diff ~/p/john-rush ~/p/marc-kohlbrugge

John Rush vs Marc Köhlbrugge

Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.

John Rush

Running a bootstrapped empire of 24+ SaaS products and directories

@johnrush

Marc Köhlbrugge

Serial maker behind BetaList, WIP and Startup Jobs, shipping online for 20+ years

@marckohlbrugge Portugal

John Rush vs Marc Köhlbrugge at a glance

Both John Rush and Marc Köhlbrugge are bootstrapped, build in public, have sold at least one product and are serial makers. They overlap in SaaS Founders, Directory Makers and AI Builders. John Rush has 23 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Marc Köhlbrugge's 14. John has sold 1 product and Marc 3. John self-reports $3M/yr (as of 2025); Marc hasn't shared a revenue figure publicly. On X, John has about 118K followers and Marc about 89K.

Side-by-side comparison

Based in: John Rush: —; Marc Köhlbrugge: Portugal
Started: John Rush: —; Marc Köhlbrugge: 2010 (16 yrs indie)
Revenue (self-reported): John Rush: $3M/yrself-reported, as of 2025 · source for John Rush's revenue; Marc Köhlbrugge: Not public
Products listed: John Rush: 23; Marc Köhlbrugge: 14
Product status: John Rush: 22 active · 1 acquired; Marc Köhlbrugge: 11 active · 3 acquired
X followers: John Rush: 118K; Marc Köhlbrugge: 89K
Categories: John Rush: SaaS Founders Directory Makers AI Builders Marketing & SEO Tools; Marc Köhlbrugge: Directory Makers Community Builders AI Builders SaaS Founders
Style: John Rush: bootstrappedbuilds in publicexitedserial maker; Marc Köhlbrugge: solobootstrappedbuilds in publicexitedserial maker
Courses & resources: John Rush: 4; Marc Köhlbrugge: 4

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.

John Rush

Unicorn PlatformNext.jsMarsXAI agents

Marc Köhlbrugge

Ruby on RailsHotwireTailwind CSSPostgreSQLKamalDigitalOceanAmazon SES

How they build

John Rush

Distribution beats building: spend more time on SEO and content than on code and design.
Start SEO on day one — it takes 3–6 months to compound.
Launch many small bets, at most a week each, and cross-link them.
Stay founder-only until traction; skip hiring, outsourcing and paid design before $10k MRR.
Talk like a human on social media and share both wins and failures.

Marc Köhlbrugge

Ship often — many small launches teach you more than one big plan.
Build in public and let a community keep you accountable.
Great domain names are an underrated asset for small products.
Keep a simple, boring default stack so you can focus on shipping.
Help founders get their first users early, before launch day.

Learn from John and Marc

John Rush

[newsletter] John Rush Newsletter
[youtube] He Makes $3M/Year From Tiny AI Tools (The Koerner Office)
[youtube] The Online Directory Blueprint (Greg Isenberg)
[youtube] How I Run A 0-Employee Business With AI Agents (The Next Wave)

Marc Köhlbrugge

[community] WIP
[book] Domain Book
[template] Tweet Photo got acquired
[podcast] How BetaList is helping startups get their first users (Mixergy)

John Rush vs Marc Köhlbrugge FAQ

Who makes more money, John Rush or Marc Köhlbrugge?

John Rush self-reports $3M/yr (as of 2025). Marc Köhlbrugge's revenue is not public, so a direct comparison isn't possible.

Who has built more products, John Rush or Marc Köhlbrugge?

John Rush has 23 products listed (including Unicorn Platform, SEObot and ListingBott); Marc Köhlbrugge has 14 products listed (including BetaList, WIP and Startup Jobs).

What tech stack do John Rush and Marc Köhlbrugge use?

John Rush uses Unicorn Platform, Next.js, MarsX and AI agents. Marc Köhlbrugge uses Ruby on Rails, Hotwire, Tailwind CSS, PostgreSQL, Kamal and DigitalOcean. They don't list any tools in common.