Project Management Startup Swip Delievers Lean Coach

How would you describe Swip in a few words?

A simple project management tool that teaches you and your team how to implement Lean – the methodology that changed how the world does business today.

What inspired you to create the collaboration platform? How did it all start?

Both me and my co-founder Nick have previous experience in both startup and corporate world. Our belief is that the startups and the small companies have the most to gain from the Lean methodology, yet these same companies need to spend thousands of Euros on Lean consultants – Euros that they don’t have yet. That’s why we decided that we can create an affordable alternative, one that allows you to experience the best of Lean without the need to spend thousands of Euros for consultancy fees.

The Lean approach is highly praised throughout the startup and entrepreneurial community. Why do you think it has gained so much attention and why does it deserve it?

There are two reasons why Lean is such a popular concept in our community:

1. First, it has proven track record. It has brought huge success to its creators at Toyota and has been replicated successfully all around the world. Simply put – the system works.
2. Second – The book “The Lean Startup” by Eric Reiss. This book has become somewhat of a holy book for the startup community and everyone that is in the community even for a short period of time inevitably is exposed to it.

What is the biggest challenge that the company has faced?

Well, like every true startup the struggle is real. While I cannot say there is one challenge that is bigger than the other, we are currently fighting to nail our communication towards our users, and showing and providing value as early as possible. We are now trying some bold moves in terms of showing our difference to our immediate competitors and why it is worth the switch (think Trello, Asana, etc.). As a software product, we are fighting to create the best possible experience inside and outside of the tool itself.

The competition appears to be fierce. What makes Swip stand out of the crowd? What is the key differentiator?

The competition is definitely fierce and it shows us that the market is ready for a product like ours. It forces us to be both exceptionally good at what we do and very creative in the way we reach our customers. What makes Swip unique is the fact that we are the only task management tool that will provide you the means to perform at your best AND teach you how to do it (using Lean). If we use an analogy of cars and driving – everyone (including us) is giving you the car, but only Swip teaches you how to become the best driver you can be.

What’s the most considerable pivoting maneuver that the team has undertaken throughout the journey so far?

In the inception phase of Swip, we wanted to integrate the famous “Get things done” methodology in the tool itself. We later realized that this is not an added value for our customer and is something that will not be a competitive advantage. We’ve decided to double down our efforts on making the Lean Coach part of our team exceptional.

Are you using Swip internally? How does that affect the viewpoints in the development team?

Yes, we do and we love it! We’ve used Swip since day one. I believe this is the only way for you to experience the pain and pleasure your customer is having – this is the way to continuous improvement. It has helped us immensely in prioritizing features and finding and fixing problems with the system.

What is the most memorable moment throughout the history of Swip?

There are three memorable moments for us that are on the top of my list.

1. The first one is the day where we acquired our first paying customer – it was both amazing and motivating to know someone is experiencing the pain you fight and is willing to pay for fixing it.
2. The second one is the launch of the tool itself – I remember fighting the feeling of not being ready and we should add more features. I am glad we did it as early as possible. It allowed us to get user feedback sooner rather than later.
3. The third one is when we got featured at Product Hunt organically. We haven’t contacted any hunters or agencies. It became natural and it provided us with our first boost of signups.

What is your team expertise and why will you be successful?

Both me and Nick have previous experience in successful startups. I’ve been part of pCloud – 7+ million users cloud storage. Nick has been part of the revolutionary product Kanbanize that changed the way people were approaching Kanban.

Our dev team has more than 15+ years of experience in development and we are working tirelessly to deliver the most value. We will be successful because we have a strong team core and deep understanding of our customer psychology – something you cannot steal or replicate.

If there is one thing you could wish for in improving the European startup ecosystem – what would it be?

I would push for unified laws towards the small business for all the countries in EU. Startups coming from some countries are having huge disadvantages due to ancient regulations and huge taxes. For example, in the country that I am born – Bulgaria, a startup is treated the same way as a medium sized company. This means that if you are to start a startup you would need a very solid cash reserve even before you have validated your idea. This is one sure way to suppress the entrepreneurship. I feel if the law is unified throughout the EU, this would allow for more new companies to be willing to take the risk of creating the next Google.

What’s one piece of advice you can give to fellow founders for their startup?

Test everything. I know everyone wants to trust his/her gut, but please do not take your assumptions for facts. This is the only way for you to get clarity. This way you learn to understand your customer psychology on a very deep level which allows you to capitalize on areas where your competitors cannot. Additionally, testing allows you to find the correct way to run your business – business model, channels of acquisition, features, problems, and improvements.

 

 

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