Ed Sim’s Post

When we started our journey to develop Stackrole, our main goal was to empower users to create websites that are completely platform-independent, allowing them to be in full control of their digital presence. However, during our development process, we inadvertently created platform-dependent JAMstack templates, which presented a significant challenge. Without proper maintenance, these templates couldn't be updated, posing a major roadblock for our users. On the bright side, our templates were well-received, and we're grateful for the support of our customers. However, upon further realization, it became apparent that these templates couldn't be effectively used to build websites due to outdated packages. As a result, we made the tough decision to remove these products from Gumroad and issue full refunds to our valued customers. We deeply apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Rest assured, we have learned from this experience and are committed to providing high-quality, platform-independent solutions that meet your needs. #startup #lessons #experience #development #grateful

My learnings from building Quash: Prioritize Your Go-To-Market Strategy: Allocate more time to developing a robust Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy. This is a critical and challenging aspect that can determine your product's success in the market. Start Simple with Technology: For your MVP (Minimum Viable Product), choose a straightforward tech stack. Overengineering at the beginning isn’t necessary and can complicate things. Challenge Your Assumptions: Be cautious about assuming your perspective is universally shared. What you perceive as a problem might not resonate with others. Focus on Business and Strategy: Prioritize solidifying your business strategy over perfecting your product. The product will evolve and improve over time; start with the basics. Be Selective with Features: Avoid incorporating every feature suggested by customers. Doing so can lead to a disjointed product without a clear purpose. Don't Pursue Investors Aggressively: Interestingly, the companies attracting funding are often those that aren’t actively seeking it. Focus on building a strong, self-sufficient business. Last read: The Mom Test Checkout: https://quashbugs.com #startup #startupjourney #startupjourney #devtools #investing #vcfunding #quash #saas #saasstartup

We’re excited to announce that Craft Ventures led the $12m Series A in Knock - the notification infrastructure platform for engineering and product teams. Check out the blog that David O. Sacks & I wrote to learn more about why we invested: https://lnkd.in/ggjH9Mwt I'll touch on a bit of it here: Notifications are the standard way to keep users active & engaged. But notification systems are built with haphazard code, hacked together as developers realize the need. Founders Sam Seely & Chris Bell have unique experience and understanding of this problem, having built these systems for scale before as product & eng leaders. As developers discover that they need a more robust notification system, they wish there was a way to outsource the problem instead of reinventing the wheel. Product & eng teams have to spend time building and rebuilding their notification system, instead of focusing on core product priorities. Knock solves this with easy-to-use tools, APIs, & components for developers to manage notifications across channels. And it doesn't stop with developers. As a SaaS operator focused on optimizing a self-serve funnel, I was frustrated by how notifications were rendered useless as a vector to improve KPIs. By taking the developer-first approach, Knock can become the central nervous system that orchestrates end-to-end user engagement for product and marketing teams. We’re excited to team up with Knock & support them as they build towards this vision. Congrats to the team on the big announcement!

🔥 Time for an announcement🔥 I’m very excited to share Knock’s $12M Series A led by Craft Ventures. David Sacks is joining our board. Three years ago we started Knock to give developers a better way to build notifications. We had rolled notifications in-house in our past roles and were frustrated by the time spent developing and scaling infrastructure that wasn’t our core product. That’s why we built Knock: easy-to-use API and component primitives for building the notifications you want, without having to scale messaging infrastructure or build in-house tooling to support the rest of your team. In the less than two years since we officially launched, we’ve brought on more than 200 customers including Vercel, Webflow, and Amplitude. Today, we’re announcing a $12M Series A (bringing our total funding to $18M) to accelerate growth and to fulfill our mission of helping every product in the world communicate with its users in a thoughtful way. From here you can expect to see us invest in even better developer-first tooling, ship more components for building notification experiences, and introduce new primitives for expanding the use cases you can address with our workflow engine. All of these mean better notifications for end users. Thanks for your support and for following our journey. We can’t wait to show you what’s next. Knock on 🖖

Ever dreamed of building and launching your own SaaS company? We've got something special for you! Gadget's 10-week incubator program is designed to help turn your dreams into reality. Here's the details: 👉 What's In It For You? * A bulletproof 10-week roadmap to keep you on track 🗓 * Weekly check-ins and daily standups to keep the momentum 💥 * Individual mentorship from industry experts 🌟 * $1,000 Gadget hosting credit AND $1,000 Google Adwords credit 💰 * Marketing workshops led by proven experts 📈 * On-demand pair programming 🤝 * An incredible community of like-minded founders 👥 ✅ Apply Now We're selecting only 20 ambitious founders for this cohort. If you're serious about launching your SaaS-based venture, now is the time to jump in. Are you interested to join? Know anyone you think should apply? Let them know in the comments, and ask questions if you have any! #SaaS #Startup #Incubator #Entrepreneurship #TechStartup #Bootcamp #LaunchYourDreams

