Four Friends Create Conversations, Earn $400,000 in 8 Months

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

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Four friends create conversations, earn $400,000 in eight months. Dark winter days were no match for four Dutch friends looking to spark meaningful conversations. That's the story I'm gonna bring you today, episode 3,077 of the podcast and all this year. In fact, I'm bringing you some remixes of our best stories from the early years. If you weren't listening back in 2017 or 2018, these stories are completely new.

And if you do happen to have an incredible memory, one much better than mine, while each one is being rerecorded, we'll also include some new updates in some cases. So in today's story, a card game, it's kind of a question asking card game. There's a lot of these these days to kind of inspire conversation, get people talking. I've actually been surprised at the number of card games or board games that have taken off. We had an episode cards against humanity inspires six figure party game.

That was episode 339, also from the early days of the podcast, more than what, 2,700 days ago. We also had another episode from another cards against humanity. It's kind of a knockoff. In fact, I'll say that that's kind of a negative word. And I'll say that because they got in trouble, they actually copied it way too much.

There was a bit of drama with that story also a few years ago. But today is a different one. This story coming from the Netherlands, I don't think they got in trouble because they had an original idea and ended up doing very, very well with it. The board game or the card game, I should say is called Vertellus. It means tell us more in Dutch.

Stay with us. The detailed story is coming right up. [Music]

Winter in the Netherlands means cold days and long dark nights. With blistering winds and snow drifts piling up, it's easy to stay indoors. But too much time inside can bring its own kind of fatigue.

One December, a couple named Bart and Lisette noticed that even though they were constantly around family and friends, they didn't feel more connected. Conversation was often shallow, small talk platitudes, not much else. And that winter they realized how badly they craved real meaningful conversations. In pursuit of a solution, they decided to create a simple card game to help people connect. Borrowing paper and markers from relatives, they sat on the floor and began brainstorming.

At first, the idea was just to write out deep questions, but they quickly found that too vague. Instead, they focused on prompts that were both fun and thought provoking with a mix of reflection and planning to keep things balanced. So past reflection, future planning. They didn't want a therapy session. They wanted a way to help people get to know each other better.

And there's a Dutch word for that desire, which I'm probably going to mispronounce because Dutch is a difficult language, at least for me. The word is "vertellus," meaning tell us more. It captured exactly what they were hoping to inspire. Before leaving on a trip, Bart and Lisette gifted the handmade game to their families. Then while traveling, they met Lars, another Dutch traveler on a 10-month journey.

When they told him about their project, he was intrigued and soon joined the team. Together, the three of them polished the concept into a real product, a 46-question card game designed to spark meaningful conversations. This was just a side project. Lis worked in banking. Bart and Lars were building startups.

But on Christmas Eve, Lars decided to test it out with his own family. He lit a fire, gathered everyone around, and passed out the cards. The results were clear. Real connection, laughter, engaging stories, exactly what they hoped for. And that's when the team knew they were onto something.

They quickly made a website, looked for ways to produce the game, but manufacturers required large upfront orders and steep fees, which were well beyond their reach. Crowdfunding seemed promising, but most successful campaigns, at least at the time, were for high-tech gadgets. So instead of launching a full Kickstarter, they turned to their own networks. They decided they would commit to producing the game if they could pre-sell at least 500 units. After targeting friends, small groups, social media, they sold 200 decks right away.

Then came an unexpected break. A manufacturer, not only interested in printing the game, but just impressed by its mission, offered to pre-order 300 units as a New Year's gift for their clients. With these new funds in hand, they launched Facebook ads, learned how to scale their audience, and get this, in just one month, they earned $100,000 in revenue. By the end of three months, sales hit 25,000 units and $400,000 in revenue. They also struck a deal with a manufacturer that allowed them to pay 55% upfront and the rest on delivery, which gave them some breathing room for this growing venture.

To expand into the US, they brought on another Dutch friend, and this guy is based in Oregon. Since that move, they sold more than 50,000 decks and anticipate continued growth. Of course, working remotely from different countries hasn't been easy. The team returned to their individual projects. They were in different time zones.

This was not a full-time gig. If they're juggling their main employment while managing the logistics of a global side hustle, it does require some coordination and management, but their advice to others remains, just do it. Go for it. As well as that puts it, once you share the prototype with people, you can see the reaction you get. It will validate your idea.

After that, you can figure out production and the story you'll tell to help your product reach the world. Bratellus started out with hand-cut paper and an idea. Now it's sold in stores across the US, from Oregon to Pennsylvania. They've even expanded with family and relationship additions and new language versions. Wherever the game goes next, it's sure to spark some great conversation.

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Well, congrats to the Bratellus team. Since we first featured them, they've gone on to create additional products as well. They've got journals, other card games, all designed to promote deeper connection, self-reflection, meaningful conversation, particularly in today's digital society. These cards, games, products, and such are sold on Amazon, on boardgamegeek.com, and lots of other websites, resellers. They've got over 100,000 followers on Facebook.

So it seems like it's going well. And as I think I said in the original episode, this speaks to the desire for deeper conversations and real relationships. Sounds good to me, right? I hope this story gives you an idea or nudges you along towards your own ideas, something you can create and share with the world. Remember, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better.

That's all for today. New episodes coming out every single day, seven days a week for seven plus years and counting. I'm so glad you're out there. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.

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From the Onward Project.