The Business Concept That Made THE BRO CODE a Bestselling Book

In 2008, I created a New York Times bestselling book that, to date, has sold over 300,000 copies.

And its first line? Bro’s before ho’s.

That’s right, I’m the mind behind The Bro Code. Not the whole code, but the book version. At the time, I was an editorial assistant at Simon & Schuster. My roommate and I loved the show How I Met Your Mother and one day, the character Barney Stinson (played by Neil Patrick Harris) mentioned a book supposedly written in the 18th Century by an ancestor to his friend Marshall (played by Jason Segel). I thought, “That should be a book.” 

I had to do a lot of convincing, but the publisher let me call Twentieth Century Fox, the show’s production company, and strike a deal. As it turns out, that was an excellent business decision.

Because The Bro Code? Is a great example of product-market fit. 

Product-market fit is why great products and services, including books, sell. There is a ton to learn about this topic. However, to be simple — product-market fit is achieved when you take the opportunity to create a solution that doesn’t exist yet for a specific market. 

At the time, I’d heard guy friends and exes talk about “the Code.” 

I also knew the show was popular. 

I took the opportunity: to create a written version of the code 

(which didn’t exist yet) 

for the audience of the show. 

And it was a surprise bestseller, hitting #9 on The New York Times bestseller list the first week it was on sale, with only a short commercial at the end of the show to promote it. The success of that book wasn’t an accident, however. 

Unbeknownst to everyone but me, the publisher’s son, and one marketing manager at Simon & Schuster at the time there was a huge, underserved market of bros and people who loved the show who wanted a fun, $13 book. 

Product-market fit is what I’m looking for when I talk with prospective clients. 

You see, one of my gifts is being amazing at spotting opportunities in people and ideas. That doesn’t guarantee your success, but if you get a “yes” from me that means I see potential in you. The same potential that The Bro Code had — to achieve product-market fit and become a bestseller.