How Did Aaron Epstein Get 70,000 Users Before Launching Creative Market?

TL;DR

Aaron Epstein and his co-founders attracted 70,000 pre-launch users to Creative Market in nine months through a teaser page, $5 signup credits, viral referrals, creator promotions, and seller-friendly terms. They built demand on both sides of the marketplace while maintaining high design standards. Read on to see how their incentives, community strategy, and marketplace positioning worked together.

Transcript

people talk about startups are hard and I think one of the things that gets lost there is startups are really hard because you're not just trying to build a successful product but you're trying to build a successful company at the same time do you want to impact the world and still turn a profit then you're in the right place welcome to growth ever... Read More

Key Insights

• Creative Market launched with 70,000 users due to effective pre-launch strategies.
• Aaron Epstein and his team used a teaser page and incentives to attract early users.
• Balancing buyer and seller acquisition was crucial for marketplace success.
• The team prioritized seller-friendly terms to attract quality content creators.
• Maintaining high design standards helped attract and retain users.
• Creative Market's growth was supported by a strong community and strategic partnerships.
• The transition from Color Lovers to Creative Market involved starting from zero users.
• The success of Creative Market led to acquisition offers, highlighting its rapid growth.

Questions & Answers

Q: How did Creative Market get 70,000 users before launch?

Creative Market attracted 70,000 pre-launch users in nine months with a teaser page, $5 signup credits, and a viral referral program. The team also worked with content creators on free-goods promotions to build anticipation before launch.

Q: What incentives did Creative Market offer potential buyers?

Creative Market offered $5 in credits to people who signed up through its teaser page. It paired that incentive with a referral program and free-goods promotions to encourage more registrations.

Q: How did Creative Market attract sellers?

Creative Market offered sellers a 70% revenue share, non-exclusivity, control over their own prices, and an instant product-listing process. These seller-friendly terms helped the marketplace recruit independent creators and quality content.

Q: How did Creative Market address the marketplace chicken-and-egg problem?

The team worked on buyer and seller acquisition at the same time. Pre-launch incentives and referrals attracted buyers, while favorable commercial terms and simple listings encouraged sellers to contribute products.

Q: Why did Creative Market start with zero users instead of converting the Color Lovers community?

The founders wanted Creative Market to reach an audience more likely to spend money rather than simply repurpose Color Lovers users, who were more focused on creative play. They therefore built a new marketplace audience of active buyers and sellers.

Q: What role did Color Lovers play in the creation of Creative Market?

Color Lovers was a creative design community founded in 2005 where members created and shared color palettes, patterns, and shapes. A company later paid $250 to use a member-created pattern for a Thanksgiving building display, revealing an opportunity to help creators sell their work.

Q: What was Aaron Epstein's background before Creative Market?

Epstein began the Creative Market story in 1999 while studying at the University of Maryland. He created Color Schemer, taught himself Visual Basic, and launched paid software that earned about $1,500 per month while he was in college.

Q: What broader lessons does Creative Market's pre-launch strategy offer startups?

The strategy shows the value of building demand before launch with a clear incentive, referrals, and community participation. For a two-sided marketplace, Creative Market also demonstrated the importance of recruiting buyers and sellers together while offering terms that appeal to quality creators.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Aaron Epstein co-founded Creative Market, using strategic pre-launch tactics to attract 70,000 users. The approach involved a teaser page, user incentives, and balancing buyer-seller growth. These strategies led to acquisition offers due to rapid success.

• Creative Market's launch strategy included offering $5 credits and a viral referral program, attracting a substantial user base. The platform's success was fueled by seller-friendly terms and high design standards.

• Balancing user acquisition on both sides of the marketplace was key to Creative Market's success. The strategic use of community engagement and partnerships contributed to its rapid growth and eventual acquisition.