I would say that these sites chronicle just the tip of the iceberg. I run a successful solo online business and would never agree to be profiled as I don't want to invite competition.
You also invite competition by selling/advertising your product. For any product, it's most probably one of the customers that'll go "I can make something better than this!" Also, if your income depends on absence of competition, that means that your product needs a bit of improving and that your business is fragile.
I may be wrong, but my assumption is that you are assuming putting your story on something like indie hackers is a lost marketing opportunity.
But I'd say a large percentage of successful small saas products are very niche and would not benefit in the least from talking about it in a public forum.
In my case, none of my customers would be reading anything like indie hackers so I have no reason to get the word out through those channels. It would just invite competition without returns.
"Entrepreneur" is only one label for the people who read Indie Hackers, though. They are software developers, designers, creatives, fitness enthusiasts, etc. All the people who currently work a day job and are hoping to do their own thing. Entrepreneurship may bring them together, but it's not necessarily their only (or even their primary) identity.
Yeah, but that still is a tiny part of the overall economy. If you don't target those small niches, it makes no economic sense to get profiled on Indie Hackers et.al.
That's one of the big reasons people share for sure. Another reason that can't be underestimated is that, sometimes, it just feels good to talk about something you've been pouring your heart into in obscurity for years.
Also, the interviews are just one part of the site. Arguably the most useful part of Indie Hackers is the forum where people share what they're working on with the goal of getting feedback and advice from other founders.
I think you're doing a great job growing the community, it has a different vibe from HN and r/startups and I personally do get a lot of value from it, although I'm still mostly interested in the interviews.
Wholeheartedly agree with this. The hardest thing about being a solo founder is the loneliness. In times of joy, in times of grief, it's just you. Sharing your successes and your failures with a group of supportive entrepreneurs as you plod along is the next best thing (or maybe even better) to having a co-founder.