After 1-year of early access, we finally launched!
After 1 year in early access/invite-only, it is my pleasure to announce that Gist is now open for everyone!
We're offering 3 plans: Free, Pro & Enterprise - no credit card required.
The free plan is perfect for anyone looking to try out the product with zero commitment, it's also great if you have a small audience.
If you're looking for a cross-platform in-app messaging product that can plug into your automation flows, check us out!
We have libraries for Web, iOS, Android, Flutter & React Native.
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I understand how things can take a long time to implement and test etc. But was the early access for 1 year planned, would you have done anything different if you could start again?
The plan was always to open up this year. I was originally aiming for an earlier date but it just wasn't possible. During the first year, most of the effort was focused on addressing feedback and making sure the product is self-serving.
With regards to doing things differently, of course. In the beginning, the product was lacking a bit of direction but to be fair that's why you need to meet with customers and get their feedback, so taking the time to understand what leads/paying customers need is vital.
Most founders (including me) start out with this romantic idea of our product but in reality, you're building it for your customers. We're just here to balance and make sure the product is solving the right problems.
I agree, making sure you build something for your clients is so important. Thanks for sharing your insight.
This is awesome! Good luck!
Thank you ❤️❤️
How did it go with invite only? Did you get many users?
With no paid marketing, just some posts on Medium, LinkedIn, Twitter (Although I have no audience) I managed to collect over 200 emails.
I set up a Typeform which was sent out automatically to new subscribers and those who would fill it out would get a demo & account. Out of those 200, around 20 converted to actual accounts.
Congratulations, that is quite an achievement. I have a similar situation so I know it’s not easy.
Did you get 200 emails throughout 1-year period or faster?
Thank you ❤️
More than 1 year actually, because the early access form had been up since January 2020 so 22months!
Wow! For such commitment you deserve to succeed man. This is the real way to business growth, not those overnight fairytales ;)
Hehehe for someone with no audience, overnight success chances are close to that of winning the lottery.
I wrote a bit more about my journey here if you're interested https://medium.com/bourbonltd/pivoting-my-bootstrapped-startup-to-revenue-42be97759580
Definitely, I'll read that today. Thank you for that.