There are many of other tech business paths that are friendlier to bootstrappers, like content …

You could account for your inventory as an asset and then expense it once sold. That would make you much more profitable on paper right away! :)

Thanks for writing Micheal, I’m also 30-something ex-Google SWE and currently all-in on solo dev bootstrapping, so your blog is one of my (many) big inspirations. As you note, I do think if your primary objective was to catch up to SWE compensation, your project idea filter was probably not optimal. But it’s still great that you have the spark of something with TinyPilot. One thing I see repeatedly in the indie hacker community is hockey stick success where people struggle to get the engine going but often once they find the spark it takes off. The ten year overnight success. Also worth noting many indie hackers add part time stable income such as contracting as their finances require. If people are looking for a straightforward path where they leave their SWE job and quickly get similar stable income as a bootstrapper, they’re in for an unpleasant surprise. But if you can “make it” you…

Maybe I misunderstand something, but inventory is not an expense until it's sold; it shouldn't influence profit in any way. It seems that what you call profit is actually free cash flow (profit after taxes minus investments into operating capital).