The Exchanges

Q And just because again, I want to get as much of your missive story on as possible. And it's a quick show. So I don't mean to cut you off, but let's, let's jump into missive. So you start working, you pivot from this spreadsheet tool for name badges. I imagine that Matt, you've been pivoted to miss about from that. Is that right?

A Uh, yes, exactly. So conference was, was successful. Okay. So we launched it Evan Bright wrote to us, like, they saw we were paying their API and said, oh, are you creating a tool to print batches? We said yes, and they said, oh my god, like, it's, it's one of the things that people have a lot of problem doing when they use Evan Bright for their conference, and so they, they featured us, and it was really successful, right? So I applied to Y Combinator, like, Paul Graham saw the revenue of the first few weeks, said, oh, come on, we want to interview you, and as you can see in the interview, we were quite bad, so we were, Didn't take us at work on later, but the product keep on, uh, being successful, making more money. And as a small team, we had trouble like, uh, doing customer support.

AI assessment note: “Uh, yes, exactly. So conference was, was successful.”

Q So healthy growth. Where's all this growth coming from? Is it, it's still not, is it so product hunt launches or where's the growth coming from?

A I mean, like we're the anti story of, of like startups. We'd never really invest our time in marketing. We're like, we just like to build a product and, and like email with our customers. That's really much like the only thing we do, like everything, like people say, don't do it. We only do. Right. Uh, so yeah, Like the paid customer, most of them right now, I would say are either they find us through Google, like alternative to well-known funded product. They will find us or it's word of mouth. So, uh, a lot of like, um, real stores, realtor, we're going to use missive. So like one say to, to another one, Hey, I use that product with my TV. You should try it. And then, so wireless mouth is also a big factor in our growth.

AI assessment note: “either they find us through Google, like alternative to well-known funded product... or word of mouth”

Q Talk to me more about your team today. What kinds of people do you have around you?

A So we're, uh, uh, so I have two co-founders, uh, initially we were, uh, four co-founders, one last, uh, uh, three years ago now. So now we are two, well, three co-founders plus one employee. Um, so, uh, one of my co-founders is a CTO, so it's going to like manage servers, um, and it's going to do code review, uh, and Etienne is front-end developer, uh, slash designer. So it's going to build like the, uh, front-end and I'm going to do kind of all of those, those things. So Usually I work on new features and, uh, Raphael is going to take over card review and then it's going to take over and make sure everything is fine. And then we're going to ship things.

AI assessment note: “three co-founders plus one employee. Um, so, uh, one of my co-founders is a CTO”

Q And just because again, I want to get as much of your missive story on as possible. And it's a quick show. So I don't mean to cut you off, but let's, let's jump into missive. So you start working, you pivot from this spreadsheet tool for name badges. I imagine that Matt, you've been pivoted to miss about from that. Is that right?

A Uh, yes, exactly. So conference was, was successful. Okay. So we launched it Evan Bright wrote to us, like, they saw we were paying their API and said, oh, are you creating a tool to print batches? We said yes, and they said, oh my god, like, it's, it's one of the things that people have a lot of problem doing when they use Evan Bright for their conference, and so they, they featured us, and it was really successful, right? So I applied to Y Combinator, like, Paul Graham saw the revenue of the first few weeks, said, oh, come on, we want to interview you, and as you can see in the interview, we were quite bad, so we were, Didn't take us at work on later, but the product keep on, uh, being successful, making more money. And as a small team, we had trouble like, uh, doing customer support.

AI assessment note: “Uh, yes, exactly. So conference was, was successful.”

Q Talk to me more about your team today. What kinds of people do you have around you?

A So we're, uh, uh, so I have two co-founders, uh, initially we were, uh, four co-founders, one last, uh, uh, three years ago now. So now we are two, well, three co-founders plus one employee. Um, so, uh, one of my co-founders is a CTO, so it's going to like manage servers, um, and it's going to do code review, uh, and Etienne is front-end developer, uh, slash designer. So it's going to build like the, uh, front-end and I'm going to do kind of all of those, those things. So Usually I work on new features and, uh, Raphael is going to take over card review and then it's going to take over and make sure everything is fine. And then we're going to ship things.

AI assessment note: “now we are two, well, three co-founders plus one employee.”

Q Okay. And, and how did you get, you know, your first 10 customers? Do you remember?

A Early tech. So we post, we post like to product on and kind of cold reach, like people we admire that we thought I could have a use for the product. Like, like the stripe people I'd kind of write a paper about how they collaborate around email and how they were full transparent, uh, around their own internal communication. And that was kind of one of the idea, but I miss it is the ability to share the email easily with the people, uh, in your company. So we reached out to people at Twitter, uh, Uh, over on Twitter and, and launch on Productone, and those were the earlier user. Most of those earlier users were excited by the product. We're not really willing to pay for it because it was really early stage. And we were missing a lot of the things now that our customer kind of are willing to pay for.

AI assessment note: “we post like to product on and kind of cold reach”

Q Okay. And, and how did you get, you know, your first 10 customers? Do you remember?

A Early tech. So we post, we post like to product on and kind of cold reach, like people we admire that we thought I could have a use for the product. Like, like the stripe people I'd kind of write a paper about how they collaborate around email and how they were full transparent, uh, around their own internal communication. And that was kind of one of the idea, but I miss it is the ability to share the email easily with the people, uh, in your company. So we reached out to people at Twitter, uh, Uh, over on Twitter and, and launch on Productone, and those were the earlier user. Most of those earlier users were excited by the product. We're not really willing to pay for it because it was really early stage. And we were missing a lot of the things now that our customer kind of are willing to pay for.

