Forest Friends (System Evals Zine)
"A jargon-free zine on system evaluations for LLM-driven apps, helping AI engineers build maintainable production systems beyond demo-stage vibes-based engineering."
Marketing Channels
Hacker News
Creator shared the zine on HN, explaining the origin story and the gap it fills for AI engineers
Podcast
The co-creators (iamwil and Sri) initially collaborated on a podcast which 'made no money' but led to the zine collaboration
Customer development
The creators did 'the whole customer dev thing' to validate interest in the topic before creating the zine
Growth Levers
- Position the zine as essential reading for AI engineers transitioning from demo-stage to production-stage LLM applications
- Leverage the 'vibes-based engineering' and 'looks-good-to-me@K' framing as viral hooks in AI developer communities
- Create free teaser content (blog posts, threads) about system evals to drive traffic to the paid zine
- Target AI engineering bootcamps, courses, and corporate training programs as bulk purchase channels
- Build a community or mailing list around the zine to sell follow-up content on adjacent topics
First Customer Strategy
The creators collaborated after doing a podcast together, then picked a topic that people seemed interested in. They conducted proper customer development to validate demand, despite being 'unsure if it'd make any money at all.' The approachable format (zine with shoggoth and furry animal illustrations) differentiated it from dry technical content.
Pricing Insight
The zine is a paid product. No specific pricing mentioned, but the fact that 'people buy it and say they like it' confirms a direct purchase model. The previous podcast collaboration 'made no money,' suggesting the zine format was a better monetization vehicle.
Key Takeaways
- • Customer development before creation reduces risk — the creators validated interest before investing in the zine
- • Failed collaborations (the podcast) can lead to successful ones (the zine) by preserving the relationship and pivoting the format
- • Approachable, jargon-free presentation of technical topics (using humor and illustrations) can differentiate in crowded markets
- • The gap between AI demos and production systems is a real pain point that creates demand for practical guidance
- • Framing matters — calling out 'vibes-based engineering' creates urgency and positions the product as the solution
- • Niche technical content can monetize when it addresses a timely, specific problem that broader resources don't cover well
Sentiment Analysis
1 PosNotable Quotes
"Awesome - subscribed! — ajstiles"
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