In this episode of the Studio Twentyone Show, Sahil walks with John Magill, founder and CEO of Zaprite, to explore his journey from traditional graphic design to building a Bitcoin payment platform. John shares insights from his background in art, his transition to digital design, and how he built Zaprite from the ground up.
🔍 What you'll learn in this episode:
John's path from art school to Bitcoin entrepreneurship
How freelance design led to creating a Bitcoin payment solution
Building an MVP as a non-developer and raising funding
Balancing the roles of CEO and designer at a growing startup
Managing feature requests while maintaining product vision
đź”— Subscribe for more content on Bitcoin and product design from the Studio Twentyone Show!
Connect with John:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/john_zaprite
Website: https://zaprite.com/
Connect with Me:
Twitter: https://x.com/SahilC0
Nostr: sahil@primal.net/sahil
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction to the Studio Twentyone Show
00:34 Meeting John Magill from Zaprite
01:03 Bitcoin Community in Austin
01:36 John's Approach to Digital Privacy
02:11 The Economics of Social Media
03:36 Early Freelance Design Career
04:47 Artistic Background and Education
09:03 Transitioning from Industrial Design to Graphic Design
12:14 Design Nature vs. Nurture Debate
14:00 The Origin Story of Zaprite
17:16 Building the MVP with Nate's Help
20:27 Design Consistency Through Growth
21:39 Balancing CEO and Designer Roles
24:23 Starting with Code as a Designer
27:45 Working with Parker and Will
31:08 AI Tools for Design
34:16 Managing Customer Feature Requests
40:52 QA Process and Feature Rollout
44:16 The Linear Approach to Features
48:38 Hot Takes on Collaborative Design
51:18 Future Design Plans for Zaprite
54:05 Closing Thoughts and Contact Information
Background image credits: Jason Marder https://jtrain.studio
