September 2024 Investor Update - Sendd
Kosmos, Kumon & Poker Run Tour signed up!! - August/September Sendd Investor Update
Pre-launch Focus: Launch early and iterate! Full focus on getting the MVP out as quickly as possible. We have 3 awesome and very different businesses signed up to use the first version of the product. Our aim is to get the product in the hands of these businesses as quickly as possible. We want to learn from these early customers and use that to figure out the best path forward for us.
Learn more about our initial customers here: Initial Customer Profiles
August:
This month was all about finding and building out the right team that could help get the initial product built. With our founding developer Keez being under pressure at his day job and limited time moving forward we had to scramble to get new team members that could fill that role moving forward.
The Good:
Found an awesome pair of back-end developers Indy and Jordan; Both have been on the job for a month now and smashing it, they are both based locally here in New Zealand.
We also expanded the team by adding Ale (Front-End Developer), Pablo (UX/UI Design) from Colombia. Team members in Colombia are highly skilled and ultra cost effective.
Locked in the first set of businesses we want feedback from on the product. Learning from these super customers will be critical in understanding our next moves.
We have a new name!!! Sendd!!! We also picked up Sendd.me for our domain name. Currently our free invoice tool from the EZ Invoices days is moved over to Sendd. As we roll out the new product the invoice tool will become a sub page on our domain.
The Bad:
Keez, our founding developer, who developed the initial invoicing product had to leave due to added pressure at his full time job. He will be missed and will always be part of Sendd as a shareholder to help us if we need his guidance.
I got super sick for about 10 days and was out of action meaning the branding/UX/UI design work I should have been leading got delayed. Thankfully back to 110% now and firing on all fronts.
We are on the clock! At the lower burn level we could effectively bootstrap the business indefinitely if needed. However at the higher burn level we have given ourselves 6 months to figure things out.
September Goals:
Lock in first customers: Done
Get Stripe Integration Finished:
Get end to end Stripe workflows Tested:
Update content and guides to Sendd from EZ Invoices:
Google Authentication for Account Creation:
September Plan:
The Stripe integration is critical. We need this to allow our customers to do one off payments, recurring subscriptions using our native link in bio/landing page experience.
We need to resolve our authentication issues with Google so that new users can create an account on Sendd using both Google and Microsoft.
I’ll be working to get things moving on the brand side this month. We opted for low fidelity grayscale UX/UI designs to allow the dev team to get started however we now need to go back and add colors and styling based on branding decisions.
Super pumped to get the MVP in customer hands in October but prior to that we will have a small win when the existing Invoice product can start accepting digital payments via Stripe. This also helps us test our integration in a live environment not just with dummy data.
Financials:
August Burn: $4000 NZD
September Burn (Estimated): $8000 NZD
Runway: 5 Months at $8000 NZD Burn, Unlimited at $4000 NZD Burn.
Asks:
Introductions to business owners that could have a recurring business model but do not currently. Examples: Nail salons, Education businesses, Mechanics, Lawn mowing, Personal trainers, Cleaners, Small/Early stage software companies.
Ideas on the Brand: Colors, Styles, examples of brands doing a brilliant job. We want to make Sendd really modern, super fast and pick colors that stand out. Thinking like Monster Energy green, F1 Inspired styling theme.
Feedback/Beta testing in October for our Platform onboarding, Payment Gateway Connection, Page Creation. Let us know if you want to sign up as a tester.
Sendd is committed to helping the 99% of small businesses that make our economies tick. We care deeply about problems that face this group. We want to live, breathe and ship for small businesses.
“Sendd me the money.” - Every small business ever
From The Sendd Team,
Adi, Indy, Jordan, Ale & Pablo