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-…
This is the path I want to take too. Do you find it difficult to focus on the marketing and sales side of the business rather than the building part?
No, that's the lie investors keep telling you until you think you need them.
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…
Assuming it’s an S-corp, Founders will try to get as much as possible in profit/dividends, as that is taxed better than income.
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-…
Concerning independence and autonomy, I ruefully recall hearing the saying “You get to work your own hours … as long as it’s all of them.”
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…
Thanks for reading! > 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. Yeah, I agree and wish I had a better term. I've heard people talking about "bootstrapping" a business with $200k+, and I roll my eyes. I used to call these upda…
$200k really isn’t that much in this context. Less than a year’s income for a good developer in the US. Even if you haven’t worked for a FAANG, in the software industry in the US it’s not that difficult to find yourself with that amount, or more, available for investment after working in the industry for a while. Similarly, an amount like that isn’t necessarily going to take you very far.
I started to read your blog since the time you encountered a disastrous event with tinypilot hardware (something like a floor or fire). I really appreciate your recording and sharing of your experience and growth. Good luck to your book and look forward to your news.
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.
Levels has no passion for his projects. They're all quick grifts.
He does though, especially for the early ones like Nomadlist and RemoteOk. If you read his old blog you will see a significant portion of it is about digital nomadism.
Great article as usual, got a flashback to reading your first post on here 8 years ago. At the time I was starting my career in tech by building small projects for fun and launching them on Product Hunt. Great to see you’re still going at it!