{"id":6185,"date":"2024-03-28T10:31:37","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T14:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/?p=6185"},"modified":"2026-03-10T21:04:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T01:04:29","slug":"year-7-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/year-7-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Year in review: 7 years of running our profitable bootstrapped&nbsp;SaaS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Hello! It\u2019s been a while since I posted a year in review. Honestly, it feels like year five and six just flew by but it\u2019s good to be&nbsp;back!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you haven\u2019t seen earlier reviews, check our year <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/lessons-learned-bootstrapping-saas\/\">one<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/year-three-lessons-bootstrapped-startup\/\">two<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/year-three-lessons-bootstrapped-startup\/\">three<\/a>, and <a&nbsp;href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/year-four-in-review\/\">four<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s go over some highlights from this&nbsp;year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Over $3.4m in annual recurring revenue<br>I\u2019m proud of this figure in itself but this past year has been very difficult for revenue in particular. I\u2019ll talk about that more&nbsp;below.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>17-person team<br>So grateful to every person on this small but mighty&nbsp;team.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2 retreats<br>We went all out to Tokyo last May and then hosted Canny Cottage in Ontario in&nbsp;November.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Raised $0<br>Still going strong here with no plans to change&nbsp;that!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I publish a series of tweets every year on the anniversary of me quitting my full time job at Meta. I\u2019ve still managed to do those so check them out: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sarahhum\/status\/1461378442256072712\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">year 5<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sarahhum\/status\/1593644310439858176\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">year 6<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sarahhum\/status\/1727006426378412385\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">year&nbsp;7<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">1\/ Today marks 5(!!) years since I left my job <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/facebook?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@facebook<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Meta?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@meta<\/a>?). In numbers:<br>\ud83d\udcb0 $2,200,000 ARR<br>\ud83d\ude4f 1,100 customers<br>\ud83d\udcac 68 investor chats turned down<br>\ud83d\udc95 9-person team<br>\ud83d\udc69\ud83c\udffb\u200d\ud83d\udcbb 8 remote team hangs<br>\ud83d\ude80 1 startup, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cannyHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@cannyHQ<\/a><br>\u270a 0 dollars raised<\/p>&mdash; Sarah Hum (@sarahhum) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sarahhum\/status\/1461378442256072712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 18, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">1\/ Today marks 6(!!) years since I left my job <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Meta?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@meta<\/a>. In numbers:<br>\ud83d\udcb0 $3,500,000 ARR<br>\ud83d\ude4f 607 paying customers<br>\ud83d\udcac 102 investor chats turned down<br>\ud83d\udc95 13-person team<br>\u2708\ufe0f 6 team retreats<br>\ud83d\ude80 1 startup, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cannyHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@cannyHQ<\/a><br>\u270a 0 dollars raised<br><br>The next year ahead is going to be tough \ud83e\uddf5\ud83d\udc47<\/p>&mdash; Sarah Hum (@sarahhum) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sarahhum\/status\/1593644310439858176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 18, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">1\/ This weekend marked 7 years since I left my job <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Meta?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@meta<\/a>. In numbers:<br>\ud83d\udcb0 $3.3m ARR<br>\ud83d\ude4f 583 paying customers<br>\ud83d\udc95 16-person team<br>\u2708\ufe0f 8 team retreats<br>\ud83d\ude80 1 startup, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cannyHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@cannyHQ<\/a><br>\u270a 0 dollars raised<br><br>This was the first year where we didn&#39;t grow. Let&#39;s unpack \ud83e\uddf5\ud83d\udc47<\/p>&mdash; Sarah Hum (@sarahhum) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sarahhum\/status\/1727006426378412385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 21, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Between the tweets for year six and seven, we see a $200k ARR drop. Yes, year six was over-reported due to a pricing change but a big part of that was also the economy. One thing\u2019s for sure: the world was\/is still struggling and we felt that. All of a sudden, growth started to feel a lot more&nbsp;difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Navigating economic lows<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As pandemic panic subsided, recession worries escalated. Interest rates climbed to combat inflation with many countries hitting multi-decade highs. In the startup world, we started hearing pretty negative outlooks for&nbsp;growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">How bad will the recession be? <br><br>After analyzing revenue data from 27.2k companies: it&#39;s worse than we thought.<br>&#8211; B2B getting hit hardest since &#39;08<br>&#8211; Consumer $$ tanking<br><br>What should you do?<br>&#8211; 6 ways to not lose in recessions<br>&#8211; 4 ways companies win in them<br><br>Thread time \ud83e\uddf5<\/p>&mdash; Patrick Campbell (@Patticus) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Patticus\/status\/1590407883019141120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 9, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While all that was happening, we <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/new-pricing-plans\/\">launched Canny\u2019s first Free plan<\/a>. We\u2019d been planning it for months and wanted to make Canny more accessible to early-stage startups. In hindsight, not the best&nbsp;timing.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We lost around half of our paying customers overnight but more than doubled our ARPU. It hurt, but our goal was to have more teams using Canny. Now, we have over 6,000 teams on Canny&nbsp;Free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the following year, cancellations citing money problems became a lot more common. It makes sense that a lot of companies (especially funded ones) did some cost-cutting. Running lean means a longer runway. To combat this, we leaned more into annual contracts and some multi-year contracts. Our Free plan helped maintain many relationships as&nbsp;well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While we are bootstrapped and profitable, we also cut our spending down where we could. Thankfully, we never got to a point where we even thought about doing&nbsp;layoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also make sure to keep a pulse on the market in general. It\u2019s more helpful to benchmark ourselves against similar companies. Things have slowed compared to previous years but we\u2019re doing alright versus other&nbsp;companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During this time, we felt it was important to make sure the team was united and pushing towards a common goal. We find our team retreats are a great way to stay connected and motivated. They aren\u2019t cheap and require a lot of planning but they\u2019re worth it. This last year, we met up in Tokyo(!!) and at an awesome cottage near&nbsp;Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<center><iframe width=\"650\" height=\"315\" align=\"centre\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HJBbBV216Us?si=S4sXWEhvSTpHAAPQ\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/center>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<center><iframe width=\"650\" height=\"315\" align=\"centre\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/r1wDGQ_0n8c?si=bCec2tHnu9s-rwW6\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/center>\n\n\n\n<p>I love being able to relive our trips through these videos. They\u2019re also great for showing potential new teammates what working at Canny is like. Here\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/canny-cottage\/\">a blog post<\/a> outlining our most recent retreat and how we pull them&nbsp;off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, we also hunkered down and continued doing what we do best\u2014building&nbsp;product.