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2: Colleen Schnettler's Startup Journey - Pivots, Focus, and Management Challenges

This episode continues following Colleen Schnettler as she navigates the challenges of building her SaaS startup. It's been six weeks since the previous episode.

Product Pivot: From Query Builder to Reporting Dashboard

Colleen and her co-founder Aaron have decided to pivot from their original "drop-in filter builder component" to building a comprehensive reporting dashboard. They discovered that customers struggled most with frontend UI customization rather than the actual query building functionality.

"The product as it stands right now is a drop in filter builder component. So what that means is you as the developer, or let's say you're the product manager and you want to buy this, you then have to have your developer drop it in, but he or she also has to do a lot of customization to hook it up... Frontend UI customization for a composable query builder is just a bear."

The pivot to reporting solves multiple problems:

It's easier to explain and position to customers

They control the entire UI instead of requiring integration

It delivers what customers are actually trying to build

"This positioning matters. We really, as a tech person, you like to believe that's not true. You're like, you'll just see the beauty of the product, but we can't sell it. We can't freaking explain it. So reporting feels very explainable to people."

Narrowing Focus: From Two Frameworks to One

After running "three experiments" in the Laravel market with minimal success, Colleen and Aaron made the difficult decision to focus exclusively on the Rails market:

"Having both kind of felt like a safety net, and I know that's a false feeling, but you're like, oh, well, if it doesn't work out in Rails, it's okay because we have Laravel Vue. If it doesn't work out in Laravel Vue, it's okay. We have Rails. It kind of felt like spreading the net wide, like lots of small bets if you will, gave us this safety."

This decision was challenging because:

It eliminates the perceived safety net of diversification

Aaron (the co-founder) is a Laravel developer who now needs to learn Rails

It requires them to completely realign their business strategy

However, they recognized that the Rails market showed better potential with:

Higher propensity to pay for solutions

More company customers versus hobbyists

Better alignment with their long-term vision

Improved Hiring Process

Colleen shares her journey improving her hiring practices:

"What I've done in the past is, this is embarrassing to admit, but it is what it is. I basically said on my podcast, which was relatively popular, that I was hiring people Twitter DMed me or emailed me and I said, that seems great. And we just started working together... I just hired them with no thought, rhyme or reason to if they were a good fit for what I was trying to do."

Her new approach included:

Creating detailed job descriptions with clear expectations

Posting on Rails job boards

Conducting multiple interviews

Implementing coding challenges specific to their tech stack

Focusing on communication skills, not just technical ability

Management Challenges

As her team grows, Colleen confronts the reality that technical skill doesn't automatically translate to management ability:

"I'm a very likable person, people like me, and I guess I thought that would magically translate into being a good manager, and spoiler alert, it does not."

She struggles with:

Giving direct feedback, especially negative feedback

Setting and enforcing expectations

Finding the right meeting cadence

Balancing team happiness with performance standards

"One of the things I was doing in the early days of a team was I was so worried everyone was going to quit... And so instead of unifying people behind a shared vision, I was trying to let everyone do whatever they wanted so they wouldn't quit."

Looking Forward

Colleen is excited about their reporting MVP pivot and expects to have a functional version to show potential customers soon. The company is also considering broader opportunities in the Rails ecosystem, potentially developing a full admin dashboard or other paid components that address gaps in the framework.

This episode highlights several critical founder lessons:

The importance of clear product positioning

The courage to focus on what's working rather than diversifying

The need for formal processes as your company grows

The distinct challenges of transitioning from developer to manager

The value of customer feedback in driving product decisions

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