diff ~/p/justin-welsh ~/p/sahil-lavingia

Justin Welsh vs Sahil Lavingia

Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.

Justin Welsh

Solopreneur who passed $10M in revenue with a one-person business

@thejustinwelsh United States

Sahil Lavingia

Founder of Gumroad and author of The Minimalist Entrepreneur

@shl United States

Justin Welsh vs Sahil Lavingia at a glance

Both Justin Welsh and Sahil Lavingia build in public. They overlap in Creators & Writers and Educators & Course Creators. Justin is based in United States, Sahil in Brooklyn, United States. Justin started in 2019 and Sahil in 2011. Justin Welsh has 3 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Sahil Lavingia's 3. On revenue, Justin self-reports $10M+ total revenue (lifetime) (as of 2025) and Sahil $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025). On X, Justin has about 592K followers and Sahil about 394K.

Side-by-side comparison

Based in: Justin Welsh: United States; Sahil Lavingia: Brooklyn, United States
Started: Justin Welsh: 2019 (7 yrs indie); Sahil Lavingia: 2011 (15 yrs indie)
Revenue (self-reported): Justin Welsh: $10M+ total revenue (lifetime)self-reported, as of 2025 · source for Justin Welsh's revenue; Sahil Lavingia: $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025)self-reported, as of 2025 · source for Sahil Lavingia's revenue
Products listed: Justin Welsh: 3; Sahil Lavingia: 3
Product status: Justin Welsh: 3 active; Sahil Lavingia: 3 active
X followers: Justin Welsh: 592K; Sahil Lavingia: 394K
Categories: Justin Welsh: Creators & Writers Educators & Course Creators; Sahil Lavingia: E-commerce Creators & Writers Educators & Course Creators Open Source Makers
Style: Justin Welsh: solobootstrappedbuilds in public; Sahil Lavingia: builds in public
Courses & resources: Justin Welsh: 3; Sahil Lavingia: 1

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.

Justin Welsh

No stack shared publicly.

Sahil Lavingia

No stack shared publicly.

How they build

Justin Welsh

Build a portfolio of one-person businesses designed around the life you want.
Create content consistently to build an audience, then productize what works.
Listen closely to your audience and build the products they ask for.
Keep costs and complexity low to protect high margins and free time.

Sahil Lavingia

Start with a community you are already part of, then build for it.
Do things manually before you build software, and build as little as possible.
Profitability gives you the freedom to make your own decisions.
Run the company in public: open metrics, open board meetings, open source.
Creators should own their audience and get paid directly.

Learn from Justin and Sahil

Justin Welsh

[course] The LinkedIn Operating System · $200
[course] The Content Operating System · $200
[newsletter] The Saturday Essay

Sahil Lavingia

[book] The Minimalist Entrepreneur

Justin Welsh vs Sahil Lavingia FAQ

Who makes more money, Justin Welsh or Sahil Lavingia?

Justin Welsh self-reports $10M+ total revenue (lifetime) (as of 2025) and Sahil Lavingia self-reports $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025). By these self-reported figures, Sahil Lavingia'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, Justin Welsh or Sahil Lavingia?

Justin Welsh has 3 products listed (The LinkedIn Operating System, The Content Operating System and The Saturday Essay); Sahil Lavingia has 3 products listed (Gumroad, Flexile and Helper).