07. John Magill from Zaprite: Building a design-first bitcoin startup

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

🔗 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

Web: https://sahilc.com/

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