I say this a lot. Time flies!
Here we are and another year whizzed by!
12+ months ago I took our start-up in a different direction, turning off functionality, changing the business model and rearranging the product set. Months were spent diving deep into unravelling the reason for so many curious but unengaged users. And more months of early morning and late night customer calls pieced the puzzle together, taking us from zero engagement to mid double digit usage. As usage increased, so did our understanding of behavioural hurdles, workflow gaps and opportunities for further inertia and disengagement.
Along with our customers, we discovered (and continue to to unearth) new challenges to automation. Solving these challenges has taken patience and a focus on core causes rather than visible symptoms. It’s an amazing feeling to hear that ‘invisible light bulb’ click on.
I’m excited that we’ve created a product that a finance team relies on. The time I’ve spent mentoring at Startupbootcamp Fintech (will do a separate post on that) has been invaluable in helping me apply my own advice to my own start-up. Yes, the clichés that consultants make bad clients, doctors make worst patients probably apply in this instance!
New realizations have opened up new doors and new friendships and conversations. It’s going to be an interesting year ahead. A few boring moments might be welcomed!