Why the Marketoonist is the dream indie business - Tom Fishburne

01 May 2025 • 16 min • EN
16 min
00:00
16:38
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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/ Timestamps00:00 - Intro01:23 - Moving to Czech Republic out of college02:16 - From Czech Republic to MBA03:19 - Starting cartooning04:03 - Tom's first client04:37 - Imposter syndrome05:20 - Pricing too low06:01 - Making the leap to full time07:08 - The terrifying moment of taking the leap08:08 - How Tom executed on his plan as a full time cartoonist?09:20 - Marketoonist revenue breakdown10:45 - Why Tom still does client work12:45 - Dealing with sh*tty clients13:55- Dealing with AI and competition15:55 - Recommendations RecommendationsBook - Orbiting the Giant HairballPodcast - Fly On The WallIndie Hacker - David Hieatt My linksTwitterIndie Bites TwitterIndie Bites YouTubeJoin the membershipPersonal Website2 Hour Podcast Course Sponsor - EmailOctopus 🐙 EmailOctopus is an independently owned email marketing platform, built to support other small growing businesses. With a focus on affordability and ease of use, EmailOctopus contains all of the features you need to reach and grow your audience. You can start today, with their industry leading free plan where you can contact up to 2,500 subscribers without paying a penny.

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