Here’s how you can Promote your SAAS for FREE: Reddit: Sideproject Reddit: Entreprenuer Hacker News Product Hunt Betalist Angellist Betabound Best testing (formely erli Bird) Designer News Feed my App Index.co Launching Next Spring wise The Startup pitch Venture Beat Profiles Promote on these channels for 3 months and you will transform your Life

If you're a #startup #founder working with a dev shop, I have an exercise for you that you should do immediately - 1. Go log into wherever your code is (probably GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket) Don't know where to go? Red flag 🚩 Can't log in? Red flag 🚩 2. Go to the workspace or organization or repository settings (depends on the tool you use) - are you listed as one of the owners? If not, red flag 🚩 It's only Tuesday and I've already talked to 3 #female founders who discovered that either they have no access to their #code (they thought they did) and/or their code is not where they thought it was (empty repo with just a readme) and/or they weren't actually the owners of it. I'm not saying that you should immediately dump a dev shop if you encounter this, but you should definitely rectify the situation or DM me and I'll help you. Or if you were already realizing you shouldn't be using a dev shop and this clinched it for you, ping me - I know a better way.

As co-founder of doclinc, starting a bootstrap SaaS company has been a thrilling and rewarding journey, packed with valuable lessons. Our mission is clear: to consistently deliver exceptional value to our users. We're not just creating software at doclinc; we're developing tools to simplify our users' daily tasks, enhancing their productivity. A user-first approach drives our innovation. Bootstrapping presents numerous challenges. Without external funding, we meticulously evaluate every decision, maximize resources, and grab every chance. These obstacles, however, fuel our motivation to remain lean, agile, and committed to value. This demonstrates bootstrapping's unique ability to foster creativity and deeply understand customer needs. A crucial challenge is maintaining our team's well-being and satisfaction. In the startup world, especially within bootstrapped ventures, work-life boundaries can blur. Our team's commitment fuels our success, prompting us to cultivate a supportive, inclusive environment, promote growth, open communication, and celebrate together, ensuring everyone feels valued and mission-aligned. Ultimately, bootstrapping doclinc, despite its challenges, brings unparalleled rewards. We're making a significant impact, supporting our team's growth, and staying true to our mission. As we continue, we embrace obstacles and celebrate success. ❤️

MVP Development: Code vs. No-Code 🚀 In the past, MVP development was a labyrinth. Collecting feedback meant juggling Excel sheets, and praying for that "Eureka!" moment in the world of code. 💡 No-Code Lightning Bolt: Enter no-code tools like Bubble! Now, you can turn your ideas into MVPs at warp speed, slashing costs and racing ahead in the innovation game. 🌐 All-Inclusive Tech: Nocode levels the playing field, making tech accessible to all. You don't need a Ph.D. in coding to rock the startup world. 💰 Cost-Savings Superpower: No-code is like your MVP's superhero sidekick, cutting development costs so you can invest in what truly matters – your vision. 🔗 Unleash the Imagination: With nocode, constraints vanish. You're free to innovate, iterate, and create without the tech handcuffs. 🚀 Join the No-Code Revolution: Ready to embrace a faster, more cost-effective, and innovative way to bring your ideas to life? Buckle up for a wild ride! 💬 Share Your Story: Have you felt the nocode thrill? Share your thoughts! Let's light up the comments section. #nocode #nocodedevelopment #mvpdevelopment #innovation #entrepreneurship #bubble #bubbleio

Sharing Igor's post for visibility. This is important. I have often described about half the startups I work for as "rescues"- I save them from a bad dev shop that was mistreating them. The below has happened a few times. I have an analogy for this I already tell my founders: you're not a CPA, and you don't understand bookkeeping, but if you hired an accountant, and then asked if you could see your books they did for you, and they said "no you can't", that would be f***ing absurd and you would fire them. so, you're not an engineer, you might not read code, but if you hire an engineer and then you ask "can i see my code" and they said "absolutely not", why is that any different? Treat an engineer who won't let you see your own code like you would a tax preparer who wouldn't let you see your own return.