I think "Publish Often" is also an important part of OP's success. Had they not practiced making custom icons since 2013, they probably would not have been ready to capitalize on the one time they got buzz.
I've hired people on fiverr and tapped development teams I've worked with before to deliver quickly.
"Had I not have already vetted that development team I wouldn't have been ready to capitalize so quickly. Had I not practiced making static websites. Had I not practiced tying SSL to domain names so that people take me seriously."
I'm not diminishing OP's skill, I am diminishing the message and pointing out which parts are repeatable. This is prosperity preaching (being rewarded for prior sacrifices because of those prior sacrifices) and wasting everyone's energy if they actually believe that and approach life this way. Unsubscribe to that logic and you still have execute quickly + make sure people know about it.
But don't those prior experiences grow your skill to a degree?
You are grasping at straws to support traf's view of the events.
Yes, doing something in the past helps you do something in the future. No, thats not the reason traf's work went viral.
Is there some "luck" in that? Of course. But that bit of luck does not happen in a vacuum.
Yes the OP lovingly crafted his skills over a period of several years, but let's face it, his skills are commodities and you too could have achieved his success if you took a shortcut to hire someone to produce an icon pack quickly and professionally and then partnered with an influencer to sell the productized version of it.
Probably 94% of the success here is due to the influencer's exposure. The moral of the story is become good friends with influencers in relevant industries and be ready to act quickly on new business ideas, and keep access to cash to invest in whatever is needed.
100% this, I sell audio plugins and every time I release a new product there is a huge uptick in sales, and not just from existing users.