THRIVE | FOUNDER

Solving the project management problem for right brained creatives.

Scope

Ideation

Product design

Product strategy

Visual design

Fundraising

Thrive was my baby. I had to tread a fine line. I wanted to build a solution to a problem I had. But I had to confirm my guesses along the way. In the end, I was very proud of what we built and achieved with such a small team. With loyal creatives all over the world using our software to manage their projects and agencies.

An image of the dashboard from the THrive app showing income and projects.

Discovering that all creatives have similar pain points.

It's easy to assume a need after many decades working in the industry you're building a product to serve. To avoid the assumptions, I hired a third party to conduct detailed and unbiased market research into creatives' main pain points.

Market research uncovered issues that aligned with my initial expectations. Other creatives had the same issues. That was heartening. It gave me the drive to move forward.

Managing time

Pricing projects

Setting rates

Getting paid

Designing apps that right-brained creative loved.

Market research revealed that creatives wanted a tool that felt like it was ‘for them.' All-in-one functionality and clean aesthetics were a top priority. They wanted a design that, despite its complexity, could simplify their tasks. This would let them focus on their true passion: creating.

Building an MVP isn't easy. A small budget and a market craving a product that looks great but does everything make it harder. I faced a multitude of challenging development choices. It took time and a talented dev, but in the end, we managed to get a good product-market fit.

Iterating core features to boost conversion rates.

As is the nature of an MVP, the app had some minor issues and hidden edge cases at first. As a result, conversion rates were initially quite low. We diligently repaired any bugs, spoke to users to get feedback, and honed features. Over time, this approach yielded significant improvements.

There was no magic wand. Instead, hard work and focus were key; over time, conversion rates steadily improved alongside product-market fit. We had great successes by localising currency and language, refining sales messaging, and improving user education and retention.

User churn rate

4.2%

Trial to paying customer

11.5%

Customer lifetime value

$288

Users paid quicker by

42 days

Defining the market and opportunity.

In a fast-growing and competitive market, we knew creatives and agencies needed better tools to manage and grow their businesses. The global creative industries were booming in the US, and the freelance market was growing at a rapid pace.

I spent a lot of time defining the worldwide market opportunity. The core market we targeted consisted of graphic, web and digital designers just like me. The app needed to be striking, and the brand needed to be punchy and brave

Freelancers worldwide

25 million

Value of creative industries

$900 billion

Attribution of global GDP

Creative businesses in US

950,000

Crafting a brand that appeals to creatives.

The long-term goal for Thrive was ambitious. Developing apps for the two main stakeholders, freelancers and agencies. Then, aiming to build a creative marketplace that connected the two groups. It would enable seamless, global collaboration on projects.

We had to feel different and look different. We had to create a vibrant visual brand for creatives. It was vital to stand out and show we were "by designers for designers." Clean typography, white space, and hierarchy ruled the day. There was a buzz around the product, and we gained traction worldwide.

Peak monthly visitors

>51,000

Recurring monthly users

>2,300

Used in countries worldwide

138

Language translations

Strategic online marketing and email outreach.

Building a product is only half the battle. As a small team, transitioning to focus on selling rather than building is complex. It's critical to hire the right sales and marketing people. They must create engaging content to attract and close new leads.

Our strategic design-led email campaigns grew our user base. Our blog with engaging content and illustrations onboarded creatives from around the globe. We refined our core message through repeated split testing to further boost conversions.

Silhouette of a man's face centered in a circle, surrounded by multiple concentric rings in pastel colors

Mailing list

>35,000

Average open rate

52%

Average CTR

22%

Unsubscribe rate

<10%

Raising finance to boost growth.

Raising finance is time-consuming and can cause founders to unwittingly take their eyes off the ball. Nevertheless, I managed to secure a small amount of POC funding and later co-investment from a local VC and an international seed fund.

After a lot of research into the anatomy of winning pitch decks, I delivered a cleanly designed deck with a solid narrative to raise my first seed round. We used the injection of cash to grow our user base and translate the app into multiple languages.

Feedback from users

Solo is an amazing tool I use every day. It feels like it’s coming from the future and is really what a business management app for creatives should feel like!

Bernard Magri

Animator

The creative brain works differently, Solo seems to be the only business management app that realises this. Seeing your business data beautifully represented just makes sense.

Andy Bradshaw

Designer

I spend a lot of time managing my projects. This is my second year using Solo, and it has helped me gain a much better sense of my productivity and best of all profitability.

Hayden Jackson

Copywriter

Case studies and projects

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