uFincs Update #2
Sprinting Towards the Unknown
The matter concerning my existence today is, once again, uFincs — my lovely idea-turned-project-turned-company that is ever so slowly creeping towards becoming 'truly' public.
Last Time
When we last left off, I had just given you a wonderful introduction to what uFincs is, how it came to be, and what I was currently working on. You can check that out here: uFincs Update #1.
tl;dr Marketing site was in progress, preparing for a slow 'launch' to various groups to gather feedback (potential customers).
This Time
The marketing site has been finished! Check it out: uFincs | Privacy-first, Encrypted Personal Finance App.
However, there is still one caveat here. As much as the marketing site is now public, and as much as the app itself is now public, I'm not technically accepting customers yet. Why? Because billing is still disabled.
Why? Because I'm a cheap-ass and want to take advantage of whatever discounts or credits I can as I bootstrap this SaaS company. I have been participating in something known as Startup School, which is basically Y Combinator's (an accelerator) funnel into their main program.
One of the benefits of participating in Startup School is access to a set of deals that includes, among other things, a Stripe discount for something like no fees on the first $5000 processed. Pretty good!
However, to access the deals, you have to become 'Startup School Certified' — essentially, watch all their lecture videos, submit a weekly update 8 weeks in a row, and then join a group session.
I've completed the first two criteria, but I've yet to complete the third. Being the introvert I am, the prospect of talking about my product/company in front of strangers has been something that I've been putting off for as long as possible (I know, a terrible trait for a business owner/entrepreneur, but we deal).
Anyways, Startup School runs this 'Build Sprint' program that I've decided to participate in. As far as I can tell, there aren't any real benefits to participating in the program beyond just feedback and a platform for sharing (there used to be monetary grants, but those seem to be gone now). But I've decided to participate just to force myself to have to join the group sessions.
The timing works out well anyway. I'm in my preliminary launch phases, I need access to those deals, and the group sessions will be a good place to get feedback/to find potential customers. Win-win, as they say.
Once I have the Stripe deal and Stripe fully integrated, then that would be the point where we can 'officially' launch (aka start getting paid for all this work). I expect that to happen within the next couple of weeks — likely by the end of February.
Other than the logistics of launching (aka the business side), I've also been working on a new feature (aka the product side).
Recurring Transactions are now (legitimately) a work-in-progress! I say legitimately because I've actually had a section in the app for recurring transactions that was just a 'Work in Progress!' label. I mean, I had planned on it to happen ever since the redesign, but now that it's finally happening... feelsgoodman.
Oh yeah! Now that I've mentioned recurring transactions, this reminds me to write down my goals for the Startup School Build Sprint:
Launch publicly.
Get 2 paying customers.
Implement recurring transactions.
So I guess everything is going according to plan, for now.
We'll see how 'going to plan' everything is next update, scheduled for the end of the month.