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I'm finally in love with my product! We're a bootstrapped team of 4 four and we've been building our personal crm app for over a year. As the original founder

I'm finally in love with my product! We're a bootstrapped team of 4 four and we've been building our personal crm app for over a year. As the original founder and CEO, I've been waiting for this day for a loooong time! I finally love my own app and use it on a daily basis (hopefully you will too). We've already launched a long time ago but today we're launching a new feature: Note taking, straight from your inbox. We email you before every meeting with all the notes you've taken about the person you're going to meet and you simply have to reply to the email to log a note! Making it the easiest way to build your database of notes about your contacts. I know that there are tons of people who tried to build a personal CRM and that everyone has his opinion on how the "right" personal crm should work. Personally, we've decided that: - it should be fully automated (sync with calendar and email) - super simple to use (no complex and clunky interface) - it should be magic (our app tells you who you're losing touch with based on your data) And you? What are you looking for in a personal crm?

codegeek 6y ago
Landing Page seems interesting but just a word of advice as a constructive criticism hopefully. A Show HN must allow for us to be able to signup or use the app immediately and it looks like we cannot do that right now since it requires onboarding due to gmail limitations.
- nathanganser 6y ago
  Hey! It is immediately accessible, sorry for this not being clear! The note taking app within email is free and directly accessible, there are multiple calls to action on the page but here is a shortcut to get started: https://calendar.nat.app https://calendar.nat.app Our paying/main app (the personal crm app that tells you who you're losing touch with) is on a request-only basis because it works with Gmail and we're limited in the number of users we can onboard for now. Hope that clarifies things!
  - fifnir 6y ago
    You might also want to have some more proofreading done. I cought this "[..]Nat get's a good[..]" 5 seconds into your page
    - nathanganser 6y ago
      Ouch! Thanks for letting us know! Just fixed it :) You found our main landing page :)
      - mkl 6y ago
        Also "prep'" should be "prep.". I strongly disagree with your tag line. I think the only way such note taking should be is open source and completely private, otherwise a) you're locked in and b) you risk sensitive info leaking.
        nathanganser 6y ago
        Thanks! Yeah that makes sense as well, it's a different way of looking at it. We found that you have to look at those things like a scale: Open source <------> Ease of use We've decided to focus on the ease of use but there are of course many other note takings apps focusing on the other side :)
        shock 6y ago
        "Open source" and "Easy of use" do not represent opposite sides of a spectrum.
        ycombinator_acc 6y ago
        Exactly. They aren't mutually exclusive, as can be confirmed by many real world examples.
- Kiro 6y ago
  I think you overinterpret that rule: https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html I read it as referring to unfinished products that doesn't yet exist. What if you're making a Google Calendar extension? Wouldn't that be allowed as a Show HN?
  - nathanganser 6y ago
    In all cases you can get started with our app right away :) --> https://calendar.nat.app https://calendar.nat.app Thanks!
noprivacy 6y ago
"What are you looking for in a personal CRM?" Privacy and security. And your privacy assurances/policies are woefully insufficient. From https://nat.app/privacy https://nat.app/privacy > Your Gmail data is only used by machines. Our team won't read or access any of your email data unless you explicitly ask for it (for support for ex.) "Won't" means nothing. The word you're looking for is "can't" > By default, we don't share any data with third parties. The only exception to this rule is Mixpanel, our analytics apps, which receives information about how you use our app only. Yeeaaaaah your privacy policy directly states that if you're acquired or go out of business, user data will be transferred or sold. > As required by Google, the authentification tokens we use to retrieve your Gmail data are safely encrypted in our database. "We do what is required" isn't convincing me you take privacy seriously, and...encrypted how? A password in the database server's config file? > Access to production environments is limited to authorized team members only. And....who are authorized team members? "Authorized team members" could mean "the entire engineering and QA teams, plus the marketing intern collecting demographic data reports." Your statement doesn't distinguish between user data and the production environment as a whole, it doesn't commit to strictly keeping access to production AND user data to the bare minimum required. > We use the industry-standard 256-bit encryption with SSL. ...like everyone else? This does not inspire faith that your company has exemplary network security if you think this is worth mentioning. > Key passwords are updated on a quarterly basis to reduce risks. You think quarterly password rotation is a noteworthy, or even effective, security practice? You're using passwords as your sole authentication for employees? O_o You make no mention of your policies with regards to law enforcement. Do you commit to only releasing data when served with a warrant or subpoena, or can Officer Bob call you up and explain how he's investigating a Really Bad Person and you'll hand over their data? Seems the answer is yes, you will: > "Nat discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only in response to a subpoena, court order or other governmental request, or when Nat believes in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of Nat, third parties or the public at large." What country is your organization incorporated in? What country is user data kept in and thus what laws is it subject to? Is the data stored in the cloud? A server in your uncle's basement? You make no mention of systems to assure only a minimum number of designated employees have the access they need when they need it. IE a support team member cannot access a customer's data unless there is an open case verified as initiated by the customer. You make no mention of how data or whether data is encrypted; it seems only gmail auth tokens are? You should be using hardware token 2FA for critical employee access and 2FA everywhere else...not rotating passwords quarterly. You should be using vaults for every password used in production. All access should be logged and audited by an outside party.
criddell 6y ago
I take notes on my iPad. I love it because I can type, record audio, sketch, include photos, annotate PDFs, etc... How would your service help someone like me?
- nathanganser 6y ago
  Yeah, not sure you're the right fit. What makes us special is that: - you can write notes from your inbox without having to open a web app or so - you get those notes in an email before your next meeting If you care more about being able to draw/record, ... then evernote is a much better option.
c1sc0 6y ago
I am looking for something that integrates with the communication tools I actually use when so get in touch with them, and for me that is not email and calendars ... for me that is chat (WhatsApp)
- nathanganser 6y ago
  Thanks for the feedback. This is something we hear a lot as well, unfortunately WhatsApp does not have an API we can connect to :( That's why we've decided to focus on Gmail, GCAlendar, SMS and Phone calls :)
  - cocoflunchy 6y ago
    Just fyi there are APIs now https://www.twilio.com/whatsapp https://www.twilio.com/whatsapp
    - nathanganser 6y ago
      This is only for WhatsApp business, not sure people are open to use Whatsapp business for their personal account

