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/johnrushxMarsX on Twitter: https://twitter.com/marsxdevMarsX website: https://www.marsx.dev/KP’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/thisiskp_KP’s podcast link: https://www.buildinpublicpodcast.com/episodesKP's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/KarthikPuvvadaKP