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At the beginning of 2015, the Fizzle team set a loosely defined goal: tell more customer stories. We’re all inspired when we hear stories of entrepreneurs who have accomplished what we hope to accomplish someday. And the more we hear from our customers and readers (you), the more we realize you’re just the same. While you benefit from our training, you also love hearing origin stories from other founders.

“It started as a whim in a coffee shop,” explains Joseph Michael, creator of Learn Scrivener Fast, an online course that teaches students how to use the popular writing program Scrivener. “I had been trying to get a pizza delivery job, but got rejected over and over. I just wanted to make some extra dough on the side.” The pun may have been intentional, but there was nothing funny about Joseph’s financial situation back then.

Note from Barrett: Today’s post is a guest post from Pat Flynn of SmartPassiveIncome.com. Pat is one of the most well known names in independent, online business. In today’s post, Pat shares a full behind the scenes look at the process that led him to build his most successful software project to date, Smart Podcast Player. Here’s Pat …