{"id":3008,"date":"2021-03-10T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/?p=3008"},"modified":"2025-06-06T12:21:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T16:21:13","slug":"year-four-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/year-four-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Year four in review: overcoming the&nbsp;unexpected"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>First off, we want to say thank you to everyone who read and shared our post about <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/how-we-built-a-1m-arr-saas-startup\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reaching $1m in annual recurring revenue<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve shared a bunch of learning lessons over there, so check it out if you haven\u2019t already. Also see our reviews of year <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/lessons-learned-bootstrapping-saas\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">one<\/a>, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/year-two-lessons-bootstrapping\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two<\/a>, and <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/year-three-lessons-bootstrapped-startup\/\" rel=\"noreferrer&nbsp;noopener\">three<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Here are highlights from this year:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Over $1.4m in annual recurring revenue<br><\/strong>I still remember the days we were making no money, so this boggles my&nbsp;mind.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>9-person team <\/strong>(<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jobs.canny.io\/engineering\/full-stack-engineer\">hiring for 10!<\/a>)<strong><br><\/strong>We added more stellar people to the team and we\u2019re still all&nbsp;remote.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>0 retreats<br><\/strong>More of a lowlight but we\u2019re so looking forward to when we can safely travel&nbsp;again.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Raised $0<\/strong><br>Still no plans to change&nbsp;this!&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For this review, I want to share some big themes from the last year. We also get questions through Twitter and Indie Hackers so I\u2019ll try to weave those in as&nbsp;well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Obviously, this past year was a weird one. Andrew and I <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/end-digital-nomad-journey\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ended our nomad journey<\/a> and moved back to Toronto just a few months before things went down.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Days after we published our year 3 review, schools closed, and restaurants went delivery-only. This wouldn\u2019t be a year in review without talking about the&nbsp;pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Navigating the pandemic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In March 2020, our team was planning our fifth retreat which would be in Mexico City.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bri, Jake, and Jacques had just joined the team, so we were extra excited. COVID cases were starting to climb but it wasn\u2019t clear yet how serious it&nbsp;was.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"571\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/team-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3009 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/team-7.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/team-7-300x86.jpg 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/team-7-768x219.jpg 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/team-7-1536x439.jpg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 2000px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 2000\/571;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As things started getting worse, Andrew and I had to make the tough choice of postponing the retreat. The trip wasn\u2019t worth risking our lives over. Looking back, I\u2019m very glad we made that&nbsp;decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Business-wise, we had no idea what to expect. I remembered nothing about the 2008 financial crisis. The cancellations started increasing in March, particularly from customers in industries closely impacted by the virus. April ended up being our worst month ever for churn. We kept a list of COVID-related churn and have since won some of them&nbsp;back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What we did have control over was our cash balance. Being profitable also means that number is growing every month. Even if we lost 50% of our revenue overnight, we\u2019d still have 18 months of&nbsp;runway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We were fortunate to already be remote so our work lives didn\u2019t change. We knew it would take a serious collapse to take us&nbsp;down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Luckily, that didn\u2019t happen. Churn returned to normal in May and we actually had some of our best months of growth after that. Due to working remotely, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saastr.com\/the-covid-boost-for-saas-will-last-years\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">teams are adopting more products that facilitate team&nbsp;collaboration<\/a>.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1395\" height=\"1024\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cloud-index-1395x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"border wp-image-3010 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cloud-index-1395x1024.png 1395w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cloud-index-300x220.png 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cloud-index-768x564.png 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cloud-index-1536x1127.png 1536w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cloud-index.png 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1395px) 100vw, 1395px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1395px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1395\/1024;\" \/><figcaption>After an initial dip, cloud\/SaaS took off around April 2020. Source: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bvp.com\/bvp-nasdaq-emerging-cloud-index\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BVP<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">By the end of the year, Ned and Ramiro had joined the team.