The creators of the Glif decided to write It Will Be Exhilarating to share their experience building their company Studio Neat. They build their company as lean as possible, bootstrapped it, using low level tools, crowdsourcing and simple concepts.

Indie Capitalism: How Studio Neat Built a Lean Creative Business

Their example was 37Signals, a company raised with a comparable independent approach, whose founders also wrote a book, Rework, read my post on that book here, about their experiences.

The book is describing Indie Capitalism.

Focus and simplicity are essential. As important as the thing you do, are the things you decide not to do.

Work your ideas:

“Your idea is not doing anyone any good by remaining only an idea.”

Practical tips: create a product video that is brief and clear.

“Our two project videos have been like a Pixies song: soft, loud, soft.”

And two minutes long.

Practical references.

“There are a lot of great resources out there to familiarize yourself with various processes. Making It: Manufacturing Techniques for Product Design, by Christ Lefteri, is an excellent place to start and describes common production methods in straightforward”

On becoming Internet famous:

“The key lesson, in a nut shell, is to be proactive. The bloggers will rarely come to you; it is your job to make their job easier by seeking them out, and providing the pertinent information.”

They refer to the famous Kevin Kelly solution for becoming famous amongst the niches in the long tail.

“What all of this really comes down to is building a fan base. By putting things out there, consistently, you can form a relationship with your customers. It allows them to see the person behind the products. You are not a faceless corporation, so why act like one?”

Kevin Kelly:

“A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author—in other words, anyone producing works of art—needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.”

And it does not have to be complex. Make a business from your passion. Just do it.

“Start something on the side, see if it turns into anything.”

They go on to describe how easy this is today. Many tools on the Internet. And more importantly, the environment is changing as well. Access to distribution channels is super easy using the Internet.

“The gatekeepers are leaving their gates. You can be as creative as you need to be to get your work seen. YouTube and the web (and whatever comes after Youtube and the web), can give you more watching than television ever did.”

Not only are the gatekeepers disappearing, the very practical help with starting a business, like this book, helps creative people pursue their passion.

2025 Update: Studio Neat is nog steeds actief. Indie capitalism is relevanter dan ooit, nu met Patreon, Substack, en andere creator platforms. De lessen uit dit boek blijven waardevol.