thoughts-on-building-a-boring-startup

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  I'm not saying fundraising is bad. Many business models need large capital, speed, networks, and investor support. But not every startup needs to go that route.
   
− For small products — especially SaaS for developers, indie hackers, or bootstrapped businesses — self-funding helps maintain focus. Paying customers are a very clear signal. If they keep paying, the product is still creating value. If churn is high, something needs fixing. Everything becomes much more real.
+ For small products, especially SaaS for developers, indie hackers, or bootstrapped businesses, self-funding helps maintain focus. Paying customers are a very clear signal. If they keep paying, the product is still creating value. If <TermNote explanation="Churn is the rate at which customers stop paying for or leave a product during a given period.">churn</TermNote> is high, something needs fixing. Everything becomes much more real.
   
  <Callout type="note">
    I think the hardest part of self-funding isn't technical. The hardest part is
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  When users find you because they genuinely need the product, because they read a useful article, or because they believe in the privacy-friendly value — that relationship is different from them coming through a short-term ad campaign. Slower but more durable.
   
− I think this is also a good lesson for content and product work. If you only look short-term, it's very easy to get impatient. Article has no traffic yet — discouraged. Product launch has no users — want to quit. MRR growing slowly — feels like failure.
+ I think this is also a good lesson for content and product work. If you only look short-term, it's very easy to get impatient. Article has no traffic yet, discouraged. Product launch has no users, want to quit. <TermNote explanation="MRR means monthly recurring revenue: the predictable subscription revenue a business expects each month.">MRR</TermNote> growing slowly, feels like failure.
   
  But many things need time to accumulate. SEO needs time. Trust needs time. Product needs time to be good enough. The feedback loop also needs time to become clearer.
   
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