Million Dollar Exits Ep.10 with John Rush: On Bootstrapping, Acquisitions, and Market Trends

Welcome to the tenth episode of “Million Dollar Exits” - a special series brought to you by The Build In Public Podcast.

This episode features John Rush, founder of Mars X - a dev tool making $1.5m ARR with over 20,000 developers in the ecosystem.

John has been a software expert and entrepreneur for over 15 years and has made multiple acquisitions including Unicorn Platform.

In this interview, John and KP explore a range of topics, sharing their valuable perspectives on:
● Intro (00:00)
● The blossoming tech/indie hacking scene in Istanbul (2:53)
● Indie hacking trends from 2008 to 2023 (04:51)
● Mars X and its goal to accelerate software development (09:51)
● The acquisition of Unicorn Platform (17:39)
● A culture of identity and creative freedom (23:41)
● Collaboration for shared resources and distribution (26:22)
● Stories behind John Rush’s previous acquisitions (27:44)
● Current acquisition market activities (34:01)
● How John Rush started his AI journey (40:36)
● Latest applications of AI and its potential (49:34)
● The current biggest opportunity in AI (53:21)

Build In Public Podcast is an interview show where KP chats with ambitious startup founders, CEOs, and top Internet creators to unpack their stories, insights, and lessons.

Thanks for listening!
 
Links:
John’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnrushx
MarsX on Twitter: https://twitter.com/marsxdev
MarsX website: https://www.marsx.dev/
KP’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/thisiskp_
KP’s podcast link: https://www.buildinpublicpodcast.com/episodes
KP's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/KarthikPuvvadaKP