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1772\" height=\"1024\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/team-zoom-1772x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2754 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/team-zoom-1772x1024.jpg 1772w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/team-zoom-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/team-zoom-768x444.jpg 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/team-zoom-208x120.jpg 208w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/team-zoom.jpg 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1772px) 100vw, 1772px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1772px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1772\/1024;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Growth was great. Everyone got a raise and money that we would\u2019ve spent on retreats went to the team via&nbsp;bonuses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, we\u2019re very lucky to be in an industry that hasn\u2019t been hit especially hard. We\u2019re thankful we have our health and are able to continue operating mostly as&nbsp;usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Takeaway: In times of uncertainty, profitability and having a significant runway meant everything. Nobody worried about losing their job. We stayed heads down and powered&nbsp;through.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Founder time split<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>What Andrew and I spend time doing has changed over the&nbsp;years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2100\" height=\"771\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/time-breakdown-1-2100x771.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5960 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/time-breakdown-1-2100x771.png 2100w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/time-breakdown-1-768x282.png 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/time-breakdown-1-1536x564.png 1536w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/time-breakdown-1-2048x752.png 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 2100px) 100vw, 2100px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 2100px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 2100\/771;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As makers, the early years was a lot of execution: building and designing Canny the&nbsp;product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over time, we\u2019ve been doing more and more management. Planning, reviewing work, giving feedback, delegation, people management, and&nbsp;more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">To make room for all that, we\u2019ve had to get good at a few things:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Delegation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If someone else can do a task, we put it on their radar. This was challenging because we were so used to doing small tasks here and there. That said, every little thing adds&nbsp;up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Delegation has been a struggle for me and I avoided it for a long time. <\/p><br><p>I didn\u2019t want to be the kind of co-founder who lays back while his team does all the hard work. But at some level, you\u2019re just overloaded and you need help. <\/p><br><p>I was surprised to find that people actually didn\u2019t mind at all. If anything, they wanted to&nbsp;help.<\/p><cite>&#8211; Andrew<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Andrew\u2019s initial attitude was that he should cover technical support to shield the rest of the team. We now have a support rotation where every engineer (Andrew included) does support for a&nbsp;week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suffice to say, trusting our team is a must. It\u2019s their responsibility to decide what they should work on based on impact. They set goals and work to hit them. From there, we have tight feedback loops with our weekly one-on-ones and monthly&nbsp;reviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the past, I knew every single thing that was happening at Canny. Now, I hear about things that I had no idea were happening. It\u2019s a beautiful&nbsp;thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Scoping things&nbsp;down<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We were pretty good at this already. We\u2019re always focused on shipping MVPs and are conscious of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Scope_creep\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">scope&nbsp;creep<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For every added functionality, we ask&nbsp;ourselves:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Is this required for the feature to work\/solve our customers\u2019&nbsp;problem?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Is this a really common use case or more of an edge&nbsp;case?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Is there a&nbsp;workaround?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s almost always possible to add functionality afterward. It\u2019s much worse to build something only to rip it out&nbsp;later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Increasing&nbsp;efficiency<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes there are things we could\u2019ve done in the past to save us compounding time in the future.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Some examples of&nbsp;this:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In engineering, investing more time in DevOps so we have faster builds, deploys,&nbsp;etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In support, writing help articles and saved&nbsp;replies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In marketing, setting up more advanced analytics to inform future marketing&nbsp;efforts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Lastly, we\u2019re always keeping an eye on growing gaps in the business. Those are opportunities to bring in more&nbsp;experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Takeaway: It\u2019s the small things that really add up and become very disruptive. Especially if they cause a lot of context&nbsp;switching.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Eliminating the small things was crucial to us maintaining our sanity and having a clear mind to think high&nbsp;level.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Starting to do sales<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For the first few years, we were an inbound machine. Inbound marketing, to a self-serve trial, to conversion. Every once in a while Andrew and I would do demos. Once Jacques joined us in Customer Success, he took over demoing to smaller prospects while I handled bigger&nbsp;ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Canny matured as a product, we had growing interest from bigger companies. All of them demanded more complex sales cycles. Eventually, I was doing a lot of inbound&nbsp;sales.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A large part of my week was following up with people and doing demos. It was a good problem to have, but it was becoming clear that we should have a dedicated person on&nbsp;sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"758\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/demo-cal.