How Jorge Vergara Built A Biz to Support his Family

I think a lot of people are afraid when they see a course like 30x500 that it’s just another con by a snake oil salesman.

Not this course. It’s hard work, but it’s also practical — and it will tell you exactly what you need to do, step by step, to accomplish your goals.
— Jorge Vergara, CEO Javebratt

Background

Jorge Vergara is a full stack developer, teacher, and entrepreneur based in Colombia.

The free crash course on his website, javebratt.com, has helped thousands of Ionic developers build and launch their first Firebase powered apps.

The big challenge: intermittent, low-value sales just isn’t unsustainable

When Jorge Vergara joined 30x500, he needed help turning his deep mobile development expertise (specifically around Firebase and Ionic Framework) into long-term, sustainable revenue.

“I was in a tough financial situation,” he says. “I was making code templates and code starters and selling them for $5 to $10—making about $50 to $100 per week.”

Jorge lives in Colombia, where the cost of living is lower, but even in Colombia, there was no way he could support his family while making less than 400 USD per month.

So, Jorge began building his audience — and that’s when he heard about Amy Hoy and Alex Hillman and their course, 30x500.

“I was already building my audience, and I had an email list with about 2,000 subscribers,” he explains. “I was also following people on Twitter and learning everything I could about freelancing from them. I started following more people who were where I wanted to be—and then I realized that all of them were 30x500 students. So, I decided to go for it,” he adds.

The 30x500 difference: “It helped me move past my fears”

Before Jorge took the plunge and joined the 30x500 Academy (with his current income, the $2,000 price of admission was a steep investment!), he tested the waters with some other resources Amy and Alex had created.

First, he downloaded and implemented their free Year of Hustle Roadmap which taught him the steps to come up with profitable product ideas and design a launch to knock the socks off his audience.

Then, Jorge bought Just Fucking Ship, Amy’s bulletproof guide for starting AND finishing the creative projects, and was inspired to “just fucking ship” a book of his own.

“I read Amy’s book, Just Fucking Ship, in a couple of hours and I immediately put into practice some of the things I’d learned from her book,” he says.

Jorge was so inspired that he decided to write a book of his very own: Building Firestore Powered Ionic Apps.

“Within days I had already made around $2,500 from pre-sales. I remember thinking, ‘This actually works.’ So I finished writing my book, and I put everything I learned from Amy and Alex’s into practice — from pre-sales to launch week,” he explains.

His book launch exceeded all of his expectations—and it gave him the confidence he needed to enroll in 30x500.

“My book made close to $6,000 in its first week. I figured, if I could make $6,000 after spending $39 on Amy’s book, I knew I could earn a lot more by investing in the 30x500 course,” Jorge says. “It was a lot of money for me but I had already gotten good results following their advice.”

Jorge learned a lot of lessons in the Academy—too many to fully recount here—but he recalls two that have had lasting impacts on his business and continue to impact every decision he makes.

“One of the first things I learned was how to understand your audience just by looking at your audience. Not asking questions—just watching how they behave and interpreting it,” Jorge says. “That was a big win for me.”

“I also remember reading the content and being afraid to start making changes. It wasn’t a comfortable move, and I didn’t want to risk what I had already built,” Jorge says. “But when Amy talked to us about taking action, it helped me move past my fears and start implementing meaningful change.”

Results: Life is better.

When Jorge joined 30x500, he had modest goals: Understand his audience, improve his product, and make more sales.

“The course costs $2,000. I thought, maybe I can get $12,000 out of it,” Jorge says. “But I’ve now made approximately $67,000—and it’s all thanks to 30x500.”

During the first 10 months after launch, his book racked up more than $20,000 in sales, and his subscriber count almost tripled—leading to a substantial increase in sustainable revenue.

“Right now, JAVEBRATT has more than 7,000 subscribers and it’s generating between $1,500 and $2,500 per month,” Jorge says.

The predictable sales have already had a dramatic impact on Jorge’s daily life. He and his wife recently had a baby girl and he credits 30x500 with teaching him how to make money that directly improved the quality of life for his family.

“We are debt free. We own our apartment, and we can make decisions without the pressure of living paycheck to paycheck.” Jorge smiles.

“The course works. I think a lot of people are afraid when they see a course like 30x500 that it’s just another con by a snake oil salesman.

Not this course. It’s hard work, but it’s also practical—and it will tell you exactly what you need to do, step by step, to accomplish your goals,” he says. “Just trust the process, do the work, and you’ll start seeing the rewards.”

Jorge’s goal for the coming year is to start earning a sustainable $5,000 per month. To accomplish that, he’s revisiting all the lessons he learned the first time through the 30x500 course and finding areas he can continue to improve.

“I’m going through the business part of the course all over again,” Jorge says. “The first time I took the course, I just wanted to get the basics and get started as quickly as possible. Now, I’m relearning certain lessons to improve my sales pages—especially my landing page for my free email course.”

That’s the beauty of the 30x500 formula—it’s not a one-then-done ticket for getting your product to launch, it’s a repeatable process that you can use time and time again.