Vaporetto Italiano started with a suggestion at home. Giulia was teaching Italian and Spanish at a middle school when she told her partner, Francesco Cositore, about a platform where people taught languages online. Francesco was working as an export manager and was ready for a change, so he gave it a try. He loved it.
He studied, earned certifications to teach Italian to foreigners, and once he felt ready, he left his job. Together, they built Vaporetto Italiano, a school that helps intermediate and advanced students speak Italian the way native speakers do.
In June 2026, they launched their most advanced course yet, C1. It was summer in North America and Europe, the course wasn't fully finished, and the team was just the two of them. In eight days, the launch doubled the results of their previous launches and came in at three times their own expectations.
"Thanks to Amanda and Yasmin, the launch was very successful. I don't know if it would have been so successful on my own website." – Francesco Cositore
Vaporetto Italiano's Teachable story at a glance
The turning point: From a stuck website to a school with support
Francesco started Vaporetto Italiano with a website he built himself. YouTube brought the audience, but selling courses was another story. Hosting them on his own site was hard to manage, and he couldn't find anyone to help with the technical side.
"My business was stuck because of the lack of technical knowledge, and I didn't know where to sell my courses." – Francesco Cositore
A group of language teachers he trusts, from Italy and other countries, were nearly all on Teachable. In 2024, he moved too, just as he was preparing his first big course. Lessons, sections, and pricing plans were easy to set up, and the course went on sale fast.
Then he found out Teachable offered something more: a Customer Success team.
"When I found out there was a customer success management service with Amanda and Yasmin, I said, wow, that's perfect. I need that. I had technical support and marketing support at the same time." – Francesco Cositore
A plan built together
Francesco knew he wanted to launch C1. He didn't have a plan. Amanda came to a meeting with a detailed one, built on top of the ideas he already had: email sequences, promotion ideas, a waitlist, and a way to segment his audience by where each person was in their learning journey.
"I still have the plan. It's like a Bible for me, and I use it for all the promotions I'm going to do in the future." – Francesco Cositore
Francesco's strategies for a record course launch
Here are four strategies from the C1 launch, and how Teachable's product and Customer Success team supported each one.
Strategy 1: Talk to students where they are in the journey
Before C1, every launch email went to everyone. Amanda's plan split the audience into three groups: B2 students, for whom C1 was the natural next step; buyers of other courses who already trusted the brand; and newsletter subscribers who had never bought. Each group got its own message.
"For the other launches, I just sent emails to everybody. If you want my course, just buy it. But thanks to Amanda, I was able to really understand where people were on the journey." – Francesco Cositore
The results show why it mattered. 46% of buyers already had B2, proof that the path from B1 to C1 works the way he designed it. Another 45% were completely new to the school.
Take action
- Group your students by the course they've already completed and the one that comes next.
- Write a different launch email for students, past buyers, and leads who have never bought.
Strategy 2: Reward the people who raise their hand first
The launch opened with a waitlist. Anyone who joined got warm-up emails and 48 hours of early access to the best price, before the course opened to everyone else.
36% of the people on the waitlist bought C1, and waitlist buyers made up 77% of all launch sales. Most didn't wait: 89% of them bought during the 48-hour VIP window. Opening day alone brought in 37% of the launch's sales.
"It really worked. Most of them bought in the first two days. That was a great idea. Thanks, Amanda." – Francesco Cositore
Vaporetto Italiano now plans to give waitlist members and existing students the best offer at every launch.
Take action
- Open a waitlist a few weeks before launch and send it content your general list doesn't get.
- Give the waitlist a short early-access window with your best price, and say clearly it won't return.
Strategy 3: Take the friction out of checkout
For a launch built on segmented offers, each group needed its own price. Teachable let Francesco add a coupon straight to the checkout URL, so students landed on a checkout page with their discount already applied. Teachable analytics helped him follow the launch as it ran. Payment plans made the course easier to say yes to: about one in four buyers chose to pay in three installments.
"The possibility to add the coupon to the URL, so students could land on the checkout page with the coupon applied already, was very helpful." – Francesco Cositore
Take action
- Create a coupon for each segment and share a checkout link with the coupon already applied.
- Offer a payment plan so more students can join at launch.
Strategy 4: Protect your focus as a small team
Francesco's biggest worry was the workload. It was the biggest and most detailed launch they had ever run, and some C1 units were still being finished. So for the last 20 days before launch, the team of two put everything else aside. They cut YouTube output in half that month and postponed podcast episodes.
"I had to sacrifice something. I wanted the emails to be really well written and efficient. And it worked." – Francesco Cositore
Focused sprints are now how Vaporetto Italiano works on everything, from launches to YouTube scripts.
Take action
- Block out the weeks before a launch and pause content that can wait.
- If you work with a Teachable Customer Success Manager, ask them to help prioritize which parts of the plan matter most.
What changed for the school
The launch gave Vaporetto Italiano more than sales. Students can now follow a complete path from B1 to C1, and the founders see their business differently.
"Now we have a path for our students. If you are a B1, we have the whole journey ready for you, from B1 to C1. We have the feeling we have a real school." – Francesco Cositore
They built C1 using feedback from earlier courses, and the first feedback from C1 students is very positive. They also have clear launch metrics to plan the next steps.
For Francesco, the Customer Success team is a big part of that shift.
"Amanda and Yasmin were eye-opening. They made me see things I never thought about, marketing-wise. They're really there to help schools grow. I'm really grateful." – Francesco Cositore
Looking ahead
The C1 playbook is now shaping Vaporetto Italiano's first Black Friday. With Amanda and Yasmin, Francesco compared the C1 launch with an earlier January promotion. Live classes on YouTube brought in new customers. Segmented emails reactivated newsletter
So for Black Friday, they're combining the two: segmented offers by learning stage, emails written for each group, and live classes on YouTube.
"That strategy worked for the C1, and it's going to work for Black Friday, I'm sure. I'm pretty confident." – Francesco Cositore
To handle more emails for more segments, Francesco has trained AI assistants to write in his voice. He still rereads and adds to every email himself, so the result is about half AI and half his own personal touch.
Two parts of the original plan are coming next: the Teachable referral program and abandoned cart emails. Beyond Black Friday, the founders plan new courses in 2027 for students who have already finished C1, and they're growing their audience through YouTube.
Francesco's advice to other language teachers
Francesco's advice comes from where he started. His business was stuck on technical work he didn't have the skills for, and he couldn't find anyone to help. A group of language teachers he trusts were nearly all on Teachable, so he moved too. Once he was there, the Customer Success team helped him plan and run his biggest launch.
"Go to Teachable. You upload your courses and videos and everything is done. If you have a technical problem, they will take care of it, and you have people helping you. I would definitely recommend Teachable to other colleagues." – Francesco Cositore
For Francesco, the value comes in two parts: a place to upload his courses and videos without taking on the technical work himself, and a team that helps him grow the school. He found Teachable through other language teachers he trusted. Now he's passing the same recommendation on to his colleagues.
What to do next
Learn Italian with Vaporetto Italiano: Visit vaporettoitaliano.com.
Watch Vaporetto Italiano on YouTube: Vaporetto Italiano on YouTube
Explore more creator stories: Read how other educators are winning on Teachable in our Success Stories collection.
Try Teachable yourself: Vaporetto Italiano doubled its launch results in eight days with a waitlist, segmented emails, and a Customer Success team in its corner. Start your free Teachable trial and build a school with a team that wants it to grow.
