BetaList
betalist.com
Startup discovery platform where early-stage startups get their first users and early adopters find new products.
diff ~/p/marc-kohlbrugge ~/p/thomas-sanlis
Marc Köhlbrugge vs Thomas Sanlis
Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.
Serial maker behind BetaList, WIP and Startup Jobs, shipping online for 20+ years
@marckohlbrugge Portugal
Marc Köhlbrugge vs Thomas Sanlis at a glance
Both Marc Köhlbrugge and Thomas Sanlis are bootstrapped and build in public. They overlap in Directory Makers, Community Builders and SaaS Founders. Marc is based in Portugal, Thomas in France. Marc started in 2010 and Thomas in 2018. Marc Köhlbrugge has 14 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Thomas Sanlis' 3. Marc has sold 3 products. Thomas self-reports $134K in 2025; Marc hasn't shared a revenue figure publicly. On X, Marc has about 89K followers and Thomas about 24K.
Side-by-side comparison
- Based in
- Marc Köhlbrugge: Portugal
- Thomas Sanlis: France
- Started
- Marc Köhlbrugge: 2010 (16 yrs indie)
- Thomas Sanlis: 2018 (8 yrs indie)
- Revenue (self-reported)
- Marc Köhlbrugge: Not public
- Thomas Sanlis: $134K in 2025self-reported, as of 2025 · source for Thomas Sanlis's revenue
- Products listed
- Marc Köhlbrugge: 14
- Thomas Sanlis: 3
- Product status
- Marc Köhlbrugge: 11 active · 3 acquired
- Thomas Sanlis: 3 active
- X followers
- Marc Köhlbrugge: 89K
- Thomas Sanlis: 24K
- Categories
- Marc Köhlbrugge: Directory MakersCommunity BuildersAI BuildersSaaS Founders
- Thomas Sanlis: Directory MakersCommunity BuildersSaaS Founders
- Style
- Marc Köhlbrugge: solobootstrappedbuilds in publicexitedserial maker
- Thomas Sanlis: bootstrappedbuilds in public
- Courses & resources
- Marc Köhlbrugge: 4
- Thomas Sanlis: 1
Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.
Top products
WIP
wip.co
Social network and accountability community for makers who log daily progress and ship together.
Startup Jobs
startup.jobs
Job board for startup jobs.
Room AI
roomai.com
Generates interior design ideas for your rooms with AI.
Uneed
uneed.best
Curated launch platform and directory where makers launch and showcase new tech products.
Uneed Residency
uneed.best
Paid residency program for makers run under the Uneed brand.
Writizzy
writizzy.com
Europe-hosted newsletter and blogging platform for independent writers, co-founded with Hugo Lassiège.
Tech stack
No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.
Ruby on RailsHotwireTailwind CSSPostgreSQLKamalDigitalOceanAmazon SES
Nuxt.js
How they build
- 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.
- Curate hard: rejecting low-quality submissions protects a launch platform's value.
- Programmatic SEO can compound traffic for directory-style products.
- Bias toward doing over overthinking, while knowing your market deeply before building.
- Delegate so the founder can focus on the bigger picture.
Learn from Marc and Thomas
- [community] WIP
- [book] Domain Book
- [template] Tweet Photo got acquired
- [podcast] How BetaList is helping startups get their first users (Mixergy)
- [newsletter] Thomas Sanlis blog
Marc Köhlbrugge vs Thomas Sanlis FAQ
Who makes more money, Marc Köhlbrugge or Thomas Sanlis?
Thomas Sanlis self-reports $134K in 2025. Marc Köhlbrugge's revenue is not public, so a direct comparison isn't possible.
Who has built more products, Marc Köhlbrugge or Thomas Sanlis?
Marc Köhlbrugge has 14 products listed (including BetaList, WIP and Startup Jobs); Thomas Sanlis has 3 products listed (Uneed, Uneed Residency and Writizzy).
What tech stack do Marc Köhlbrugge and Thomas Sanlis use?
Marc Köhlbrugge uses Ruby on Rails, Hotwire, Tailwind CSS, PostgreSQL, Kamal and DigitalOcean. Thomas Sanlis uses Nuxt.js. They don't list any tools in common.
Where are Marc Köhlbrugge and Thomas Sanlis based?
Marc Köhlbrugge: Portugal. Thomas Sanlis: France.
Who has been an indie maker longer, Marc Köhlbrugge or Thomas Sanlis?
Marc Köhlbrugge started in 2010 (16 years indie); Thomas Sanlis started in 2018 (8 years indie).
Are Marc Köhlbrugge and Thomas Sanlis bootstrapped?
Yes, both are listed as bootstrapped founders on IndieMakerList.
Full profiles
Read the full story, timeline and links on Marc Köhlbrugge's profile and Thomas Sanlis's profile.
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