Farewell, Appcues
“Because we built this from nothing”. When I think back on the past 10 years at Appcues, that’s the phrase that sticks with me. It’s not the only one, but it really captures the early days. I’ll always be proud of what we built here, not just the software, but the culture. From the beginning, our mission was to help teams build products their users love, and that spirit, a spirit of of helping, has manifested in a collaborative, caring, curious staff that persists to this day.
And the lore, oh was there lore. There were @hijonathan’s predictions that “this is the last time the company will fit in this vehicle” (first an elevator, then a van, a school bus, even a ferry) and @jax realizing his dream of Mappcues (a global heatmap of Appcues being delivered). There was @rayd’s Beerversity, autovacuum day, Drunk User Testing (with Keytar Bear!), Tech Gives Back, annual beach days at Nahant, moving to Canal Street, the Series A celebration that went awry, drag karaoke in P-Town, going remote, making Remote Buddies, the Brazilian & Canadian invasions, checking new emojis, many wonderful Hackcues, raising a Series B, the color Blurple, Gartic Phone, The Maine Event, pineapple on pizza, international retreats, boat cruises in Boston Harbor, and so much more.
It hasn’t been easy, churn has always been high, we have a bad habit of losing crucial customers, there were layoffs, pay cuts, far too much thrashing and far too little belief in features that we also wouldn’t drop. The through line of it all, though, cliche as it may be, really has been the people, and there have been so many great ones. Most of them really bought in and stayed a while too, doing things right so it looked like doing nothing at all. To all of them, thank you, you made this thing worth fighting for.
As painful as it is to step away, in the words of Cat Stevens, I know that I have to go. When I started, Barack Obama was president, Jaylen Brown was a rookie, Josh Allen played for Wyoming, Northeastern was still in a Beanpot drought, and Pandemic was just the name of a board game. The world has changed, my life has changed, and this chapter is finally coming to an end too.
To those reading, never forget that Appcues is yours (if you can keep it)… take care of it, keep your eyes on the customer, remember the primary artifact, and be kind to each other.
Take care 