CSS for JavaScript Developers

In March 2020, Josh Comeau suffered an ulnar nerve injury that prevented him from typing for several months—a harrowing experience for a software developer. After eight months of recovery, he realized life was short and wanted to pursue something more meaningful than his staff engineer role. He left Gatsby Inc. in summer 2020 to become a full-time educator, inspired by figures like Wes Bos and Kent C. Dodds. He chose CSS as his focus because countless JavaScript developers complained that CSS was their least favorite part of the job. Josh's goal was ambitious: help developers see CSS not as a frustrating language with hidden rules, but as an elegant, enjoyable tool.

Instead of using off-the-shelf platforms like Teachable or Podia, Josh spent the first two months building his own course platform from scratch. He wanted to create something truly interactive—not a passive video course, but an active learning experience with explorable examples and mini-games. This custom approach allowed him to make the course premium and whimsical; his course even celebrates enrollment with live-animated fireworks. After building initial modules, Josh invited 30 former bootcamp students to test-drive it, but found they weren't sufficiently motivated (they hadn't paid, so they weren't invested). He pivoted by building in public on Twitter in late 2020, sharing GIFs and previews that generated early traction. He also started covertly selling to interested email subscribers, gathering valuable feedback as he went.

By January 2021, with the course still unfinished after six months of work, Josh decided to launch an "Early Access" campaign—essentially a pre-order crowdfunding campaign. He set a $50k target, expecting it to be aggressive. The response was staggering: he hit $50k in about 10 minutes. Selling nearly 5,000 copies of the course at $129 each for one week only, he generated $550,000 in revenue. The week was chaotic—technical issues from his custom platform created a mountain of support requests—but the validation was overwhelming.

Josh's primary growth strategy was being genuinely helpful. He maintained an active Twitter presence sharing CSS tips, published deep-dive blog posts on joshwcomeau.com (which attracted 60-90k monthly visitors), and built a 20k-subscriber email list. Email proved to be his most powerful channel, while Twitter accounted for about 14% of sales. However, he made tactical mistakes: he launched limited-edition coupons on the night before pre-orders opened. The $20 off coupon for the first 50 users was exhausted in 90 seconds, before email broadcasts could complete delivery, leaving customers confused and angry. He issued refunds to those affected. More broadly, Josh believed that shipping quality mattered more than speed. While "lean startup" advice suggests building quick prototypes, Josh argued that if the demand is already validated (as it was for online courses thanks to Wes Bos and Kent C. Dodds), then nailing execution is what counts.

As of August 2021, Josh was completing the final five modules of the course with a full launch planned for September 27. The pre-order revenue had funded his business for several years, making future sales pure upside. His operating expenses were minimal—around $1,000 per month—with just a part-time contractor helping with admin and video captioning. Josh wasn't pursuing rapid growth; inspired by Paul Jarvis' "Company of One" philosophy, he wanted to build a sustainable solo business. His biggest lesson was that accurate forecasting is nearly impossible in technical product development. He'd planned three to four months but it took over a year—a perfect illustration of Hofstadter's Law.