Since you have a javascript widget, you’re a data processor in the eyes of the EU with respect to privacy. How do you handle Safe Harbor/GDPR? If you comply, how big was the company when you started?

Thanks a LOT for answering my question (it’s really an advice for my personal situation). I think I have to learn how to “let go” and accept that things will happen. I will focus on my skills and hire complementary people for my business. Thanks again.

What keeps me awake most nights is wondering what I might be overlooking, that would be blatantly obvious to the technically inclined.

My partner Jessica and I never thought we’d get involved in software development (we both work in the medical field) but we’d always had a desire to run our own company and take control of our future. And during several of our eCommerce experiences from vintage clothing to designer jeans we came to realize the assortment of social media marketing platforms out there just didn’t offer the tools that we (and many other retailers) needed to help grow our online businesses.

Out of sheer frustration we decided, if we couldn’t find it, we’d build it.
Hence, Honeyworks was born.

Since then it’s been crazy! And more than once we’ve gotten that look from technical people, outsourcing agencies, etc like it was a private club and we had no business trying to get inside.
At first their reactions, that ranged from amusement to just plain snobbish used to bother me tremendously. Now I just keep plugging away, confident that we’re onto something!
But honestly, I never really feel in control. Like there’s something just outside my field of vision I can’t see.

Now we have the seed capital (I still can’t believe that) and we’ve picked out a development team over at SourcePad (Joe Chin is just an amazing guy). We’re looking at Worstofall Design for logo/branding, website, etc.

I just need help with the UX. I’ve done a ton of wireframes but they’re about as good as they’re going to get from someone with no training in heuristic analysis and blah blah, blah. I feel like a blind interior decorator. And there’s sooo many screens I’m losing my mind!

I’m considering hiring a UX/UI designer over at Toptal, unless, in your infinite wisdom, you might know of someone really good that can help us crank out these wireframes so I can finalize my specifications for Sourcepad.

I feel like I’m spinning my wheels at this stage.

P.S. I hate to hit you up for a contact in the middle of a blog post.

Great post, Groove’s story is one of the things that keeps us pushing forward!

I’ve pretty much built https://charturl.com & https://ramen.is from scratch with the help of an awesome designer, but there are times where I wish one of us *wasn’t* so technical/product-focused.

It turns out that if it’s easy for you to build stuff, you’ll build stuff, but unlike Field of Dreams: if you build it, they do not simply come.

I watched Matt Douglas at punchbowl.com deal with this for years as I worked under him during a time in my life where I really didn’t understand what a startup founder could possibly contribute without being technical. How adorably naive I was 🙂

Great post as always, Alex.