KEY TAKEAWAYS
- ✓Build the community first, monetize later. Rosie spent years creating value before charging for anything, and the trust she built made monetization effortless.
- ✓Community businesses are slow to start but incredibly durable. Once people identify with a community, they rarely leave.
- ✓You don't need to be in a trendy industry. Software testing isn't glamorous, but it's essential, and the professionals who do it crave community and education.
Hello! Who are you and what are you working on?
Rosie Sherry's story doesn't follow the typical startup timeline. There's no dramatic launch, no overnight success, no viral moment. Instead, it's a story about building something valuable over nearly two decades, one conversation at a time.
In 2007, Rosie was working as a software tester in Northern Ireland. Software testing, the practice of finding bugs and verifying that software works correctly before release, is one of those essential but underappreciated roles in the tech industry. Testers often felt like second-class citizens in development organizations, and there was surprisingly little community or professional development resources specifically for them.
Rosie started a small online forum called Software Testing Club. It was nothing fancy, just a place where testers could ask questions, share experiences, and talk about their craft with other professionals who understood the challenges. She ran it as a side project, with no business model and no revenue. The motivation was purely community-building: she wanted a place where testers could connect and support each other.
The forum grew slowly but steadily. Software testers discovered it through search engines, social media, and word of mouth. The community was welcoming, the discussions were genuinely helpful, and Rosie cultivated a culture of inclusivity and respect that made people want to participate. Within a few years, Software Testing Club had thousands of active members and was becoming the go-to online community for testing professionals.
The first monetization came through events. In 2012, Rosie organized TestBash, a testing conference in Brighton, UK. The event was small by conference standards, just a few hundred attendees, but the experience was different from typical tech conferences. TestBash felt more like a community gathering than a corporate event. Speakers were practitioners sharing real experiences rather than executives pitching products. Attendees connected on a personal level. The format resonated, and TestBash became an annual tradition that grew every year.
The community and events were rebranded as Ministry of Testing, a name that captured the playful, rebellious spirit of the community. Rosie expanded the events to multiple cities, added online webinars and courses, and launched a membership model that gave testing professionals access to a library of educational content, community features, and event discounts.
Revenue grew in tandem with the community's size and engagement. Ministry of Testing's business model has three pillars: events, which generate revenue from ticket sales and sponsorships; memberships, which provide recurring revenue from individuals and teams; and content, including online courses and webinars. Together, these streams grew to approximately $1.5 million per year.
The community-led growth model means that Ministry of Testing spends almost nothing on traditional marketing. New members discover the community through organic search, social media conversations, conference referrals, and recommendations from colleagues. The testing community is tight-knit enough that word travels fast. When a senior tester recommends Ministry of Testing to their team, the team often signs up collectively.
Rosie built the team gradually, reaching about 10 people who handle event logistics, content production, community management, and operations. The team is distributed across multiple countries, and the culture mirrors the community: inclusive, supportive, and focused on craft over corporate politics.
The business model evolved significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. With in-person events impossible, Ministry of Testing pivoted to online events and expanded its digital content library. The online events reached a global audience that physical conferences never could, bringing in members from countries in Asia, Africa, and South America who previously couldn't attend a Brighton conference. The digital pivot actually expanded Ministry of Testing's addressable market and created revenue streams that continued after in-person events returned.
Rosie's biggest mistake was waiting too long to charge for the value she was creating. For years, Software Testing Club and early Ministry of Testing content was entirely free. The community thrived, but Rosie was working extremely hard without adequate compensation. When she finally introduced paid memberships and premium content, the community embraced it because they'd received so much value for free over the years. If she'd started charging sooner, even small amounts, she could have built a sustainable business years earlier and avoided periods of financial stress.
The Ministry of Testing story is a masterclass in patience and community building. In a world obsessed with fast growth and quick exits, Rosie built something that took 17 years to reach its current form. But the result is a business that's deeply embedded in its industry, beloved by its members, and virtually impossible for a competitor to replicate. You can't shortcut community trust, and you can't buy the kind of loyalty that comes from decades of genuine service. Rosie built the community first, and the business followed naturally.