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3014 border lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/demo-cal.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/demo-cal-300x114.jpg 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/demo-cal-768x291.jpg 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/demo-cal-1536x582.jpg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 2000px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 2000\/758;\" \/><figcaption>A typical week of demos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So, we put up our first sales listing. This person would be taking over inbound and spinning up outbound sales for the first time. We were looking for someone we could imagine selling to us. Someone with no ego and who would be a great&nbsp;culture-fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just like with other roles, we had sales candidates do an assignment. We sent them a demo recording of mine and had them give me feedback. We wanted to see if they really knew their stuff and if they could be&nbsp;critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1845\" height=\"1024\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ned-assignment-1845x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"border wp-image-3015 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ned-assignment-1845x1024.jpg 1845w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ned-assignment-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ned-assignment-768x426.jpg 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ned-assignment-1536x852.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ned-assignment.jpg 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1845px) 100vw, 1845px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1845px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1845\/1024;\" \/><figcaption>Ned dropping some knowledge via our assignment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Ned joined us in August 2020 and hit the ground running. For the next few months, he worked on becoming a Canny expert, getting our processes in place, and setting goals. Meanwhile, I ramped down on sales which freed me up&nbsp;significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Takeaway: Unlocking sales can be huge for any company. That said, it takes a lot of time and patience to get right.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For an initial sales hire, look for someone who knows the fundamentals but isn\u2019t afraid to try (and fail at) new approaches. From there, it\u2019s just about testing and iterating on what\u2019s&nbsp;working.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hiring legal counsel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Another big gap for us was legal.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In general, we try to do a lot of ops-related things ourselves. We got by for a while by drafting our own terms and reviewing contracts. However, legal is harder to skirt around and doing something wrong could have serious consequences. We eventually started to feel in over our&nbsp;heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike sales, we didn\u2019t have enough work for a full-time lawyer. We ended up contracting counsel to help us level up. It was important that we handled bigger customers professionally. This also gave us peace of mind since we no longer wonder if we did something&nbsp;wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Takeaway: Being scrappy is great, but we also need to be reasonable and aware of risks. At some point, it makes sense to bite the bullet and bring in professionals.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Everything is a business expense anyway. We just need to make sure we\u2019re still profitable on top of these&nbsp;expenses.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Quality time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve always valued getting to know our teammates beyond work. That\u2019s why we invested a lot into going on team retreats.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, as travel didn\u2019t happen last year, we made do with online team&nbsp;hangouts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"389\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/a566eb72-b31b-46eb-855c-de37e49d564e.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3016 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 680px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 680\/389;width:749px;height:428px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/a566eb72-b31b-46eb-855c-de37e49d564e.jpg 680w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/a566eb72-b31b-46eb-855c-de37e49d564e-300x172.jpg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>I think we\u2019ve done a really good job with keeping up our culture. <\/p><br><p>Especially, considering we haven\u2019t been able to have any retreats and have more than doubled the team. <\/p><br><p>Stuff like this can be super un-motivating and hard on people. We pay very close attention to how team members are doing and feeling, and making sure we still get <em>some<\/em> quality&nbsp;time.<\/p><cite>&#8211; Elen<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>After surveying the team, we decided our sweet spot is scheduling a team hangout every ~6 weeks. Our team especially enjoys playing games&nbsp;together.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1932\" height=\"1024\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/backyard-1932x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3017 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/backyard-1932x1024.jpg 1932w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/backyard-300x159.jpg 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/backyard-768x407.jpg 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/backyard-1536x814.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/backyard.jpg 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1932px) 100vw, 1932px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1932px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1932\/1024;\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ned failed to guess what Elen was drawing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, making food&nbsp;together:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1196\" height=\"393\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/f805d13a-d4ce-44ff-afd9-8e287829bc7e-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3018 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/f805d13a-d4ce-44ff-afd9-8e287829bc7e-1.jpg 1196w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/f805d13a-d4ce-44ff-afd9-8e287829bc7e-1-300x99.jpg 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/f805d13a-d4ce-44ff-afd9-8e287829bc7e-1-768x252.