Inspired by Pieter Levels’ Dojo Bali Talk, rewritten for modern creators, consultants, and solopreneurs.

Introduction: Why Funding Is No Longer the Gatekeeper

For decades, starting a business required begging for permission. Venture capitalists, angel investors, or banks held the purse strings. If you couldn’t pitch your way into funding, your idea stayed locked in your head.

But the landscape has shifted. With today’s tools, you can build, launch, and scale without funding. Pieter Levels — founder of Nomad List, Remote OK, and other projects — is one of the best examples. He bootstrapped his projects into multi-million-dollar ecosystems without outside money.

At IMMachines, we love this model because it perfectly aligns with what solopreneurs want: freedom, control, lean systems, and scalable digital products. You don’t need permission. You need a process.

This post unpacks Pieter’s bootstrapping system and shows how you can apply it to your one-person business, with a little help from the IMMachines suite of GPTs.

His system is Problem -> Idea -> Build It -> Launch It -> Grow It -> Monetise It -> Automate It -> Exit/Evolve.

Part 1: The Bootstrapped Start-up Mindset

“Bootstrapped means you build a business without any funding. You just do it yourself with your own skills.” – Pieter Levels

Bootstrapping isn’t just a funding choice. It’s a mindset:

  • Resourcefulness > Resources

  • Execution > Ideas

  • Learning > Credentials

For solopreneurs, this means replacing the old belief of “I need money to start” with a new belief: “I need systems and persistence.”

That shift alone can save you years of waiting.

💡 IMMachines Tie-in: The From Chaos to Clarity GPT helps you cut through mental clutter and prioritize actions that generate traction today — not 12 months from now.

Part 2: Solve Real Problems (Not Startup Theater)

One of Pieter’s strongest points: most start-up ideas fail because they don’t solve real problems. People copy flashy Silicon Valley ideas — food delivery, social networks, crypto hype — but ignore the problems in their own lives.

“What am I really annoyed with? What’s missing in my daily life? That’s where I find ideas.”

For you as a solopreneur:

  • Look at your workflow, health, hobbies, or niche expertise.

  • Identify frustrations others in your situation share.

  • Build a solution that scratches your own itch.

This ensures authenticity and built-in expertise.

I built IMMachines because I was frustrated by my own inability to launch a coherent internet marketing business so I started to look at the systems and processes involved and how customised GPT’s could make the process easier for me.  I build basic systems, document them, then improve them.

💡 GPT Tie-in: Use the Business Problem Solver GPT to break down your frustrations into step-by-step phases → steps → tasks. It’s like turning personal annoyances into validated offers.

Part 3: Start Small, Niche, and Practical

Pieter reminds us: don’t start with a space company. Start with something small. Solve a micro-problem for a niche audience.

  • Elon Musk didn’t begin with rockets. He started with PayPal.

  • Pieter didn’t start with global travel platforms. He started with spreadsheets and side projects.

The formula is simple:

  1. Small niche → easier to dominate.

  2. Small problem → quicker to solve.

  3. Small launch → faster feedback.

If 100 people pay you $10/month, that’s $1,000/month. Stack that, and you’ve replaced your job.

💡 GPT Tie-in: The Offer Optimiser Pro GPT helps refine small offers so they’re irresistible to a micro-niche.

Part 4: Build It Yourself (Learn as You Go)

Instead of hiring co-founders, Pieter argues you should learn the basics yourself.

  • Don’t pay £10,000 for a coding bootcamp.

  • Google “how to make a website.”

  • Use Carrd, Typeform, or spreadsheets to create functional prototypes.

This isn’t about becoming a full-stack engineer. It’s about learning just enough to execute and validate.

💡 IMMachines Tie-in: Use the Prompt Builder Pro GPT to create precise, technical prompts for no-code platforms, coding tutorials, or automation tools. It’s like having an AI tutor on-demand.

