerSource [2]2025
levels.ioMediaBloggerSource [1]2013

Education

  • Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, MSc, Business Administration 2011 to 2012Source [2]
  • Korea University Business School, Exchange program, Business Administration 2009Source [2]
  • VU University Amsterdam, BSc, Business Administration 2008 to 2011Source [2]

Books

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Sources

  1. @levelsio (Pieter Levels) llms.txt, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2026-10-01. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  2. List of all my projects ever, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2026-09-23. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  3. I'm Launching 12 Startups in 12 Months, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2014-03-01. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  4. This Guy Is Launching 12 Startups in 12 Months, WIRED, 2014-08-27. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  5. Only 4 out of 70+ projects I ever did made money and grew, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2021-11-07. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  6. fly.pieter.com, my first vibecoded flight simulator which reached $1M ARR in 17 days, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2025-02-22. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  7. I passed $10M/y in revenue and investment gains with a 94.5% profit margin, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2026-09-23. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  8. levels.vc - my investment fund, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2025-10-01. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  9. Transcript for Pieter Levels: Programming, Viral AI Startups, and Digital Nomad Life | Lex Fridman Podcast #440, Lex Fridman. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  10. Lex Fridman Podcast, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2024-08-20. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  11. fly.pieter.com, fly.pieter.com. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  12. My new project Photo AI a photorealistic AI photo studio, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2023-02-10. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  13. Photo AI is almost 14,000 lines of raw PHP making $61,808 per month, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2023-07-03. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  14. I hit a new $420,000/mo revenue record thanks to the Lex Fridman podcast, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2024-09-22. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  15. Sold $100,000 in AI-generated avatars with AvatarAI.me in 10 days, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2022-11-07. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  16. avatarai.me (redirects to photoai.com/ai-avatars), Photo AI. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  17. How I built Interiorai.com from scratch in 5 days, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2022-10-04. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  18. Wayfair used my AI interior design tool to build their own, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2024-03-27. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  19. Post by @levelsio on Rebase (read via api.fxtwitter.com), X, 2025-05-28. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  20. Building Remotely Podcast: Relocation of remote workers, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2022-05-10. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  21. Building a startup in public: from first line of code to frontpage of Reddit, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2017-07-26. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  22. Hoodmaps.com now has crime data, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2026-05-17. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  23. How I built Remote | OK and launched it to #1 on Product Hunt, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2015-04-02. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  24. Remote OK is a single PHP file generating $101,101 this month, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2021-04-12. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  25. It took 4 years to reach $1m annual revenue with Nomad List and Remote OK, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2019-05-30. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  26. Nomads.com - Best Places to Live for Digital Nomads (formerly Nomad List), Nomads.com. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  27. After a decade, I have made nomads.com free for everyone now, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2026-09-05. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.
  28. Winners of the 2025 vibe code game jam, levels.io (Pieter Levels), 2025-04-23. Accessed Oct 2, 2026.

History

  • Oct 2, 2026: Profile created from public sources (Founded editors)

Compiled by Founded editors from the cited public sources. Editorial policy / Request removal