Operator · builder · portfolio entrepreneur

Tim
Osterbuhr

Tim Osterbuhr
Tim · Austin, TX · 2026

Based in Austin, Texas. I've been running businesses online for fifteen years across five different categories, and I've lived through enough platform cycles to know which ones matter.

An e-commerce brand I grew to $1M, bootstrapped from scratch. A kids' book business that hit $200k in a single year. A fulfillment warehouse in Las Vegas. A freelancer SaaS with 5,000+ users. Fifty-plus mobile apps. What I actually care about is the pattern across all of it: what transfers between categories, what breaks when platforms shift, and what compounds when you stick with it long enough.

These days I build web apps with AI. I'm writing far less code than a year ago and launching a lot more because of it. AI has reset what a solo operator can actually do.

For the first time in years, I'm also publishing. This site is where I share what I'm learning, for other operators who want to put AI to work on real businesses.

15
Years as an operator
mostly with my wife Rika
50+
Products launched
across five categories
$1M
Peak e-com year
bootstrapped, no outside capital
$200k
Kids book business
in a single year, bootstrapped DTC

Where I've been

I've worked across five very different industries.

E-commerce, SaaS, mobile apps, fulfillment, consulting. I've built or run businesses in each of those over the years, and most of what I share here comes from what I picked up along the way.

  1. 2010s

    Freelance web dev

    Paid my way through school and the years after by building sites for anyone who would pay. Learned early that marketing is the hard part, not the code.

  2. 2014

    Crayon Crunch

    Personalized children's books. Launched with a successful Kickstarter and grew it into a DTC business that hit $200k in a single year. First real taste of brand-building and running a logistics operation.

  3. 2016–2020

    Vegas years

    Ran a third-party fulfillment warehouse in Las Vegas and consulted for brands selling on the Strip. A completely different side of business from everything digital, and one of the most valuable chapters of my career.

  4. 2016–2021

    DTC e-commerce

    Built an e-commerce brand with my wife Rika and grew it to $1M in annual revenue, bootstrapped from scratch with no outside capital. It was the first business we built together from the ground up, and it's still active today under her lead.

  5. 2018–now

    Kosmo

    A freelancer SaaS for invoicing, proposals, and contracts. Five thousand users and steady monthly revenue from a product mature enough to run on its own. My longest-running product.

  6. 2021–2025

    Mobile app portfolio

    A portfolio of 50+ successful mobile apps across a range of categories. Where I learned how to launch, iterate, and monetize products at volume.

  7. 2025–now

    AI-native web apps

    The most productive chapter of my career. Three new web apps in progress, all built with AI at the center of how I design, launch, and operate them. Going from idea to paying customers in weeks instead of months, and everything I share here comes out of that work.

Why I'm here now

"AI hasn't changed what I do. It's changed how far one person can get before they have to hire someone. Most operators haven't caught up to that yet. I'm building for the ones who want to."

Where to find me

Four doors. Pick one.

Say hi

Send me a note.

Questions, ideas, intros, or just to say hello. Goes straight to me.