codegeek 6y ago

Landing Page seems interesting but just a word of advice as a constructive criticism hopefully. A Show HN must allow for us to be able to signup or use the app immediately and it looks like we cannot do that right now since it requires onboarding due to gmail limitations.

nathanganser 6y ago
Hey! It is immediately accessible, sorry for this not being clear! The note taking app within email is free and directly accessible, there are multiple calls to action on the page but here is a shortcut to get started: https://calendar.nat.app https://calendar.nat.app Our paying/main app (the personal crm app that tells you who you're losing touch with) is on a request-only basis because it works with Gmail and we're limited in the number of users we can onboard for now. Hope that clarifies things!
- fifnir 6y ago
  You might also want to have some more proofreading done. I cought this "[..]Nat get's a good[..]" 5 seconds into your page
  - nathanganser 6y ago
    Ouch! Thanks for letting us know! Just fixed it :) You found our main landing page :)
    - mkl 6y ago
      Also "prep'" should be "prep.". I strongly disagree with your tag line. I think the only way such note taking should be is open source and completely private, otherwise a) you're locked in and b) you risk sensitive info leaking.
      - nathanganser 6y ago
        Thanks! Yeah that makes sense as well, it's a different way of looking at it. We found that you have to look at those things like a scale: Open source <------> Ease of use We've decided to focus on the ease of use but there are of course many other note takings apps focusing on the other side :)
        shock 6y ago
        "Open source" and "Easy of use" do not represent opposite sides of a spectrum.
        ycombinator_acc 6y ago
        Exactly. They aren't mutually exclusive, as can be confirmed by many real world examples.
Kiro 6y ago
I think you overinterpret that rule: https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html I read it as referring to unfinished products that doesn't yet exist. What if you're making a Google Calendar extension? Wouldn't that be allowed as a Show HN?
- nathanganser 6y ago
  In all cases you can get started with our app right away :) --> https://calendar.nat.app https://calendar.nat.app Thanks!

