Top all-time · #5172
Arvid Kahl
Personal blog · thebootstrappedfounder.com · on HN as arvidkahlstartupsbusinesswriting
Arvid Kahl writes The Bootstrapped Founder, a personal blog at thebootstrappedfounder.com about startups, business and writing. Since 2019, 15 different Hacker News readers have linked it 87 times, most often “The Bootstrapped Founder – How to start, run, and sell a bootstrapped SaaS”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-04-03, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (6) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Arvid Kahl's blog for practical advice on running a solo bootstrapped SaaS business, drawing on his first-hand experience and real self-publishing figures.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 6 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Notes on building businesses from Arvid Kahl, founder of FeedbackPanda and Podscan.fm. Essays and podcast conversations about bootstrapping, technology, and founder life.
Most-linked posts?
- The Bootstrapped Founder – How to start, run, and sell a bootstrapped SaaS3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2020-03-29
- Not in House: On Reinventing the Wheel2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-03-27
- Zero to Sold: The Bootstrapper's Compendium2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-01-29
- Why Founders End Up Unemployable2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-12-30
- The Power of the Niche2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-01-23
- Zero to Sold – How to Start, Run, and Sell a Bootstrapped Business2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-07-10
What Hacker News says?
I was just reading the beginning of Arvid Kahl's Zero to Sold. He recommends using a tech stack that you already know and have lots of muscle memory with. I couldn't agree with him more. [1] This tech stack looks over-engineered upon first glance, but I don't know much about the author or his product. I use Kubernetes a fair bit whilst developing OpenFaaS and teaching people about K3s, but there is a whole world of…
Comment linking /
on “The architecture behind a one-person tech startup”Submitted Determining the Size of Your SaaS Market as a story · 98 points
HN discussionThree examples: Authentication, payment processing, invoices: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/not-in-house-on-reinventi... I would add things like sending newsletters (Mailchimp), monitoring (Sentry), various types of analytics (Segment, Hotjar) to the list.
Comment linking /not-in-house-on-reinventing-the-wheel/
on “Ask HN: Books giving practical advice on starting a solo SaaS business?”Submitted Selfish vs. selfless: self-promotion in communities as a story · 81 points
HN discussionI can strongly recommend https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/ There's also a Podcast, Newsletter and the creator is active on Twitter and responds to questions. In short: - packed with first-hand experience - easy to follow - instantly useful - the best advice for making something with actually returns money: find and solve a "critical" problem. Learn how to look & find them. Start small while listening to it. Also,…
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: Books giving practical advice on starting a solo SaaS business?”Submitted The Power of the Niche as a story · 77 points
HN discussionWe recently sold our bootstrapped SaaS to SureSwift Capital as well. It took us less than two years from founding to exit. I write about it at https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/from-founding-to-exit-in-... . Danielle, my Co-founder, and I did an interview at https://www.sureswiftcapital.com/blog/bootstrapped-saas-foun... as well. Both articles give some insight into the process of selling the company and how we got…
Comment linking /from-founding-to-exit-in-two-years-the-feedbackpanda-story/
on “Selling My Bootstrapped SaaS Business (2017)”Submitted I Self-Published Zero to Sold, a Bestselling Book on Bootstrapping as a story · 46 points
HN discussionI think there are two great arguments here: nobody needs tools that perpetuate a vanishing system and there are lots of interesting things happening in EdTech. While I am grateful for your example, I would like to offer a different perspective. I know of a university teacher who is looking into solving the arduous task of grading without going crazy. I approve of a tool being built to facilitate this. I am torn on t…
Comment linking /from-founding-to-exit-in-two-years-the-feedbackpanda-story/
on “Ask HN: Looking for side project ideas”Submitted So You Got an Offer: How to Do Due Diligence on Your Potential Acquirer as a story · 27 points
HN discussionFor a real world example I'd look at Arvid Kahl's post, it's more specific and contains actual numbers: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/how-i-self-published-zero...
Comment linking /how-i-self-published-zero-to-sold-a-bestselling-book-on-bootstrapping/
on “How Much Do Authors Make per Book?”Submitted Books That Helped Build and Sell a Bootstrapped SaaS in Under Two Years as a story · 20 points
HN discussionFrom here: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/why-founders-end-up-unemp... "It probably won’t surprise you that instead of being praised for creating something that could be rightfully considered a piece of written art, I got reprimanded for not following the structural expectations of the task. The story that was a deep and honest expression of myself received a failing grade. Over-delivering was punished, and seve…
Comment linking /why-founders-end-up-unemployable/
on “Silicon Valley Career Coach for Founders”Submitted How to Kill Your Business as a story · 19 points
HN discussionHiten Shah's blog about product: https://hitenism.com/ Arvid Kahl: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/ These are also newsletters.
Comment linking /
on “Best SaaS Blogs?”Submitted Should Freelancers Offer Free Trials? as a story · 14 points
HN discussionSubmitted Fundamentals of a Calm SaaS Business as a story · 8 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Boring Truth of Successful Products That Survive as a story · 7 points
HN discussionSubmitted Parasocial Relationships: Imaginary Friends of the Social Network Age as a story · 6 points
HN discussionSubmitted Zero to Sold: The Bootstrapper's Compendium as a story · 6 points
HN discussionSubmitted Copycats and Endurance as a story · 5 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why Founders End Up Unemployable as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Power of Omission: Killing Features for Fun and Profit as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Zero to Sold: The Bootstrapper’s Compendium as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Do You Need a Co-Founder? as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Continuous Validation: Staying in Touch with Your Market as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted Bootstrapper’s Bookshelf as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted How to Do Maximum Customer Support with Minimum Effort as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted How to Build a Minipoly as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Passive Income and Entrepreneurship as a story · 3 points
HN discussion
