Colleen Schnettler

There were like hundreds of competitors and I was like, who are these people? And so... It's a little bit of a rant and it's good for capitalism, but it's bad for me in that these products are really good. And no matter what you think is unique, like it's probably not. Someone's probably doing it with more money and better UI. So you really just have to put the work in to make the product better.

There were like hundreds of competitors and I was like, who are these people? And so... It's a little bit of a rant and it's good for capitalism, but it's bad for me in that these products are really good. And no matter what you think is unique, like it's probably not. Someone's probably doing it with more money and better UI. So you really just have to put the work in to make the product better.

Like the product development has to be a continuous cycle. Right.

Like the product development has to be a continuous cycle. Right.

Well, yes, it's been a few months and it has been quite a wild ride. I'm going to be honest. So my first vision last time we talked was going to be this product. And it was I was targeting engineering managers in the hopes that it would help their developers save time by allowing other teammates like non-technical teammates to build their own reports.

Well, yes, it's been a few months and it has been quite a wild ride. I'm going to be honest. So my first vision last time we talked was going to be this product. And it was I was targeting engineering managers in the hopes that it would help their developers save time by allowing other teammates like non-technical teammates to build their own reports.

When you're trying to go zero one is really fun. And there was a lot of, it kind of felt like there was a lot of energy and momentum around the initial product. But truthfully, that fizzled out pretty quickly. So at that time, it kind of felt like I had more of a, oh, gee whiz, this is cool. And not a, wow, this is actually a useful product I'm going to integrate into my workflow.

When you're trying to go zero one is really fun. And there was a lot of, it kind of felt like there was a lot of energy and momentum around the initial product. But truthfully, that fizzled out pretty quickly. So at that time, it kind of felt like I had more of a, oh, gee whiz, this is cool. And not a, wow, this is actually a useful product I'm going to integrate into my workflow.

So I, at the time there were maybe three or four people who were actually interested in using the product to build reports. So I worked really closely with them to say, how do we decrease the kind of cognitive overload for the person using the product? So you'd come into the product and it's AI on top of your database to build reports.

So I, at the time there were maybe three or four people who were actually interested in using the product to build reports. So I worked really closely with them to say, how do we decrease the kind of cognitive overload for the person using the product? So you'd come into the product and it's AI on top of your database to build reports.

And you say, but what, what do I want to know from my database? Like, I don't even know what I can ask. So, you know, I built in suggested questions based on your schema. And then I shortened the time from, someone has this book, I forget her name, but it's called like First Time to Wow. And it's this idea of you get something in front of your customers, how do you wow them quickly?

And you say, but what, what do I want to know from my database? Like, I don't even know what I can ask. So, you know, I built in suggested questions based on your schema. And then I shortened the time from, someone has this book, I forget her name, but it's called like First Time to Wow. And it's this idea of you get something in front of your customers, how do you wow them quickly?

So now I have it set up in a way where you come in, it shows you a sample question and customized to your database. You click it and you immediately get a chart. So you can immediately see a visual that represents the data. You can add it to dashboards. All of that to say there was a lot of early development working tightly with potential customers.

So now I have it set up in a way where you come in, it shows you a sample question and customized to your database. You click it and you immediately get a chart. So you can immediately see a visual that represents the data. You can add it to dashboards. All of that to say there was a lot of early development working tightly with potential customers.

But as I continued to go down that path, I just wasn't getting the engagement I thought I would get from developers and engineering managers. When push came to shove, it just felt like they were casually interested, but this product was not really solving a pain point.

But as I continued to go down that path, I just wasn't getting the engagement I thought I would get from developers and engineering managers. When push came to shove, it just felt like they were casually interested, but this product was not really solving a pain point.

And I think part of that was because you can't put it in front of completely non-technical people yet because the AI is just not good enough. So a lot of development work, talking to a lot of developers, talking to a lot of engineering managers, but ultimately I don't think they're my target market.

And I think part of that was because you can't put it in front of completely non-technical people yet because the AI is just not good enough. So a lot of development work, talking to a lot of developers, talking to a lot of engineering managers, but ultimately I don't think they're my target market.

That is such a hard question because I feel like for every successful bootstrap business out there, you'll hear both sides of the story, right? You'll be like, this person was successful because they pivoted so quickly. This person was successful because they stuck with it for three years. So, you know, I was really just going on what I felt was the right decision.

That is such a hard question because I feel like for every successful bootstrap business out there, you'll hear both sides of the story, right? You'll be like, this person was successful because they pivoted so quickly. This person was successful because they stuck with it for three years. So, you know, I was really just going on what I felt was the right decision.