2 builders who never spoke to each other

Cap the seats at a number you would hold to

Scarcity works when the limit is real, so set it as a constraint you would actually enforce rather than as a marketing device. Tibo Louis-Lucas capped a paid community at 150 seats to test the format at all, and it sold out inside 36 hours at $15,000 a month. Nathan Barry kept a workshop to 25 people in a venue that made attending feel like an occasion.

The method

1. 01

   Open a paid product to a deliberately small number of seats so it sells out, deliver for those buyers, and only then decide whether to widen it.

2. 02

   Build urgency out of a genuine limit you would actually enforce rather than a countdown timer, because people move faster on a real constraint.

3. 03

   Cap the workshop at a couple of dozen people and pick a venue that forces the event to feel like an occasion.

What it returned

• 150

  A paid Slack community capped at 150 members at $99 a month sold out inside 36 hours, reaching $15K MRR.

• 150

  The 150 seat cap was set as a test of the format rather than as a marketing device.

• 25

  25 attendees in an exclusive London club whose dress code required suits and ties

Sources

• Building Profitable Audiences — Live in LondonNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · The venue · 2013-10-14
• $0 to $15,000/mo in 36 hoursTibo Louis-Lucas · tmaker.io · $0 to $15,000/mo in 36 hours · 2026-07-16