Bootstrapped at $1M/month gets zero press, while his funded startups that went bankrupt got tons
tibo_maker · x · 2026-11-03
Indie hacker Tibo Maker (sold Tweet Hunter/Taplio to Lempire, now $1M MRR across products) shares a decade of press observations:
- 2015-18: raised €500k+, got tons of media coverage — then both companies went bankrupt, leaving him €250k in debt
- 2026: no VC, $1M/month revenue, zero PR coverage; his first journalist call in 10 years
- His take: funding rounds come bundled with announcements and PR agencies; profitability isn't an event, nobody sends a press release — so founders who raise look like winners while quiet profitable builders stay invisible
A counterintuitive signal for indie founders about media narrative vs. real financial health.
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