diff ~/p/daniel-vassallo ~/p/patrick-mckenzie

Daniel Vassallo vs Patrick McKenzie

Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.

Daniel Vassallo

Ex-Amazon engineer who popularized the small bets portfolio approach

@dvassallo United States

Patrick McKenzie

patio11: Bingo Card Creator, Appointment Reminder, Stripe Atlas and Bits about Money

@patio11 United States

Daniel Vassallo vs Patrick McKenzie at a glance

Both Daniel Vassallo and Patrick McKenzie are bootstrapped solo founders, build in public and have sold at least one product. They overlap in Educators & Course Creators and Creators & Writers. Daniel is based in United States, Patrick in Chicago, United States. Daniel started in 2019 and Patrick in 2006. Daniel Vassallo has 4 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Patrick McKenzie's 5. Daniel has sold 1 product and Patrick 2. On revenue, Daniel self-reports $210K profit in 9 months (info products) (as of 2020) and Patrick ~$275K/yr sales, ~$200K profit (excl. Appointment Reminder) (as of 2012). On X, Daniel has about 205K followers and Patrick about 201K.

Side-by-side comparison

Based in: Daniel Vassallo: United States; Patrick McKenzie: Chicago, United States
Started: Daniel Vassallo: 2019 (7 yrs indie); Patrick McKenzie: 2006 (20 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; Patrick McKenzie: ~$275K/yr sales, ~$200K profit (excl. Appointment Reminder)self-reported, as of 2012 · source for Patrick McKenzie's revenue
Products listed: Daniel Vassallo: 4; Patrick McKenzie: 5
Product status: Daniel Vassallo: 3 active · 1 acquired; Patrick McKenzie: 2 active · 2 acquired · 1 shut down
X followers: Daniel Vassallo: 205K; Patrick McKenzie: 201K
Categories: Daniel Vassallo: Educators & Course Creators Community Builders Creators & Writers Developer Tools; Patrick McKenzie: SaaS Founders Creators & Writers Fintech & Payments Educators & Course Creators
Style: Daniel Vassallo: solobootstrappedbuilds in publicexited; Patrick McKenzie: solobootstrappedbuilds in publicexited
Courses & resources: Daniel Vassallo: 3; Patrick McKenzie: 5

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

Tech stack

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

Daniel Vassallo

No stack shared publicly.

Patrick McKenzie

Ruby on RailsTwilioStripe

How they build

Daniel 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.

Patrick McKenzie

Charge more — most software businesses dramatically underprice.
SaaS is the best business model ever invented for software.
Being a better marketer than most engineers (and vice versa) is a superpower.
Write prolifically and in public; generous writing compounds into opportunity.
Keep a low personal burn rate so a small business can sustain you indefinitely.

Learn from Daniel and Patrick

Daniel Vassallo

[book] The Good Parts of AWS
[course] Everyone Can Build a Twitter Audience
[community] Small Bets

Patrick McKenzie

[newsletter] Bits about Money
[podcast] Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie
[template] Salary Negotiation: Make More Money, Be More Valued
[course] Lifecycle Emails course
[template] Start here if you're new

Daniel Vassallo vs Patrick McKenzie FAQ

Who makes more money, Daniel Vassallo or Patrick McKenzie?

Daniel Vassallo self-reports $210K profit in 9 months (info products) (as of 2020) and Patrick McKenzie self-reports ~$275K/yr sales, ~$200K profit (excl. Appointment Reminder) (as of 2012). By these self-reported figures, Daniel Vassallo'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 Patrick McKenzie?

Daniel Vassallo has 4 products listed (including Small Bets, Userbase and Single Server); Patrick McKenzie has 5 products listed (including Bingo Card Creator, Appointment Reminder and Starfighter).