Episode 751 | TinySeed Tales s4e2: From Developer to Manager
Jan 23, 2025
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Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hammerstone and an experienced developer, shares her journey from coding to managing. She discusses the tough pivot to a focused product stack and the development of a new reporting MVP. Colleen opens up about the complexities of transitioning roles, including the challenges of hiring and how it impacts team dynamics. Her insights reveal the struggles and rewards of being a manager, emphasizing the importance of feedback and communication for a thriving business.
Focusing on a single product stack allowed Hammerstone to better serve the Rails market, maximizing their chances for success and revenue.
Colleen's transition to management involved establishing a structured hiring process, reinforcing the necessity of clear expectations and communication within her team.
Deep dives
Focus on Reporting Dashboard Development
Colleen and her co-founder Aaron have decided to build a reporting dashboard into their product, Hammerstone, following feedback from customers who primarily use their drop-in filter builder component for reporting purposes. They discovered that the most significant pain point was not the query building itself, but rather the front-end UI customization, which customers found challenging. By developing the reporting feature, they can provide a more cohesive solution that fits their users' needs, as it allows them to own the UI and create a more straightforward drop-in functional experience. This shift leverages customer insights, ultimately positioning their product more effectively in the market.
Market Focus and Experimentation
Colleen and Aaron have reevaluated their approach by focusing solely on the Rails market, as opposed to attempting to cater to both Laravel and Rails simultaneously. Their experiments in the Laravel space revealed a lower propensity to pay from that customer base, leading to the conclusion that they are more likely to find better-paying customers within the Rails community. The decision to concentrate their efforts in one direction is aimed at streamlining their efforts and maximizing their chances of success. This pivot reflects the strategic need for bootstrapped companies to consolidate their resources towards the most promising opportunities.
Evolving Product Positioning Strategies
Adapting product positioning has emerged as a critical aspect of Hammerstone’s development. Initially, potential customers had difficulty understanding the Query Builder's value, prompting Colleen and Aaron to explore ways to make their offering clearer and more appealing. By showcasing a mock-up of the reporting dashboard alongside their main product, they found that most prospects were already seeking similar functionalities, affirming the need for this pivot. Effective communication and demonstrating the practical applications of their product have proven to be essential in capturing their target audience's interest.
Challenges in Hiring and Team Management
Colleen's journey in hiring a new developer highlighted the difficulties she faced in finding suitable talent and establishing a structured hiring process. After previously hiring haphazardly, she implemented a more formal process, including a targeted job description and a custom coding challenge to filter applicants. Although the process was time-consuming and overwhelming, it led to a successful hire that aligned with her company’s goals. Through this experience, Colleen learned the importance of setting clear expectations and regular communication to foster a productive and motivated team.
In this episode of TinySeed Tales, Rob Walling catches up with Colleen Schnettler, co-founder of Hammerstone, about the progress her team has made since their initial check-in.
Colleen describes the tough decision to focus on one product stack, and their recent pivot toward building a reporting MVP. They also discuss Colleen’s shift into a more managerial role.
Topics we cover:
(2:10) – Motivations behind building additional functionality
(7:07) – Repositioning the reporting dashboard
(10:08) – Focusing in on the successful part of the product
(14:30) – How shifting focus affects the team dynamic
If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!