AI assessment note: “we post like to product on and kind of cold reach”

Q So healthy growth. Where's all this growth coming from? Is it, it's still not, is it so product hunt launches or where's the growth coming from?

A I mean, like we're the anti story of, of like startups. We'd never really invest our time in marketing. We're like, we just like to build a product and, and like email with our customers. That's really much like the only thing we do, like everything, like people say, don't do it. We only do. Right. Uh, so yeah, Like the paid customer, most of them right now, I would say are either they find us through Google, like alternative to well-known funded product. They will find us or it's word of mouth. So, uh, a lot of like, um, real stores, realtor, we're going to use missive. So like one say to, to another one, Hey, I use that product with my TV. You should try it. And then, so wireless mouth is also a big factor in our growth.

AI assessment note: “either they find us through Google... or it's word of mouth.”

Q Yeah. But you care, the lagging indicator of great customer support and customer love is do they stick with you? So you can still focus on customers loving you and the way you measure that as an MPS score or churn, right? How do you measure if you're doing a good job there?

A We don't look at data. Actually, that's the, the simple strangest answer. I can like honest answer. It's like, we don't really look at data. It's just the feeling of our customer. And, and I know churn is low and look, when you're a company like us, the product is email. Everyone can use email. So there's a lot of people trying the product. And, um, some of those will churn, and that's a good thing, right? Because we cannot be a solution for everyone. So if I only look at churn, it's not really the real picture, because the one people I want to serve, if those people do not churn, and that's, you have through conversation, right? Uh, you know, like, I would say even six months ago, I would have said, like, I'm not sure I'm even product fit, right? I'm not even sure, like, right now, we're starting to feel we're at that point, because the conversation we have, we, Like the, the range of people that are really, really satisfied and loving it is larger. Like I would say like a year ago, it was like, I'm not sure. Like some really love us. Some hate us. Right. But right now, like that range has expand. And I feel like the conversation I have is mostly like people really satisfied with it as opposed to a year ago. And if I just look at the data, I never really feel that I could have a real definitive answer. It's like, oh, the trend rate, but I don't know.

AI assessment note: “We don't look at data. Actually, that's the, the simple strangest answer.”

Q Yeah. But you care, the lagging indicator of great customer support and customer love is do they stick with you? So you can still focus on customers loving you and the way you measure that as an MPS score or churn, right? How do you measure if you're doing a good job there?

A We don't look at data. Actually, that's the, the simple strangest answer. I can like honest answer. It's like, we don't really look at data. It's just the feeling of our customer. And, and I know churn is low and look, when you're a company like us, the product is email. Everyone can use email. So there's a lot of people trying the product. And, um, some of those will churn, and that's a good thing, right? Because we cannot be a solution for everyone. So if I only look at churn, it's not really the real picture, because the one people I want to serve, if those people do not churn, and that's, you have through conversation, right? Uh, you know, like, I would say even six months ago, I would have said, like, I'm not sure I'm even product fit, right? I'm not even sure, like, right now, we're starting to feel we're at that point, because the conversation we have, we, Like the, the range of people that are really, really satisfied and loving it is larger. Like I would say like a year ago, it was like, I'm not sure. Like some really love us. Some hate us. Right. But right now, like that range has expand. And I feel like the conversation I have is mostly like people really satisfied with it as opposed to a year ago. And if I just look at the data, I never really feel that I could have a real definitive answer. It's like, oh, the trend rate, but I don't know.

AI assessment note: “We don't look at data. Actually, that's the, the simple strangest answer.”

Q And so how did you, you know, The starting years for any founder, paying yourself is difficult. So what did you do between 2015, the first line of code, or 2014, and the paid launch in 2015? How'd you pay yourself?

A Well, I think that's the interesting part of our own story is that, um, I met my co-founder at the whole working space that I created in Convexity, uh, in 2012, and, uh, so my co-founder were the absolutely best, like, developer I knew at the time, designer at the time, and I knew I wanted to work with them, right? Um, and, uh, At the co-working space, I was actually making money from, like, a really, uh, from a game portal I created when I was a teen, a French game portal I created when I was a teen, and, you know, just, like, ramen money, ramen profitable money, like, a few Ks a year, just being able to pay the apartment and the food, and I lived basically with that much money for, for 10 years, like, really, like, student salary, and, uh, really, Start to work on many different projects. And the first one I created was a game jam festival. So I wanted to be a game developer at that time.

AI assessment note: “I was actually making money from, like, a really, uh, from a game portal”

Q And so how did you, you know, The starting years for any founder, paying yourself is difficult. So what did you do between 2015, the first line of code, or 2014, and the paid launch in 2015? How'd you pay yourself?

A Well, I think that's the interesting part of our own story is that, um, I met my co-founder at the whole working space that I created in Convexity, uh, in 2012, and, uh, so my co-founder were the absolutely best, like, developer I knew at the time, designer at the time, and I knew I wanted to work with them, right? Um, and, uh, At the co-working space, I was actually making money from, like, a really, uh, from a game portal I created when I was a teen, a French game portal I created when I was a teen, and, you know, just, like, ramen money, ramen profitable money, like, a few Ks a year, just being able to pay the apartment and the food, and I lived basically with that much money for, for 10 years, like, really, like, student salary, and, uh, really, Start to work on many different projects. And the first one I created was a game jam festival. So I wanted to be a game developer at that time.

AI assessment note: “I was actually making money from, like, a really, uh, from a game portal”