noprivacy 6y ago

"What are you looking for in a personal CRM?" Privacy and security. And your privacy assurances/policies are woefully insufficient. From https://nat.app/privacy https://nat.app/privacy > Your Gmail data is only used by machines. Our team won't read or access any of your email data unless you explicitly ask for it (for support for ex.) "Won't" means nothing. The word you're looking for is "can't" > By default, we don't share any data with third parties. The only exception to this rule is Mixpanel, our analytics apps, which receives information about how you use our app only. Yeeaaaaah your privacy policy directly states that if you're acquired or go out of business, user data will be transferred or sold. > As required by Google, the authentification tokens we use to retrieve your Gmail data are safely encrypted in our database. "We do what is required" isn't convincing me you take privacy seriously, and...encrypted how? A password in the database server's config file? > Access to production environments is limited to authorized team members only. And....who are authorized team members? "Authorized team members" could mean "the entire engineering and QA teams, plus the marketing intern collecting demographic data reports." Your statement doesn't distinguish between user data and the production environment as a whole, it doesn't commit to strictly keeping access to production AND user data to the bare minimum required. > We use the industry-standard 256-bit encryption with SSL. ...like everyone else? This does not inspire faith that your company has exemplary network security if you think this is worth mentioning. > Key passwords are updated on a quarterly basis to reduce risks. You think quarterly password rotation is a noteworthy, or even effective, security practice? You're using passwords as your sole authentication for employees? O_o You make no mention of your policies with regards to law enforcement. Do you commit to only releasing data when served with a warrant or subpoena, or can Officer Bob call you up and explain how he's investigating a Really Bad Person and you'll hand over their data? Seems the answer is yes, you will: > "Nat discloses potentially personally-identifying and personally-identifying information only in response to a subpoena, court order or other governmental request, or when Nat believes in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property or rights of Nat, third parties or the public at large." What country is your organization incorporated in? What country is user data kept in and thus what laws is it subject to? Is the data stored in the cloud? A server in your uncle's basement? You make no mention of systems to assure only a minimum number of designated employees have the access they need when they need it. IE a support team member cannot access a customer's data unless there is an open case verified as initiated by the customer. You make no mention of how data or whether data is encrypted; it seems only gmail auth tokens are? You should be using hardware token 2FA for critical employee access and 2FA everywhere else...not rotating passwords quarterly. You should be using vaults for every password used in production. All access should be logged and audited by an outside party.

criddell 6y ago

I take notes on my iPad. I love it because I can type, record audio, sketch, include photos, annotate PDFs, etc... How would your service help someone like me?

nathanganser 6y ago
Yeah, not sure you're the right fit. What makes us special is that: - you can write notes from your inbox without having to open a web app or so - you get those notes in an email before your next meeting If you care more about being able to draw/record, ... then evernote is a much better option.

c1sc0 6y ago

I am looking for something that integrates with the communication tools I actually use when so get in touch with them, and for me that is not email and calendars ... for me that is chat (WhatsApp)

nathanganser 6y ago
Thanks for the feedback. This is something we hear a lot as well, unfortunately WhatsApp does not have an API we can connect to :( That's why we've decided to focus on Gmail, GCAlendar, SMS and Phone calls :)
- cocoflunchy 6y ago
  Just fyi there are APIs now https://www.twilio.com/whatsapp https://www.twilio.com/whatsapp
  - nathanganser 6y ago
    This is only for WhatsApp business, not sure people are open to use Whatsapp business for their personal account