Founder of bootstrapped startup Bannerbear ends live revenue updates

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While the startup industry is typically associated with funding from venture capital or private equity firms, some players choose to bootstrap to develop their businesses.

Singapore-based marketing SaaS startup Bannerbear, which was founded by serial entrepreneur Jon Yongfook, is one of those companies. Recently, Yongfook said via a post on X (formerly Twitter) that Bannerbear is no longer providing live revenue updates. This move is a departure from past practices.

The founder said that his startup had a monthly recurring revenue of US$53,000 in 2023, but has seen a US$3,000 drop since November. These financial stats were once found on the company’s website and on Yongfook’s X account.

These reports gave insights into Bannerbear’s financial health. He noted that while this transparency can prompt positivity when “things are going well,” it can also “become a distraction” during downturns, leading to stress and doubt.

“You feel like you’re a failure and everyone can see it, and you feel like people are having less and less confidence in you as an entrepreneur,” he wrote.

Founded in 2020, the startup offers a template design tool for creating automated variations of images for social media platforms and ecommerce banners, among other use cases.

In addition to Bannerbear, Yongfook created another SaaS service called Browserbear in 2023. The platform provides tools to automate various browser tasks such as testing websites and capturing data.

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