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Daniel Vassallo vs David Perell

Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.

Daniel Vassallo avatar

Daniel Vassallo

Ex-Amazon engineer who popularized the small bets portfolio approach

@dvassallo United States
David Perell avatar

David Perell

Founder of Write of Passage, the cohort writing course; host of How I Write

@david_perell United States

Daniel Vassallo vs David Perell at a glance

Both Daniel Vassallo and David Perell are bootstrapped. They overlap in Educators & Course Creators and Creators & Writers. Daniel is based in Seattle, United States, David in New York, United States. Daniel started in 2019 and David in 2017. Daniel Vassallo has 4 products listed on IndieMakerList vs David Perell's 4. Daniel has sold 1 product. On revenue, Daniel self-reports $210K profit in 9 months (info products) (as of 2020) and David ~$2M/yr (Write of Passage) (as of 2021). On X, Daniel has about 205K followers and David about 481K.

Side-by-side comparison

Based in
Daniel Vassallo: Seattle, United States
David Perell: New York, United States
Started
Daniel Vassallo: 2019 (7 yrs indie)
David Perell: 2017 (9 yrs indie)
Revenue (self-reported)
Daniel Vassallo: $210K profit in 9 months (info products)self-reported, as of 2020 · source for Daniel Vassallo's revenue
David Perell: ~$2M/yr (Write of Passage)self-reported, as of 2021 · source for David Perell's revenue
Products listed
Daniel Vassallo: 4
David Perell: 4
Product status
Daniel Vassallo: 3 active · 1 acquired
David Perell: 4 active
X followers
Daniel Vassallo: 205K
David Perell: 481K
Categories
Daniel Vassallo: Educators & Course CreatorsCommunity BuildersCreators & WritersDeveloper Tools
David Perell: Educators & Course CreatorsCreators & Writers
Style
Daniel Vassallo: solobootstrappedbuilds in publicexited
David Perell: bootstrapped
Courses & resources
Daniel Vassallo: 3
David Perell: 3

Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.

Top products

Daniel Vassallo avatarDaniel Vassallo

Small Bets logo

Small Bets

smallbets.com

acquired

Community and expert-led classes for small-time entrepreneurs; sold to Gumroad in 2025.

Sold for $3.6M
Userbase logo

Userbase

userbase.com

Open-source, end-to-end encrypted backend for building secure web apps without a server.

TrustMRR ↗
Single Server logo

Single Server

singleserver.com

Wires up Cloudflare, Tailscale, Docker, Kamal and GitHub so every git push deploys all your projects to one server.

Full Send logo

Full Send

fullsend.game

Top-down 2D browser racing game with time trials, multiplayer races and a global leaderboard.

TrustMRR ↗

David Perell avatarDavid Perell

Write of Passage logo

Write of Passage

writeofpassage.com

Five-week cohort-based course teaching people to write online, publish consistently and build an audience.

a couple million dollars a…
How I Write logo

How I Write

perell.com

Interview podcast and YouTube show about the craft of writing with novelists, essayists and founders.

Monday Musings logo

Monday Musings

perell.com

Weekly email of the most interesting things Perell learned, alongside the links-only Friday Finds.

North Star Podcast logo

North Star Podcast

perell.com

Earlier interview podcast with guests such as Tyler Cowen, Seth Godin and Jason Fried.

Tech stack

No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.

Daniel Vassallo avatarDaniel Vassallo

No stack shared publicly.

David Perell avatarDavid Perell

No stack shared publicly.

How they build

Daniel Vassallo avatarDaniel Vassallo

  • Place many small bets instead of one big bet; outcomes are hard to predict.
  • Keep things simple and avoid leaving your fate to a single employer or product.
  • Build an audience by sharing what you know openly.
  • Optimize for independence and optionality over prestige.

David Perell avatarDavid Perell

  • Write online to let opportunities find you.
  • Build a personal monopoly at the intersection of your interests.
  • Treat writing as a skill you can learn, not a talent you have.
  • Learn in public and share what you learn every week.

Learn from Daniel and David

Daniel Vassallo avatarDaniel Vassallo

David Perell avatarDavid Perell

Daniel Vassallo vs David Perell FAQ

Who makes more money, Daniel Vassallo or David Perell?

Daniel Vassallo self-reports $210K profit in 9 months (info products) (as of 2020) and David Perell self-reports ~$2M/yr (Write of Passage) (as of 2021). By these self-reported figures, David Perell's reported monthly revenue is higher. Figures are unaudited and may cover different periods or businesses, so treat them as rough indicators.

Who has built more products, Daniel Vassallo or David Perell?

Daniel Vassallo has 4 products listed (including Small Bets, Userbase and Single Server); David Perell has 4 products listed (including Write of Passage, How I Write and Monday Musings).

Where are Daniel Vassallo and David Perell based?

Daniel Vassallo: Seattle, United States. David Perell: New York, United States.

Who has been an indie maker longer, Daniel Vassallo or David Perell?

Daniel Vassallo started in 2019 (7 years indie); David Perell started in 2017 (9 years indie).

Are Daniel Vassallo and David Perell bootstrapped?

Yes, both are listed as bootstrapped founders on IndieMakerList.

Full profiles

Read the full story, timeline and links on Daniel Vassallo's profile and David Perell's profile.

More comparisons

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