I'm gonna take a stab at assessing the relevance of the mistakes to a self-bootstrapper:
1. Single Founder: Plenty examples of successful bootstrappers on Indiehackers. There are also plenty of failed bootstrappers, but you likely won't hear about them obviously. The reasons pg listed for single founder failure is still valid for a bootstrapper though - it's a very lonely journey.
2. Bad Location: this is important for a different reason: as a bootstrapper relying on their own savings, I'd say location with low cost of living and fast Internet is the most ideal.
3. Marginal Niche: bootstrappers target niches since they're not focused on hyper-growth like conventional startups do.
4. Derivative Idea: not that big of a deal. Derivative ideas are pretty common amongst bootstrappers. You spend less time finding product/market fit if you work on popular/derivative ideas - but of course you'll also run into plenty of competitors.
5. Obstinacy: yeah, big killer. Be willing to adapt is sound advice regardless of your situation. The question is when do you know things aren't working well, or you just need to push a little more? Talk to users.
6. Hiring Bad Programmers: Definitely a killer. For bootstrappers who work alone, the question becomes am I skilled enough to build the product within a realistic scope and timeframe?
7. Choosing the Wrong Platform: people tend to use whatever they're most skilled at/comfortable with. It's still important that you do a survey of what's available out there before you commit, and always have a realistic migration plan when your success outgrows your initial scope.
8. Slowness in Launching: bootstrappers are big on the idea of MVPs and launching fast, but in practice, this is hard. Perfectionism is the bane of those who failed to launch.
9. Launching too Early: valid, but I imagine this is less of a problem for bootstrappers since you likely don't have much attention at the initial launch anyway.
10. Having No Specific User In Mind: totally valid.
11. Raising too little money: irrelevant.
12. Spending too much: I can't speak for all bootstrappers, but if you're bootstrapping from your own savings you're likely to be more careful with your spending.
13. Raising too much money: irrelevant.
14. Poor investor management: irrelevant.
15. Sacrificing Users to Supposed Profit: bootstrapped companies have to be profitable from day 1. There's no investor money to keep you going. I believe a good trade-off can be achieved here.
16. Not Wanting to Get Your Hands Dirty: yeah, arguably the most important one. Only way to deal with this is to constantly reach out to people and talk to them.
17. Fights Between Founders: totally valid, but irrelevant to single founder bootstrappers (plenty of these).
18. A half-hearted effort: a killer, for sure. But you don't necessarily have to quit your day job. Ideally, work part time as a consultant/contractor, and work on your business the rest of the time. It comes down to self (and time) management.
1. Single Founder: Plenty examples of successful bootstrappers on Indiehackers. There are also plenty of failed bootstrappers, but you likely won't hear about them obviously. The reasons pg listed for single founder failure is still valid for a bootstrapper though - it's a very lonely journey.
2. Bad Location: this is important for a different reason: as a bootstrapper relying on their own savings, I'd say location with low cost of living and fast Internet is the most ideal.
3. Marginal Niche: bootstrappers target niches since they're not focused on hyper-growth like conventional startups do.
4. Derivative Idea: not that big of a deal. Derivative ideas are pretty common amongst bootstrappers. You spend less time finding product/market fit if you work on popular/derivative ideas - but of course you'll also run into plenty of competitors.
5. Obstinacy: yeah, big killer. Be willing to adapt is sound advice regardless of your situation. The question is when do you know things aren't working well, or you just need to push a little more? Talk to users.
6. Hiring Bad Programmers: Definitely a killer. For bootstrappers who work alone, the question becomes am I skilled enough to build the product within a realistic scope and timeframe?
7. Choosing the Wrong Platform: people tend to use whatever they're most skilled at/comfortable with. It's still important that you do a survey of what's available out there before you commit, and always have a realistic migration plan when your success outgrows your initial scope.
8. Slowness in Launching: bootstrappers are big on the idea of MVPs and launching fast, but in practice, this is hard. Perfectionism is the bane of those who failed to launch.
9. Launching too Early: valid, but I imagine this is less of a problem for bootstrappers since you likely don't have much attention at the initial launch anyway.
10. Having No Specific User In Mind: totally valid.
11. Raising too little money: irrelevant.
12. Spending too much: I can't speak for all bootstrappers, but if you're bootstrapping from your own savings you're likely to be more careful with your spending.
13. Raising too much money: irrelevant.
14. Poor investor management: irrelevant.
15. Sacrificing Users to Supposed Profit: bootstrapped companies have to be profitable from day 1. There's no investor money to keep you going. I believe a good trade-off can be achieved here.
16. Not Wanting to Get Your Hands Dirty: yeah, arguably the most important one. Only way to deal with this is to constantly reach out to people and talk to them.
17. Fights Between Founders: totally valid, but irrelevant to single founder bootstrappers (plenty of these).
18. A half-hearted effort: a killer, for sure. But you don't necessarily have to quit your day job. Ideally, work part time as a consultant/contractor, and work on your business the rest of the time. It comes down to self (and time) management.