Part 5: Launch Fast, Launch Publicly

Too many founders hide in “stealth mode.” Pieter warns:

  • Nobody is going to steal your idea.

  • Execution is the differentiator.

  • Launching validates whether anyone actually cares.

Where to launch:

  • Product Hunt → 10,000+ curious users.

  • Hacker News → brutal feedback, but high traction.

  • Reddit (subreddits) → massive scale if you hit the front page.

  • Niche forums → smaller, but highly targeted conversions.

Pieter recommends launching within a month — even if imperfect.

💡 GPT Tie-in: The Headline Creator Engine GPT ensures your Product Hunt or Reddit post headline hooks attention in seconds.

Part 6: Grow Organically, Not Artificially

Pieter strongly rejects bot-driven growth, ad spend dependence, or vanity metrics.

Organic growth means:

  • People actually like and share your product.

  • You add features based on real feedback.

  • Your traffic sustains without paid fuel.

“If you don’t get traffic, it means your product’s just not good enough.”

For solopreneurs, this is both harsh and liberating. You know when it’s working.

💡 IMMachines Tie-in: The Free Traffic Engine GPT walks you through sustainable, organic methods (SEO, content, partnerships) rather than burning cash on ads.

Part 7: Monetize Early (Within 2–3 Months)

Pieter emphasizes one rule:

👉 If nobody pays, it’s not validated.

Charging money early does three things:

  1. Filters out spammers.

  2. Validates true demand.

  3. Creates sustainability.

Revenue models Pieter used:

  • Membership fees (Nomad List).

  • Job board posts (Remote OK).

  • Sponsorships (Matt Mullenweg, WordPress).

  • Patreon-style support.

  • Freemium → paywall for advanced features.

For solopreneurs, the key is recurring revenue. $20/month per user compounds quickly.

💡 IMMachines Tie-in: The £3K GPT walks you through building a recurring revenue system that scales to at least £3K/month.

Part 8: Automate Relentlessly

Once your business grows, repetition kills momentum. Pieter automated everything:

  • 187+ robots run Nomad List and Remote OK.

  • They fetch weather data, update job boards, process refunds, and more.

  • Humans? Only one full-time manager to oversee systems.

Automation = leverage.
Leverage = freedom.

💡 GPT Tie-in: The Daily Micro-Content Machine GPT automates your content distribution, freeing you to focus on higher-level strategy.

Part 9: Exit or Evolve

Finally, Pieter highlights exits:

  • Selling your business at 4–5x annual revenue.

  • Or evolving it into new niches (Nomad List → general travel).

Either way, the cycle repeats:
Idea → Build → Launch → Grow → Monetise → Automate → Exit/Evolve.

💡 IMMachines Tie-in: The Thought-Leader Engine GPT ensures your voice and brand grow alongside your projects — whether you sell or keep them.

Part 10: Mindset, Mistakes, and Lessons

Pieter closes with three key lessons solopreneurs should engrave into their strategy:

  1. Trust your intuition.
    Don’t blindly follow start-up media. Follow your gut.

  2. Be nice.
    Ignore haters, trolls, and energy vampires.

  3. Keep shipping.
    Not every project will succeed. But the 1 in 10 that does will change everything.

💡 IMMachines Tie-in: The Navigator GPT acts as your compass, helping you choose the right tool, system, or next step — so you don’t drown in options.

Conclusion: Bootstrapping in the Age of AI

What Pieter proved in 2014 with spreadsheets and PHP, you can now do 10x faster with AI.

  • Finding ideas? Use GPT frameworks.

  • Validating? Spin up a landing page with AI copy and design.

  • Launching? Automate content with GPT-powered micro-engines.

  • Growing? Use AI-driven traffic systems.

  • Monetising? Package and productize your GPTs, courses, or coaching.

The point: funding is irrelevant when you have systems and AI leverage.

At IMMachines, we believe this is the solopreneur’s golden era. No VC, no permission — just you, AI systems, and persistence.