Is Brett from Designjoy in too deep?

lol the timing

Great to see a different perspective on this.

People are overhyping the reality of unscaled, micro productized service businesses (including myself when I initially learned of Brett)

It was really interesting to read that thread. I started my first company mid-1990's. This was (and is) a design agency. Since then I've built SaaS businesses and we still work on a retainer basis. My businesses do over $3m/yr ARR, however as you can see I've been growing it for a long time - no overnight success for me!

I have watched the productised services grow and it is great when done well. I have a couple of comments to make on this particular thread:

1. It is definitely possible to grow a real business using productised services, especially when you provide well-defined limits. The problem with some of the 'unlimited' services is that it is not possible to do a great job here, especially if you get a few clients who try to 'take advantage'

2. I think that, if true, what I read in the thread sounds more like a scam than anything else. Good marketing, leading to clients signing up and then taking all the money until everyone leaves. That could have been the plan from the start. It would be easy enough to spin something else up later, rinse and repeat

3. However, I think that the Buyer definitely needs to beware. Do your due diligence when choosing a supplier. As a supplier you should also do yours about your potential client - make sure you are a good fit, or qualify out. If a service seems too good to be true, then.... it is. So don't be surprised when stuff like this happens to you. Appreciate this might sound rude, but we all know that there is only so much good work that you can receive for your $. Pay appropriately

Not hiring more designers makes no sense to me.

When I started my company (Also a productized service) the first thing I did was making sure I have the processes and the people needed to fulfil the future growth.

And it's paying off. Not 2 mil ARR paying off but slowly climbing.

Designjoy has so much potential. Manypixles is a testament to how much you can grow a productized design service with the right setup.

Wow I think for that much revenue indeed an alternative approach would have been to hire out or partner up