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1196px) 100vw, 1196px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1196px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1196\/393;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><br>We\u2019re excited to teach each other new things, too. Ramiro can pick a pair of handcuffs with a bobby pin and there\u2019s fierce competition over who can cook the best steak. Can\u2019t wait to do an in-person taste test and settle the debate once and for&nbsp;all!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Something we do daily is our Question of the Day (<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/paper.dropbox.com\/?q=%23QOTD\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">#QOTD<\/a>) Slack channel. It\u2019s a great, lightweight way for us to connect. The more gifs and emoji reacts, the&nbsp;better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Having the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/paper.dropbox.com\/?q=%23QOTD\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">#QOTD<\/a> channel has helped me get to know everyone better. I think it\u2019s a helpful resource for building&nbsp;cohesion.<\/p>\n<cite>&#8211; Jacques <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Takeaway: Making sure your team is happy doesn\u2019t have to be a huge effort. Find time to laugh together and learn about each&nbsp;other.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Personal time and personal goals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Working at a startup doesn\u2019t mean putting in 80-hour weeks. We have very reasonable expectations around workload. Which means, we all have time for a life outside of&nbsp;work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s become even more critical for us to find enjoyment after work now that we\u2019re spending so much more time at&nbsp;home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">For Andrew and me, life after work consists of:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Personal&nbsp;hobbies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>(Some)&nbsp;exercising<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Our&nbsp;dog<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Last September, Andrew and I adopted a dog from&nbsp;Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1250\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/emmy-edited-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3038 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/emmy-edited-1.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/emmy-edited-1-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/emmy-edited-1-1638x1024.jpg 1638w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/emmy-edited-1-768x480.jpg 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/emmy-edited-1-1536x960.jpg 1536w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 2000px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 2000\/1250;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s been a big change to take care of someone other than ourselves. While she is a lot of work, it\u2019s been great to have built-in breaks throughout our day. We got very lucky with a quiet, patient, well-behaved&nbsp;pup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s also very rewarding to teach her new things. So far, she knows sit, down, stand, leave it, wave, paws up, middle, pretty, spin, play dead, bow, crawl, pray, get in, back, place, heel, loop, roll over, cover, and&nbsp;cross.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The team did some pretty cool personal stuff last&nbsp;year:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Jacques:<\/strong> Lost 50lbs and started learning his sixth&nbsp;language.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jake: <\/strong>Launched his first public side&nbsp;project.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Elen: <\/strong>Became an official member of the search\/rescue team and volunteer at the fire\/rescue department in&nbsp;Estonia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bri: <\/strong>Packed up all her belongings and moved across the country to Austin, Texas, by&nbsp;herself.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Andrew: <\/strong>Ranked in the top 1% of players in Rocket&nbsp;League.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dan: <\/strong>Hit his goal to be under 200lbs and learned 20ish songs on&nbsp;guitar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ramiro: <\/strong>Spent a lot of time with his girlfriend and got back to guitar&nbsp;playing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ned: <\/strong>Got back into coaching strength and conditioning on the&nbsp;side.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sarah: <\/strong>Completed over 100 illustrations and hit 75k&nbsp;followers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Takeaway: Burnout is real. It helps to find fulfillment\/passion outside of&nbsp;work<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Year 5<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I can\u2019t believe we\u2019re going into year&nbsp;five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m so grateful to the stellar team that we have. They make my job easy by taking initiative and stepping up to challenges. Ned has taken sales off my mind, leaving me with space to do what I\u2019m actually good at. Bri has taken over my dream of having a Canny podcast (stay tuned). Sometimes, the engineering team doesn\u2019t even need mockups from&nbsp;me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I love being able to do so much with a small team. It really pushes us to stay scrappy and be critical about what we spend our time&nbsp;on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The thing about a 6% monthly growth goal is it gets 6% harder to hit every month. Year five will be about covering some new use cases to expand our core offering. Having a great product will always be our strength. Our challenge is to solve complex problems with clean, elegant&nbsp;solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Year four was a weird one for reasons outside our control but we made it memorable anyway. I\u2019m excited to go through another great year with this&nbsp;gang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Onwards to year&nbsp;five!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We just celebrated Canny&#8217;s four year anniversary, and we&#8217;re sharing some big themes from the last year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-founder-stories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Year four in review: overcoming the unexpected - Canny Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We just celebrated Canny&#039;s 4 year anniversary, and we&#039;re sharing some big themes from the last year. 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