# Michael Lynch

> Michael Lynch is a bootstrapped solo founder who quit Google after seven years to build software and hardware businesses entirely on his own terms. He grew TinyPilot - a KVM-over-IP device built from a $100 Raspberry Pi kit - into a $1M/year business and sold it in 2024 for ~$600K. He writes with radical transparency about money, failure, and the craft of independent software development at mtlynch.io, and is now writing 'Refactoring English', a book on writing for software engineers.

- **Role:** Independent founder at mtlynch.io
- **Organizations:** TinyPilot (founded, sold 2024), Is It Keto (founded), mtlynch.io
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS, Computer Science, Columbia University
- **Known for:** Grew TinyPilot from a $100 Raspberry Pi prototype to $1M+ annual revenue, Sold TinyPilot for approximately $600,000 in 2024, Published monthly retrospectives for years documenting solo founder journey with full financial transparency

## Career timeline

- **2007** — Graduated Columbia University with BS in Computer Science
- **2007-2010** — Security Engineer at NCC Group (approximate)
- **2010-2018** — Software Engineer at Microsoft and Google (seven combined years)
- **2018** — Left Google to become an independent developer and bootstrapped founder
- **2018** — Backpacked through South America after leaving Google
- **2018-2020** — Built and ran Is It Keto - a keto diet information website
- **2020** — Built first TinyPilot prototype from ~$100 in Raspberry Pi parts
- **2020** — TinyPilot featured on Hackaday; began commercializing
- **2021** — TinyPilot reaches significant ARR; featured on Hackaday again
- **2022** — Appeared on Software Misadventures Podcast; TinyPilot at $450K+ ARR
- **2024** — Sold TinyPilot for approximately $598,000-$600,000
- **2024-2026** — Writing 'Refactoring English: Effective Writing for Software Engineers'
- **2025** — Launched Kickstarter for Refactoring English; raised $7,611 from 223 backers

## Achievements

- Grew TinyPilot from a $100 Raspberry Pi prototype to $1M+ annual revenue
- Sold TinyPilot for approximately $600,000 in 2024
- Published monthly retrospectives for years documenting solo founder journey with full financial transparency
- Blog posts regularly reach the front page of Hacker News
- Built a hardware+software business entirely as a solo developer without VC funding
- Featured in Hackaday twice for TinyPilot
- Spoke at PyGotham 2018
- Successful Kickstarter campaign for Refactoring English: 223 backers, $7,611 raised
- Built Ethereum VM in pure Zig as a side project

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — Targeting completion of 'Refactoring English' book by end of March 2026
- **2025-01** — Kickstarter for Refactoring English raised $7,611 from 223 backers
- **2024-07** — Appeared on Software Misadventures Podcast discussing TinyPilot sale
- **2024-04** — Sold TinyPilot to an independent buyer (Scott) for approximately $598,000-$600,000 via Quiet Light Brokerage

## Links

- Website: https://mtlynch.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeltlynch7/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/deliberatecoder
- GitHub: https://github.com/mtlynch

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/michael-lynch
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-21