Niche · Before · After
Audience first, product second
Build a public point of view until a crowd gathers. Then sell the thing they already ask you for. The product is a consequence of attention, not the other way around.
Launching into silence is the default failure. An audience is a warm list, a research panel, and a distribution channel that you own.
How to run it
- 01Pick one platform you can post on for a year without hating it.
- 02Teach one specific craft or worldview, not 'entrepreneurship'.
- 03Collect emails from day one — platforms are rented land.
- 04When the same request shows up ten times, that is the product.
In the wild
Justin Welsh turned LinkedIn essays into a solopreneur product line. Arvid Kahl wrote for ESL teachers before FeedbackPanda was a company. Vassallo's Small Bets community followed years of public thinking.
Used by · 4
Arvid Kahl
@arvidkahl
Embedded · audience-first
Audience-first SaaS inside a community you already belong to
Justin Welsh
@thejustinwelsh
Content system · LinkedIn
Turning a personal content system into a one-person media company
Daniel Vassallo
@dvassallo
Small bets · audience
Leaving the big-company script for a portfolio of small, public bets
Greg Isenberg
@gregisenberg
Scene-first · community
Spotting scenes early and building community-led products inside them