Hi Friends,

Karl here. I’m happy to announce to ya’ll that Capsule is officially profitable! It’s amazing! I’m incredibly happy and excited! I ain’t dirt broke no more. Just like REALLY poor. This is honestly very good news. The number one need for any digital agency is wifi, the number two need is food and rent money. And I got it.

Now I am unstoppable. Unflaggable. Unbeatable. With infinitely sustainable money and a lot of guts and grit I’m gonna kick the tires without fear, but plenty of fuel.

Real talk. I have been in tough/bad situations in the past, and worked really hard to get out of them. My break Even/Profitable number is $6,000. I have 4 kids, a boss (my beautiful wife), and a dog. Rent is 2k, car stuff is 1k. Plus food bills etc… So like things are TIGHT. But that does NOT matter. I have never been better at my job and I’m only getting better. Time is the only resource and we’ve got mountains of it. So like things are really good now.

Things are changing around here…

The Service

Capsule was originally patterned after unlimited design studios. All comms through trello, only one task at a time, only async communication. Clients pay upfront, which is great, and every engagement is a subscription. We’re on the hook to deliver.

There are lots of things to like about this model, but a lot that just doesn’t fit. Unlimited requests sounds like a good offering, and we provide that, but the assumption is that we’re just like… pixel pushers or code ninjas, That the only value we provide is what we’re producing, and what we’re producing isn’t much thought. That is NOT the service I want to provide. Nor is that what most of my clients actually want/need. Also I’m not as fast as those other designers. I’d like to be, but that will take a few months grinding at this job. Excited to do it.

So the service is going to change in how we’re organized, and what we provide.

Capsule v3

I like quick iteration, and with Version 3 of Capsule we’re refocusing on being holistic partners. Art, Design, And Engineering in the pursuit of making your app, startup, organization, run better and smoother. That means meetings, thinking, research, being proactive and curious. That’s not possible if you just deliver pixels. Value focus, not work focus.

We’re hired to solve problems, and sometimes that means we write code or draw fancy rectangles. We provide value any way we can. This service is better described as Fractional Co-Founder, Partner for hire. A hype man, a Stilgar. Everyone needs a Stilgar.

Growth & Plans

pricing is intimately connected to the market you’re going after, and the types of projects and customers you want to service. A lower price is for more scrappy or new startups. A Higher price for more established or well capitalized folks. I’m grateful that I was able to find a good mix of these clients early on. Every project gives me an opportunity to truly provide value. In exchange I’ve learned so much about how to provide service for these wonderful folks in a cyclical fashion. Growing Capsule to a more sustainable position requires focusing on clients with a bit more capital, longer running projects, for some specific needs. To do that I’m changing the pricing structure a bit and raising some prices.

Existing clients will see their plans shift to these new service offerings, but as promised, their pricing remain the same. Our first clients are incredibly important to us. The first to believe, and the first to place faith in us. We’re focused on truly becoming their partners.

Rocket: The rocket plan will go away as a recurring service and instead convert into a One off purchase. The same great service, but just a one time payment, and a loose scope of work. Why? Rocket has been great, but it’s low price prioritizes lots of smaller clients that still require a baseline of attention. I want to compress that attention to delivering much more much sooner and iterating the completion of the project over a few weeks instead of a few months. I also feel like certain projects don’t require a constant churn of iteration. This would be a good price/value combo to serve those customers.

Existing Rocket Customers are basically upgraded to Pro, but with limited scope, No Ruby or iOS.

Pro: Pro is going to get bigger, The price will almost double, and the provided service will be pushed higher. I have one customer on this plan right now and they will receive an upgrade. By increasing the price of the baseline subscription service, I can provide more focus on clients, by having fewer clients. This also sets a good precedent for the expected output of my work, and the value that’s being received.

Bell Grande: This is staying the same price. But it’s service offering will be more clear. We want to be partners, not contractors. That requires a greater investment and commitment to prevent the fragmentation of focus. Bell Grande is twice the size of Pro, but the same service. The hope is that we’ll move to mostly these types of engagements, and provide stable support, energy, and enthusiasm. Lot’s of Art & Design, etc…

Strategy and Targeting

I’ve also decided to change the focus of Capsule, at least for a while, to particularly help development and product teams that have fewer or no dedicated resources to Art, Design, and User Interface. I can do that really well, and I want to double down on this. Like… NOT just Art & Design, which is honestly a broad thing, but an emphasis on user interfaces.

To do that I’m going to push really hard this month to either complete, or almost complete every project I’m currently working on. I want to have a lot of new things in my portfolio to show off the work, To drive value to my customers, and to just get faster and better.

Marketing and Branding

I’m going to shift my marketing actions to help developers with design. Also I’m going to do an in depth walkthrough, a series of posts about the design and implementation of a rebrand for my friend’s Taco truck. My hope is that these actions will be helpful to demonstrate a project from beginning to end, and to establish a little credibility and authority.

That’s the idea anyways.

Well that’s it for now. I’m gonna hit the ground running. I’ve got a redesign of the site I want to complete sometime in the next week, Theres 3 delivery dates this week for client work, and a Ruby Meetup in San Francisco that I’m attending. For me it’s all steam ahead.

say hi! email me@kow.fm.

-kow