I Made $700 While Studying for My Final Exam (By Accidentally Selling What I Built for Myself)
First Digital Dollar Project | Sharyph
Welcome to the First Digital Dollar Project
Every week, a solopreneur shares the honest story of how they earned their first dollar online. They also join me on Substack Live to dive deeper into their journey.
Each story follows one path from idea to struggle to income. You will see the doubts they faced, the pivots they made, and the exact steps that led to that first sale.
Whether you are still searching for your breakthrough or already building momentum, these stories show you what is possible when you take action.
This post is a guest contribution from Sharyph , a fellow solopreneur sharing the story of that first sale.
More on the project and the list of contributors:
I was a student studying data analysis, working part-time at a retail shop selling IT products.
Not glamorous. Not particularly inspiring.
Just a regular person trying to figure out how to become a professional data analyst.
Here’s the thing nobody tells you about learning a new skill:
The resources exist. The information is out there.
But it’s scattered across 47 YouTube videos, 23 blog posts, 15 Reddit threads, and 8 online courses that all contradict each other.
I didn’t need more information.
I needed a roadmap.
A clear, step-by-step roadmap that said: “Do this, then this, then this, and you’ll actually become a data analyst.”
So I looked everywhere.
Subreddits. YouTube. Course platforms. Free guides. Paid guides.
Nothing.
At least, nothing that felt complete, structured, and actually usable.
So I did what any frustrated person would do.
I made one for myself.
Building the Thing I Couldn’t Find
I didn’t set out to create a product.
I just wanted to organize my own learning path so I could stop feeling overwhelmed.
I opened a document and started mapping it out:
What skills do I actually need?
What order should I learn them in?
What resources are worth my time?
What can I skip because it’s just noise?
I wasn’t thinking about design. I wasn’t thinking about “monetization strategies.” I wasn’t thinking about building a business.
I was just trying to make my life easier.
And after weeks of research, organizing, and refining...
I had it.
The Data Analyst Roadmap for Anyone.
A clear, step-by-step guide that would have saved me months if I’d had it from the start.
Then I thought:
“If I needed this... maybe someone else does too?”
Not in a “this is going to make me rich” way.
More like... “Why not just share it and see what happens?”
So I did something most people overthink to death:
I posted it.
The X Thread That Changed Everything
I wrote an X thread.
Not a sales pitch. Not a “buy my product” post.
Just a detailed breakdown of exactly how to become a professional data analyst.
Real steps. Real resources. Real advice.
And at the end, almost as an afterthought:
“If you want the full roadmap I built for myself, here it is.”
I linked to the product on Gumroad.
Then I went back to studying.
Because I had a final exam coming up, and honestly, I didn’t expect much to happen.
Studying for My Exam When It Hit
I was deep in my last module.
Notes spread across my desk. Coffee getting cold. Brain half-fried from cramming.
Then my phone buzzed.
“You made a sale!”
I blinked at the screen.
Okay. Cool. Someone bought it.
Then another notification.
And another.
And another.
I refreshed Gumroad.
$50.
$100.
$200.
I literally stopped studying and just... watched the numbers climb.
By the time the sales slowed down, that single thread had generated over $600.
From a product I made for myself.
From a thread I wrote in a few hours.
From zero marketing strategy, zero complicated funnels, zero “guru tactics.”
I just shared what I knew.
And people wanted it.
The Moment Everything Clicked
Sitting there, staring at my Gumroad dashboard, something shifted.
Not in a “I’m going to quit everything and get rich” way.
More like... “Oh. This is actually possible.”
I’d never thought about:
Selling courses
Creating digital products
Building a business online
But here I was, with $600 in my account from something I’d created in my spare time while working retail and studying for exams.
That’s when the questions started:
“What if I actually learned how to do this properly?”
“What if I helped more people solve problems like this?”
“What if this could be more than a one-time thing?”
And just like that, my mindset shifted toward three things:
Creating digital products
Helping people
Building an engaging audience
Not because someone told me to.
Because I’d accidentally proven it was possible.
What I Wish I’d Known (And What I Want You to Know)
Everyone overcomplicates this.
They think they need:
A perfect website
A massive audience
Some secret marketing strategy
Years of experience
A polished brand
But I had none of that.
I just:
Solved a problem I had
Documented the solution
Shared it with people who had the same problem
That’s it.
No 47-step funnel. No expensive courses on “how to launch.”
No waiting until I was “ready.”
I just built something useful and put it out there.
And the people who needed it found it.
The Obstacle That Didn’t Exist
Here’s the weird part:
I didn’t face the obstacles everyone talks about.
I didn’t struggle for 18 months like some creators.
I didn’t have crippling self-doubt about whether this would work.
I didn’t invest thousands of dollars or max out credit cards.
Why?
Because I wasn’t trying to build a business.
I was just solving my own problem and sharing the solution.
The moment I stopped thinking “How do I make money?” and started thinking “How do I make this useful?”…everything became easier.
That’s the paradox:
The less I focused on selling, the more I sold.
What Loneliness? I Found My People
One thing I didn’t experience: that “lonely solopreneur” feeling everyone talks about.
The opposite happened.
Sharing that thread didn’t just bring sales.
It brought people.
I got invited to communities.
Connected with like-minded creators.
Met people on the same journey who were generous with their knowledge.
Turns out, when you share what you know, you don’t end up isolated.
You end up surrounded by people who care about the same things you do.
Where I Am Now (And What’s Next)
Am I a millionaire? No.
Did that one thread change my life overnight? Not exactly.
But it changed my mindset overnight.
Because now I know:
This is possible.
Not in some distant, “maybe one day” way.
In a very real, “I’ve already done it once, so I can do it again” way.
So now I’m building.
Creating more products.
Helping more people.
Learning how to do this intentionally instead of accidentally.
And honestly?
It’s still simpler than people make it seem.
If I Could Go Back and Tell Myself One Thing
I wish I’d known this earlier:
Stop overcomplicating it.
You don’t need:
The perfect plan
The perfect audience
The perfect product
The perfect anything
You just need:
A problem you understand
A solution you can share
The willingness to put it out there
That’s it.
The rest is just noise.
— Sharyph
The Vision of First Digital Dollar Project
By the end of 6 months, we’ll have created more than content.
We’ll have built proof that there are infinite ways to start.
That your background doesn’t determine your future.
That the first dollar is possible for anyone willing to ship, learn, and iterate.
Your story matters.
Your first dollar was a turning point.
Let’s celebrate it together.
More on the project and the list of contributors:
Find out how 20 solopreneurs with different products, different offers, different strategies, different paths earn their first digital dollars.
Follow along:
 | A guest post by
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What an interesting journey you've had with your project! It's fascinating how accidentally discovering value can parallel what AI does—spotting opportunities we might overlook, much like how machines learn to identify the impossible in fields like physics. If you're curious about that connection, my latest post explores how AI hunts for groundbreaking discoveries. You can check it out here: https://00meai.substack.com/p/machines-learn-to-spot-the-impossible.