Pros
The product works! Bringing a consumer product to fruition is immensely complex and riddled with pitfalls. Backbone can and does mitigate some of these challenges. I know this because I work hand in hand with our customers finding unique workflows to help their businesses succeed. Is it for everyone? Nope! But it’s a unique position to be so close to the end user and thus fulfilling knowing we’re solving something real. If we go away tomorrow, there a hole… Over the past 2 years, my tenure with Backbone has been a wild ride. But honestly, that's what I signed up for. While change is hard, it can create opportunities to touch parts of the business you wouldn't have access to in a more mature and siloed organization. I'm confident in Jeff's leadership and excited to see where we can go, even if his profile picture is a bit ominous. Lastly, given the number of DTC brands, the market and opportunity for Backbone is huge! The question is, can we deliver? I think these past 12 months under Jeff's product guidance and now as our CEO, we're demonstrating we have as good a shot as any!
Cons
Like many, we're now fully remote. Which I think takes away from the startup hustle magic that's created in an office. But being a small team, it's an intimate environment. Or at least at the direct team level. We could do more to cross pollinate the functions which to be fair is super hard task for remote companies. Lastly, our customer base can be a challenge. Our product is more complicated than the messaging, calendar, project management, type SaaS products. Intimately knowing our customers' unique workflows is critical driving Backbone. This means it's not a solution for everyone.