Company · 2016 to 2017

Kindling

The one that did not work.

Role
Cofounder
Years
2016 to 2017
Status
Shut down
An old Kindling app screen
01

What we tried

A daily writing habit app with streaks, prompts and a community. We raised a small round and hired eight people in four months.

02

What went wrong

People loved the first week and forgot it by the third. We spent money to fix retention instead of asking why it was broken.

03

What I kept

Charge early, hire late and write down every decision. Every rule I run Fieldnote by came out of Kindling.

months
14
people hired
8
honest postmortem
1
“Shutting it down was the first grown up decision we made.”
Maya, looking back
Whiteboard notes from the last Kindling meeting
An empty office at sunset
Next upFieldnoteA calm notes app for people who think on paper. Six people, profitable since year two, no investors.