diff ~/p/nathan-barry ~/p/sahil-lavingia

Nathan Barry vs Sahil Lavingia

Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.

Nathan Barry

Founder of Kit (ConvertKit), bootstrapped from a failing side project to $1M+ MRR

@nathanbarry United States

Sahil Lavingia

Founder of Gumroad and author of The Minimalist Entrepreneur

@shl United States

Nathan Barry vs Sahil Lavingia at a glance

Both Nathan Barry and Sahil Lavingia build in public. They overlap in Creators & Writers and Educators & Course Creators. Nathan is based in Boise, United States, Sahil in Brooklyn, United States. Nathan started in 2012 and Sahil in 2011. Nathan Barry has 1 product listed on IndieMakerList vs Sahil Lavingia's 3. On revenue, Nathan self-reports $1.19M MRR (ConvertKit) (as of 2019) and Sahil $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025). On X, Nathan has about 152K followers and Sahil about 394K.

Side-by-side comparison

Based in: Nathan Barry: Boise, United States; Sahil Lavingia: Brooklyn, United States
Started: Nathan Barry: 2012 (14 yrs indie); Sahil Lavingia: 2011 (15 yrs indie)
Revenue (self-reported): Nathan Barry: $1.19M MRR (ConvertKit)self-reported, as of 2019 · source for Nathan Barry's revenue; Sahil Lavingia: $17.8M/yr (Gumroad, 2025)self-reported, as of 2025 · source for Sahil Lavingia's revenue
Products listed: Nathan Barry: 1; Sahil Lavingia: 3
Product status: Nathan Barry: 1 active; Sahil Lavingia: 3 active
X followers: Nathan Barry: 152K; Sahil Lavingia: 394K
Categories: Nathan Barry: SaaS Founders Marketing & SEO Tools Creators & Writers Educators & Course Creators; Sahil Lavingia: E-commerce Creators & Writers Educators & Course Creators Open Source Makers
Style: Nathan Barry: bootstrappedbuilds in public; Sahil Lavingia: builds in public
Courses & resources: Nathan Barry: 4; 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.

Nathan Barry

No stack shared publicly.

Sahil Lavingia

No stack shared publicly.

How they build

Nathan Barry

Teach everything you know and work in public.
Pick a narrow niche first, then expand once you win it.
Direct sales and concierge onboarding can unlock early SaaS growth.
Stay independent so you answer only to customers.
Consistent creation compounds into authority over 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 Nathan and Sahil

Nathan Barry

Sahil Lavingia

[book] The Minimalist Entrepreneur

Nathan Barry vs Sahil Lavingia FAQ

Who makes more money, Nathan Barry or Sahil Lavingia?

Nathan Barry self-reports $1.19M MRR (ConvertKit) (as of 2019) 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.