Johnny had a commercial dispute with a friend of mine. Short version is that my friend is an amazing designer, one of Johnny's guys ripped my friend off, and Johnny ended up selling my friend's stolen design on his t-shirts.
In the end, Johnny was a real gentlemen and took down the whole line, and actually ended up doing a joint venture with my friend. I think the ripper was fired. He handled it correctly.
Fantastic story, and a great non-tech example of the importance of 'releasing often', shifting your focus and business in the direction of the best opportunity.
Reading the story, I don't doubt that Johnny is an energetic person to be in the room with, and he seems to have transferred that into creating an exciting brand experience.
I'd rather have a strong brand filled with knowledgeable customers who truly enjoy and appreciate what I've created instead of making a quick buck - being just another fad.
Come on now, it hardly gets anymore faddish. It's just t-shirts, and people want them because cool people they know have them. The fact that there is some random theme to them makes it feel like you are "in the know" about something, even though nobody knows what the hell it means ("keep on trunkin'"). Once it hits mass market, the cool early adopters have moved on and it is all over.
It is still inspirational that a guy can succeed like this just by being himself and being an original, which is undoubtedly what got him his early customers. Who knew that people are so hungry for something real that they are ready to line up for four days just to buy a t-shirt? That is somehow depressing.
Regardless of how inspirational this Johnny's business might sound, he's making his money on spam. I've never signed up for 'johnny cupcakes' merch and i've attempted multiple times to unsubscribe. Works briefly, but in a few months the emails start coming again. I don't bother unsubscribe attempts anymore; thank Regex for spam filters.
I am curious as to where he got my address - i usually tag anyone i don't know personally with an alias rather than a real address yet this guy has found a way to get a better email address. his story would be a lot more interesting if it shared that secret to his miraculous success.
Try using a disposable email next time. I never give out my real email address anymore. (of course i am the developer of a disposable email app, so i'm a little biased...WhySpam.Me)
Talked to him for maybe 10 minutes a couple of years ago in his Boston store. He picked up on my accent so I quite happily gave him a quick brain dump on t-shirty stuff in London, UK. He's very charming and polite.
Johnny Cupcakes is a cool guy. We often get hung up on the technology here at HN, but this story makes it abundantly clear to me that business is about people, how you communicate with them and how they feel about you. Johnny Cupcakes isn't selling the utility of being less naked, he's selling membership of a tribe, he's selling the start of many conversations, he's selling mementoes of a cool experience with a cool guy. I think we have far more to learn from this than any number of case studies about AJAXifying a Social Platform with Ruby on Django.
I originally thought this was spam, but after checking out the story I realized its an awesome and inspirational story. A story of entrepreneurial drive and passion. Love the site design as well.
I've walked by that store for years and until today didn't realize that it wasn't a store that sells cupcakes. I'm kinda glad too, that would have been weird.
In the end, Johnny was a real gentlemen and took down the whole line, and actually ended up doing a joint venture with my friend. I think the ripper was fired. He handled it correctly.