How to Run 24 Startups at Once: The John Rush Way
John Rush runs 24+ bootstrapped startups solo—over $2M a year, no VC. His playbook? Build systems before ideas, sell before code, automate everything, and niche into B2B. It’s not hustle theater—it’s leverage. A reminder that indie founders don’t need scale, just focus and repeatability.
Picture this.
No VC. No staff meetings. No runway math or end-of-quarter all-hands.
Just one guy. Two dozen bootstrapped startups.
And over $2 million a year in revenue.
That’s John Rush.
A founder who doesn’t believe in limits. Just systems.
Start with Systems, Not Hunches
John didn’t wake up one day and stumble into this life. He built it.
After years in the VC maze—flights, founders, pitch decks, board meetings—he walked away. Swapped the noise for focus. The politics for process.
And then he built MarsX.
His own stack. A system of templates, automation, and repeatable code blocks. Not just to build fast, but to build again and again. Directories. SaaS tools. Microservices. What used to take quarters now takes days.
Think Shopify for indie startups. Stripe for your own ecosystem. MarsX doesn’t just speed things up—it multiplies momentum.
Like how his Unicorn Platform started as a simple landing page builder… and evolved into a modular tool that powers everything from job boards to launchpads.
Not because of some genius pivot.
Because the system was designed to evolve.
Sell Before You Build
New idea?
Don’t build it.
At least not yet.
Rush starts with the landing page. The story. The payment link. He sells the value before a single line of product code exists. No fancy demo. Just: will someone pay for this?
If yes—build it.
If no—move on.
It’s not a new idea. Basecamp did it. So did dozens of indie founders who knew better than to trust their gut.
John just applies it with ruthless consistency. Especially in niches where the pain is obvious, but the solutions are clunky or nonexistent.
He doesn’t guess. He asks the market to vote—with their wallets.
Automate Everything. Delegate the Rest.
With 24+ live products, the bottleneck is always time.
So John doesn’t try to scale himself. He scales his stack.
Support? Automated.
Billing? Automated.
Onboarding? Automated.
And anything that’s not repeatable? Punted to remote contractors. Clear tasks, clear outcomes, no micromanaging.
His metric is simple: “Does this need me?”
If not—it’s off his plate.
Same approach Pieter Levels uses. Same mindset that lets one person run what looks like a small company farm.
Pick B2B. Go Niche. Skip the Hype.
Consumer apps? Hard pass.
Too crowded. Too chaotic. Too many users, not enough signal.
John’s biggest regret: chasing big consumer plays early on. Now? He finds tiny B2B niches and locks in.
Not the next LinkedIn.
More like “a job board for remote veterinary technicians.”
His tools solve real, boring problems—like SeoBotai, which automates blog generation for SEO agencies. Not sexy. But painful enough to pay for.
He’s not trying to win TechCrunch.
He’s trying to win cash flow.
Grow in Public
John doesn’t just build products.
He builds in public.
Tweets the bugs. Shares the revenue. Responds to every DM. It’s not just for clout—it’s a feedback engine.
And that audience? It compounds. Every product launch gets faster, sharper, more visible.
It’s the same play you’ve seen from Marc Lou. Tyler Tringas. Other indie hackers who turned transparency into traction.
You don’t need a sales team when your timeline sells for you.
Build Without Burning Out
This many products sounds like chaos. It’s not.
Because John caps his hours. Bakes in recovery. Blocks time for family. He uses limits as leverage, not liabilities.
He doesn’t believe in founder martyrdom. Or 80-hour grinds.
Think Jason Fried or Sahil Lavingia—founders who still believe in life outside the terminal.
John ships. Then stops. Then ships again.
The Indie Village
This isn’t just a portfolio. It’s a philosophy.
John’s latest project? Indie Village—a real-world retreat for founders building without the startup theater.
No VC pitches. Just laptops, quiet, and community. A reset button disguised as a coliving space.
A place to build. Together. Without the noise.
Steal These Pages
Build systems before ideas.
Don’t guess—sell first.
Automate what you can. Outsource what you can’t.
Niche down. B2B over B2C.
Grow in public. Share the messy middle.
Protect your energy. You can’t ship if you’re fried.
John Rush isn’t chasing permission. Or perfect.
He’s building. Shipping. Moving.
And if you’re stuck, his story is a reminder:
You don’t need more time.
You just need fewer bottlenecks—and one more launch.