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Hey HN. I'm Mike co-founder/CEO of Grain. I decided to start Grain b/c I was tired of requesting access to recordings of convos and repeating myself when I cou

Hey HN. I'm Mike co-founder/CEO of Grain. I decided to start Grain b/c I was tired of requesting access to recordings of convos and repeating myself when I could just share the part of a recording instead. Our team built something pretty cool that I honestly didn't see coming when we started. Happy to answer any questions and thanks for the support.

icelancer 6y ago
ETA? I filled out the form and it said it wasn't quite ready for me (Founder).
- jakecadams 6y ago
  Hey! this is Jake, Mike's co-founder. We don't currently have a windows app and only support Zoom users. If that's you, you can email me: jake [at] grain [dot] co If not, we will be working on building out support for windows /linux in coming months [we use electron] as well as other VC providers.
  - icelancer 6y ago
    Yeah, I am a Windows (mostly) Zoom (always) user for the purposes of Grain. I'd be willing to use iPad Pro / Retina Macbook to test though, looks like something I could really use. I'll email you.
    - ianceicys 6y ago
      Filled out the survey too, same result. Really looking forward to your windows client being available! Thank you!
      - mgadams3 6y ago
        Frankly we didn't anticipate my calendar filling up so we added my co-founder Jake... his filled up so we added our intern Max... his filled up so we're finding someone new. Stay tuned, thx for the patience.
missedthecue 6y ago
Why did you name it grain
- mgadams3 6y ago
  Thanks for asking. We bounced around on really bad names like Radical (as in transparency/candor), Arthur (everyone has a seat at the roundtable), Zebra (literally just a placeholder)... But landed on Grain because it means something about our product. Grains are little pieces that can accumulate to become something meaningful. Thats what our video highlight clips are all about. Little nuggets that come from somewhere else but can stand on their own. We get most excited when thinking about what can be made when you combine the "grains" together. Also easy to say, a real word, 5 letters and the .co was cheap and nobody else has claimed the mindshare around the word. Today we start working on our SEO game :)
MichaelApproved 6y ago
Are you concerned that zoom will gradually add these features to their core products?
- mgadams3 6y ago
  Not really, Zoom has gotten to where they are by focusing on what they're world class at, which is reliable connectivity. I don't see them changing focus on anything but keeping the lead they have that made them so successful. This DNA has always been the core of Zoom since Eric branched out of Cisco.
  - Waterluvian 6y ago
    Maybe I'm being pedantic but isn't it your job to be concerned about risks like this? It sounds like your answer is "we don't need a plan because the volcano won't erupt." I'm seeing people responding with a list of volcanos that erupted without warning. Approached more technically, I'd ask, do you have future plans to stratify what back ends your product will work on, particularly if zoom stops being an option?
    - mgadams3 6y ago
      Zoom is just one of many media input sources for us and the only one we launch with b/c the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
perlgeek 6y ago
Since you built your product based on another vendor's platform, are you concerned that they might cut off access? Do you have any contingency plans for that?
- mgadams3 6y ago
  Cultivating an app ecosystem on their platform is a publicly stated goal of Zoom. Cutting off any start-up building on it would be counter-productive and lead to their competitors gaining the advantage of innovation on their platform instead. See: https://marketplace.zoom.us/competition https://marketplace.zoom.us/competition
  - jeltz 6y ago
    It would not be the first time a company cuts off parts of their app ecosystem. Strava has done so for example. https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/07/strava-relive-cc-app-platform-dispute.html/comment-page-1 https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/07/strava-relive-cc-app-pla...
  - tiborsaas 6y ago
    SoundCloud said the same and they turned their back on the developer community. It probably happened to many other platforms too
    - DigitalSea 6y ago
      Twitter has famously done the same thing a few times as well.
      - mgadams3 6y ago
        There are lots of differences but yes, it's a calculated risk we feel good about given those differences.
  - DonHopkins 6y ago
    What features does Zoom's developer API support? Which do you use, and how do you like them? What other features do you hope they support in the future?
oars 6y ago
How did you convince a company like Slack to start using your product?
- mgadams3 6y ago
  10 years of start-up network building has helped and so we got referred into them by people who they trust. The bootstrap problem to get early teams before you have credibility is crazy difficult. It takes time to do it well and with authenticity.

