VI. Case Studies

Sean Fioritto

Audience: web designers and developers.

After interacting with designers for years, Sean started to notice a trend: designers felt they couldn’t express themselves creatively when they designed in the browser. Many wished they could go back to using Photoshop, even though it forced them to do everything twice (design and code). Sean decided to write Sketching with CSS, a book that helps designers learn how to design in the browser without having to give up any of their creative sensibilities.

Sean found it easy to connect with designers on sites like Designer News. Web designers are on their computers all day and are extremely social. Their community is also tight knit: they visit many of the same sites, go to design oriented conferences, and listen to the similar podcasts.

The other benefit of this audience is that they’re used to paying for tools (computers, software, books). In Sean’s first month, he made $5,020 in pre-orders. The following month, when he launched, he earned another $5,000.

Three things you can learn from Sean:

Be the target customer. Sean isn’t a designer and found it difficult to be a part of their world consistently. In retrospect, he wishes he’d chosen “software developers” as his audience.
Don’t start with an idea. Sean tried and failed multiple times to build a product that attracted customers. Finally, he decided to start with an audience, discover their needs, and develop a product to solve their problems. It worked! “Starting with an idea is a self-centered way to build a product.”
Use your time wisely. If you’re bootstrapping your product, you can’t waste time. Be as efficient as you can. Get off Twitter and Slack!