Indie Bites
Indie Bites
#indiehackers #bootstrapping #business #entrepreneurship #business #marketing

Short, bite-sized conversations with indie hackers that have started small, profitable and bootstrapped businesses. You'll learn how they come up with ideas, what they do to validate, find those first customers and make a sustainable income.

Why the Marketoonist is the dream indie business - Tom Fishburne

May 01, 2025 0:16:38 3.06 MB ( 12.96 MB less) Downloads: 0

Tom Fishburne is the founder of Marketoonist, a bootstrapped marketing cartoon business he started in 2010. He started drawing and sharing cartoons in 2002, and it took him 8 years to make the leap, despite having a successful career in marketing. 15 years later, Tom is still going strong, with the business making money from cartoon licensing, speaking gigs, brand deals, his book and more.

Listen to the extended version of the show here: https://indiebites.com/membership/

Timestamps

  • 00:00 - Intro
  • 01:23 - Moving to Czech Republic out of college
  • 02:16 - From Czech Republic to MBA
  • 03:19 - Starting cartooning
  • 04:03 - Tom's first client
  • 04:37 - Imposter syndrome
  • 05:20 - Pricing too low
  • 06:01 - Making the leap to full time
  • 07:08 - The terrifying moment of taking the leap
  • 08:08 - How Tom executed on his plan as a full time cartoonist?
  • 09:20 - Marketoonist revenue breakdown
  • 10:45 - Why Tom still does client work
  • 12:45 - Dealing with sh*tty clients
  • 13:55- Dealing with AI and competition
  • 15:55 - Recommendations

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