We all start somewhere. :) Hetzner can be a good fit for many small companies.
But let’s also be honest, if you’re THAT bootstrapped, you probably have no business running kubernetes to begin with. If the company has a short runway, it doesn’t make sense to work on a complex architecture from the start. Focus on shipping something and getting revenue.
Depends entirely on what is your starting skillset.
K8s is my tool of choice when I am that boostrapped, because a single server with k3s thrown on it will cost me maybe 80 EUR a month and hold all environments plus CI/CD plus various self-hosted business components (with backup sent over to separate provider, just in case), and I'll be free to build my project instead of messing with server setup or worry about cloud bills.
But let’s also be honest, if you’re THAT bootstrapped, you probably have no business running kubernetes to begin with. If the company has a short runway, it doesn’t make sense to work on a complex architecture from the start. Focus on shipping something and getting revenue.