Meet the successful entrepreneurs behind our case studies. Learn about their backgrounds, companies, and the decisions that shaped their success.
Small Bets Approach
Ex-Amazon software engineer who left in early 2019 to stay self-employed via a portfolio of small bets—info products, freelancing, and a community—culminating in a $3.6M sale of Small Bets to Gumroad in 2025.
HeadshotPro
Indie hacker and founder of HeadshotPro, known for fast iteration, SEO-led distribution, and previous 7-figure exit of Headlime.
Bannerbear
Bootstrapper and technical founder of Bannerbear, an image generation API built in public and grown through consistent product–marketing cadence, free tools, and brand-led distribution.
Justin D Welsh LLC
Former SaaS sales executive who left after burnout in 2018 and built a lean, one-person content business (courses, newsletter, sponsorships) with no employees and minimal software spend.
Stagetimer
German software developer who built Stagetimer, a browser-controlled countdown timer for events and productions, evolving a weekend MVP into a profitable indie SaaS with help from SEO, word of mouth, and niche fit.
Marc Lou
French solo developer and creator known for rapid product launches, transparent marketing, and ShipFast, a Next.js boilerplate that accelerated his indie business revenue.
Swim University
Pool-industry veteran turned publisher who launched Swim University in 2006 and grew it with SEO, YouTube, email, affiliates, and courses into a seven-figure media business.
Plausible Analytics
Co-founders of Plausible Analytics — a lightweight, privacy-friendly, open-source alternative to Google Analytics. Uku led product and engineering from inception; Marko joined as marketing co-founder to sharpen positioning and build a content-led growth engine.
Tibo Maker's Portfolio
Engineer-turned indie founder who shifted from VC-style teams to a lean, distribution-first studio model after multiple failures and a later 8-figure Tweet Hunter/Taplio exit. Now runs several products in parallel with social and newsletter-led growth.
Tim Stoddart’s Directory Sites
Entrepreneur behind SoberNation’s treatment directory, agency operator, and Copyblogger partner who scaled directory-style properties and lead-gen into a multi-business portfolio.
TypingMind
Vietnamese software engineer turned full-time indie hacker. After seven years in corporate roles, Tony built TypingMind — a ChatGPT interface that reached $500K in revenue within its first year, entirely self-funded and built solo.