My eighth year as a bootstrapped founder

Thanks for being so transparent. As a fellow solo bootstrapper, I think the thing people most often misunderstand is the relative inconsistency (income, "wins", the camaraderie, etc.) so it's nice for you to bare all.

That being said, you do get the consistency of independence and autonomy. As I watch my peers deal with crappy work environments, losing their jobs, and other bullshit, I just keep chugging along: self-directed and happy to not have to answer to anyone.

I've found it tough to talk about being a solo bootstrapper though. People don't seem all that interested in it until you catch them in the right light or perspective. Mostly they just care to know how much money you make (which to me ends up being rather shallow), or they can't relate to the process since it's so divorced from the traditional path. I mostly just keep my head down and keep working, since that's what I enjoy the most.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems kind of weird to say you earned $8,200 in "profit" when there was no salary. Profit is typically the excess a business earns above its costs. For a solo founder, it can be a little tricky because the more you pay yourself in salary, the less you have in profit (and vice versa). But here, there was no salary. Maybe "earnings" or "income" would be a better term to use? Otherwise someone might (particularly for other years) think that the business earned $PROFIT dollars beyond all other costs, including presumably some sort of salary for all employees/contractors.

Looking back, how do you feel about your slate of past projects?

I'm curious as TinyPilot is your most successful project and it looks like the most business-oriented thing you built: as in, its a product aimed at serious businesses. Whereas Zestful is a niche micro-saas and Is It Keto is a niche website. Perhaps I'm characterizing things wrong, but that's my rough perception.

I've had a similar journey to yours. Started January 1st 2019, early 30s, had a second kid. Loving every minute of it, though I do wonder when the fun is going to end. Every year I'm surprised the business keeps growing. This year my goal is to diversify to try and ease that gnawing anxiety, but every time I try working on something else I feel guilty about ignoring what's already been working for me. Tempted to just sell so I can have a bigger cushion and less distraction on my next venture, but not sure how the current climate would affect the valuation.

Hey OP, thanks for posting your journey. This helps more than you know

I think that "align your business with your passion" is a really important factor that divides the succesful from the not. When I look at Pieter Levels, he doesn't really seem to build ideas to make money. His projects seem to start off as play, and eventually they evolve into something new he can charge for.

Author here.

Happy to answer any questions or take feedback about this post.

I'm sorry, but this guy is not a founder: he's a "wantrepreneur" who is living off his wife and working (extremely) part-time on his side projects. Women who did what he does used to be called "dilettantes", and really I think that's the best term for him.

To legitimately be a founder/entrepreneur you have to found a successful business ... and even the most minimal definition of that includes being able to pay at least one employee (yourself) a living wage after eight years of effort!

I like these kind of stories. Insight into these situation is inspiring. When I hang up the gloves in my current role I'll probably do something similar.

But, come on ... isn't it just a touch disingenuous to call this a bootstrap situation?

I assume an ex-Google developer jettisoned with a decent safety net. Perhaps I'm wrong. But I have a very different idea of what bootstrapping is.

Anyway, kudos to you ... making your own move is brave and commendable.

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