icelancer 6y ago

ETA? I filled out the form and it said it wasn't quite ready for me (Founder).

jakecadams 6y ago
Hey! this is Jake, Mike's co-founder. We don't currently have a windows app and only support Zoom users. If that's you, you can email me: jake [at] grain [dot] co If not, we will be working on building out support for windows /linux in coming months [we use electron] as well as other VC providers.
- icelancer 6y ago
  Yeah, I am a Windows (mostly) Zoom (always) user for the purposes of Grain. I'd be willing to use iPad Pro / Retina Macbook to test though, looks like something I could really use. I'll email you.
  - ianceicys 6y ago
    Filled out the survey too, same result. Really looking forward to your windows client being available! Thank you!
    - mgadams3 6y ago
      Frankly we didn't anticipate my calendar filling up so we added my co-founder Jake... his filled up so we added our intern Max... his filled up so we're finding someone new. Stay tuned, thx for the patience.

missedthecue 6y ago

Why did you name it grain

mgadams3 6y ago
Thanks for asking. We bounced around on really bad names like Radical (as in transparency/candor), Arthur (everyone has a seat at the roundtable), Zebra (literally just a placeholder)... But landed on Grain because it means something about our product. Grains are little pieces that can accumulate to become something meaningful. Thats what our video highlight clips are all about. Little nuggets that come from somewhere else but can stand on their own. We get most excited when thinking about what can be made when you combine the "grains" together. Also easy to say, a real word, 5 letters and the .co was cheap and nobody else has claimed the mindshare around the word. Today we start working on our SEO game :)

MichaelApproved 6y ago

Are you concerned that zoom will gradually add these features to their core products?

mgadams3 6y ago
Not really, Zoom has gotten to where they are by focusing on what they're world class at, which is reliable connectivity. I don't see them changing focus on anything but keeping the lead they have that made them so successful. This DNA has always been the core of Zoom since Eric branched out of Cisco.
- Waterluvian 6y ago
  Maybe I'm being pedantic but isn't it your job to be concerned about risks like this? It sounds like your answer is "we don't need a plan because the volcano won't erupt." I'm seeing people responding with a list of volcanos that erupted without warning. Approached more technically, I'd ask, do you have future plans to stratify what back ends your product will work on, particularly if zoom stops being an option?
  - mgadams3 6y ago
    Zoom is just one of many media input sources for us and the only one we launch with b/c the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

perlgeek 6y ago

Since you built your product based on another vendor's platform, are you concerned that they might cut off access? Do you have any contingency plans for that?

mgadams3 6y ago
Cultivating an app ecosystem on their platform is a publicly stated goal of Zoom. Cutting off any start-up building on it would be counter-productive and lead to their competitors gaining the advantage of innovation on their platform instead. See: https://marketplace.zoom.us/competition https://marketplace.zoom.us/competition
- jeltz 6y ago
  It would not be the first time a company cuts off parts of their app ecosystem. Strava has done so for example. https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/07/strava-relive-cc-app-platform-dispute.html/comment-page-1 https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/07/strava-relive-cc-app-pla...
- tiborsaas 6y ago
  SoundCloud said the same and they turned their back on the developer community. It probably happened to many other platforms too
  - DigitalSea 6y ago
    Twitter has famously done the same thing a few times as well.
    - mgadams3 6y ago
      There are lots of differences but yes, it's a calculated risk we feel good about given those differences.
- DonHopkins 6y ago
  What features does Zoom's developer API support? Which do you use, and how do you like them? What other features do you hope they support in the future?

oars 6y ago

How did you convince a company like Slack to start using your product?

mgadams3 6y ago
10 years of start-up network building has helped and so we got referred into them by people who they trust. The bootstrap problem to get early teams before you have credibility is crazy difficult. It takes time to do it well and with authenticity.