Christine Gu
Context
It was the summer of 2021. Crypto was booming. NFTs were having their moment in the spotlight
A colleague hit me up with an idea to launch our own collection—and what started as a side project turned into a full-blown business. We sold out the entire collection in under 3 hours
I was the sole designer, creating every asset for 5,000+ unique digital monkeys on Ethereum, all designed from scratch in Figma
5,000 monkeys. 3 hours. Sold out.
$500,000
Net profits
25,000
Role
Cofounder
Timeline
June 2021 - March 2022
Genesis
The visuals drew people in—but the story made them stay. We focused on building a world buyers could step into and expand themselves. What began as a monkey collection evolved into a larger narrative with mafia families, rival wars, baby monkeys, and godfathers
Our collection sold out within 3 hours, granting us financial capital to scale
Within hours of launch, we generated $500K+ in profit, and doubling that within days through secondary sales. The momentum unlocked bigger, bolder bets on the project
On the creative side, I pushed into experimental work and began partnering with other NFT collections and businesses to expand the brand
15+ partnerships
As we partnered with other businesses, the collection evolved both in brand direction and product offerings. I led the integration of each collaborator—balancing their visual style with our narrative to keep the world cohesive and recognizable
What difference was made?
$500,000+ net profits
The collection sold out in under three hours, generating $500,000 in profit, with total revenue later doubling through secondary sales
15K on Discord, 10K on Twitter
A strong brand and narrative drove rapid customer growth. Within three months, our server grew to over 15,000 members on Discord and 10,000 followers on Twitter