I think you are misunderstanding my point, I'm specifically referring to the "build 12 companies in 12 months" version of indie hacking that is really vocal on twitter and other places.

They usually build a landing page or bad prototype, wait for people to come, then move on to "the next startup" if it inevitably doesn't work. Their ideas usually don't have enough potential to sell, and if they do they don't take them far enough to actually realize even a fraction of the potential.

I love bootstrapped companies, I'm all for building side projects and turning them into jobs, but this movement has moved away from that and is now about selling the dream instead of the work.

It sounds like the person you know did not do this and actually created something valuable, that's amazing and I congratulate them. I would like the indie hacker movement to move back to celebrating these success stories instead of the influencer BS.

Edit: and maybe I am a bit bitter as I loved the indie hacker movement. I found it to be incredibly inspiring, and I truly miss the stories of people doing lots of hard work, solving difficult problems, and building incredible products and companies.