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The Binding of Isaac
bindingofisaac.com
Dark roguelike shooter about a child escaping into his mother's basement, expanded as Rebirth and Repentance.
3M+ copies of the original…
diff ~/p/edmund-mcmillen ~/p/rand-fishkin
Edmund McMillen vs Rand Fishkin
Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.
Co-founder of SparkToro and Moz; author of Lost and Founder; runs Snackbar Studio
@randfish United States
Edmund McMillen vs Rand Fishkin at a glance
Both Edmund McMillen and Rand Fishkin are bootstrapped and are serial makers. They overlap in Indie Game Makers. Edmund is based in Santa Cruz, United States, Rand in Seattle, United States. Edmund McMillen has 7 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Rand Fishkin's 5. Rand has sold 1 product. On X, Edmund has about 379K followers and Rand about 466K.
Side-by-side comparison
- Based in
- Edmund McMillen: Santa Cruz, United States
- Rand Fishkin: Seattle, United States
- Started
- Edmund McMillen: —
- Rand Fishkin: 2003 (23 yrs indie)
- Revenue (self-reported)
- Edmund McMillen: Not public
- Rand Fishkin: Not public
- Products listed
- Edmund McMillen: 7
- Rand Fishkin: 5
- Product status
- Edmund McMillen: 7 active
- Rand Fishkin: 3 active · 1 acquired · 1 shut down
- X followers
- Edmund McMillen: 379K
- Rand Fishkin: 466K
- Categories
- Edmund McMillen: Indie Game Makers
- Rand Fishkin: Marketing & SEO ToolsSaaS FoundersCreators & WritersIndie Game Makers
- Style
- Edmund McMillen: bootstrappedserial maker
- Rand Fishkin: bootstrappedexitedserial maker
- Courses & resources
- Edmund McMillen: —
- Rand Fishkin: 2
Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.
Top products
S
Super Meat Boy
supermeatboy.com
Brutally hard, fast platformer co-created with Tommy Refenes as Team Meat.
1M+ copies by Jan 2012
Mewgenics
store.steampowered.com
Cat-breeding tactics roguelite co-created with Tyler Glaiel.
1M+ copies in first week
The End Is Nigh
store.steampowered.com
Post-apocalyptic precision platformer made with Tyler Glaiel.
SparkToro
sparktoro.com
Audience research tool that shows what any audience reads, watches, follows and talks about.
AlertMouse
alertmouse.com
Email alerts for mentions of people, brands or topics across the web, built as a Google Alerts alternative.
Snackbar Studio
snackbarstudio.com
Seattle indie game studio making Snackbar, a top-down chill-action RPG.
SEO software company (formerly SEOmoz) that he co-founded and led as CEO until 2014.
Tech stack
No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.
No stack shared publicly.
No stack shared publicly.
How they build
- Put your own fears and personality directly into your games.
- Hard games are fine if they are fair and fast to retry.
- Small side projects can become the biggest hits.
- Most startups are better off without venture capital, which pushes founders toward all-or-nothing outcomes.
- Raise small, founder-friendly money that can be repaid from profits, or none at all.
- Market where your audience already spends attention instead of relying on search clicks.
- Be honest in public about failure, depression and the hard parts of founding.
Learn from Edmund and Rand
No courses, books or communities listed.
Edmund McMillen vs Rand Fishkin FAQ
Who makes more money, Edmund McMillen or Rand Fishkin?
Neither Edmund McMillen nor Rand Fishkin has publicly reported a revenue figure that IndieMakerList tracks, so it's not public.
Who has built more products, Edmund McMillen or Rand Fishkin?
Edmund McMillen has 7 products listed (including The Binding of Isaac, Super Meat Boy and Mewgenics); Rand Fishkin has 5 products listed (including SparkToro, AlertMouse and Snackbar Studio).
Where are Edmund McMillen and Rand Fishkin based?
Edmund McMillen: Santa Cruz, United States. Rand Fishkin: Seattle, United States.
Who has been an indie maker longer, Edmund McMillen or Rand Fishkin?
Edmund McMillen's start year isn't listed; Rand Fishkin started in 2003 (23 years indie).
Are Edmund McMillen and Rand Fishkin bootstrapped?
Yes, both are listed as bootstrapped founders on IndieMakerList.
Full profiles
Read the full story, timeline and links on Edmund McMillen's profile and Rand Fishkin's profile.
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