TechCrunch Japan covered an exit story of Skeb

I'm going to share an article, which TechCrunch Japan posted as an acquisition story of bootstrapped business: Skeb, illustration commission service, was acquired for 1 billion yen.

https://jp.techcrunch.com/2021/02/19/skeb-buyout/

At first glance, Skeb may appear to be a marketplace where artists sells their artworks. But it's not. Here is what you can do as a client.

1. You can make a request to your favorite artist.
2. In the request, you describe what you want them to do, and offer a price.
3. You can make a contract only when creators accept your request.
4. You receive a file in PSD, PNG, JPEG, GIF or any audio format.

At Skeb, there are various rules, most of which are to support creators.

• Creators hold copyright; you can tweet about what you receive, you can make them profile picture, but nothing else unless you describe beforehand in the request.
• You cannot contact creators; negotiations are prohibited, so you describe everything in the request.
• For more details, see official English guideline.

As a result of being supportive, sincere service for creators, Skeb achieved massive success, ¥2 billion transaction per month. The founder's next project is something like a platform for VR avatar.

My Thoughts

The interesting thing is the fact TechCrunch Japan reported this story. I think it used to be a rare case for them to cover exit stories of bootstrapped founders. Given the fact that they also covered an exist story of bootstrapped service, Zenn, a knowledge sharing service for engineers, it's safe to say that they've recognized an importance of bootstrapped startup. It's a step in a right direction for IndieHackers in Japan.