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The AI wave<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You know what I\u2019m talking about. We\u2019re seeing tools add sparkle buttons all over the place. The button that basically says, \u201cclick me and something magical will happen\u201d. While there are definitely some misses out there, there are also some <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/how-saas-can-use-ai\/\">really great uses of AI<\/a>. If you\u2019re not already, you should be considering how AI can help you be more efficient with your&nbsp;job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I asked the Canny team what AI tools have been helpful for their day to&nbsp;days:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Engineering<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Github Copilot &#8211; it&#8217;s like autocomplete for coding, but it can also complete large swathes of text. You can also ask general coding questions. I typically use the autocomplete feature to speed up my&nbsp;coding.<\/p>\n<cite>Niall<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>GPT-4 &#8211; for <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rubber_duck_debugging\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rubberducking<\/a> (but the duck talks&nbsp;back)<\/p>\n<cite>Ramiro<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Support:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Intercom&#8217;s Fin AI bot has taken over more than a third of support cases. The fact that it learns from our help center is great enough, but it also learns from past conversations. It\u2019s only getting&nbsp;better!<\/p>\n<cite>Jacques<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Marketing<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>GPT-4 &#8211; helping generate outlines that comprehensively cover topics while incorporating relevant keywords. Also, review large volumes of data like reviews, forum threads, etc, to find good&nbsp;quotes.<\/p>\n<cite>Eric<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>GPT-4 &#8211; For content creation. I never use exactly what it gives me. No matter how detailed the prompt is, I still need to edit the copy output to match our voice and tone. Still, it saves me a bunch of time I&#8217;d spend on external research and&nbsp;ideation.<\/p>\n<cite>Maria<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The overall sentiment seems like these AI features help us avoid doing a lot of the manual work we used to&nbsp;do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Canny, we\u2019ve shipped some sparkle buttons too. As Canny\u2019s product manager, I\u2019ve been able to take advantage of our <a href=\"https:\/\/feedback.canny.io\/changelog\/smart-replies\">smart replies<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/feedback.canny.io\/changelog\/comment-summaries\">comment summary<\/a> features. Both help me get to the information I\u2019m looking for&nbsp;faster.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image border\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1434\" height=\"1222\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/smart-reply.webp\" alt=\"Smart replies Canny AI\" class=\"wp-image-6186 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1434px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1434\/1222;width:650px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/smart-reply.webp 1434w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/smart-reply-768x654.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1434px) 100vw, 1434px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The way we approach building in this AI era boils down to one question: how can we provide our customers with more&nbsp;value?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We ask ourselves questions&nbsp;like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What are the most time-consuming aspects of&nbsp;Canny?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What tasks do not need to be done by a&nbsp;human?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What is the real end-value we\u2019re trying to provide and how can we get our customers there&nbsp;faster?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Our next big sparkly update involves automatically identifying feedback in customer conversations. We know how important it is to capture feedback from support, customer success, sales, etc. but it\u2019s a lot of work to stay on top of. What if Canny tracked feedback for you and automatically grouped similar ideas&nbsp;together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m really excited about it because it takes a lot of the responsibility off our go-to-market team. Meanwhile, product still gets the feedback we need. When considering a new feature, I\u2019m able to go in and see sentiment from customers and prospects tracked by our&nbsp;AI.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"841\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/inbox.jpg\" alt=\"Canny Inbox AI\" class=\"wp-image-6189 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1500\/841;width:650px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/inbox.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/inbox-768x431.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re currently running a beta for it so if you are interested in joining, reach out to our&nbsp;team!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Product marketing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Our product team is building high-value features for our customers everyday. That said, we don\u2019t have a dedicated product marketer and realized that we can do more to celebrate what we&nbsp;ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This past year, during one of our retreats, we sat down and put together a <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/what-is-product-marketing\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"51\">product marketing<\/a> plan. The goal was to share what we\u2019re working on without it being a lot of new overhead. Now, we\u2019re committed to sharing a <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/announce-product-updates-features\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"63\">product update<\/a> every three weeks. Each update&nbsp;involves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Product team declaring which features are slotted in for a specific release&nbsp;date<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sending out a product updates newsletter and sending out updates on our&nbsp;socials<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Publishing <a href=\"https:\/\/feedback.canny.io\/changelog\">changelog entries<\/a> for each new&nbsp;feature<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"987\" height=\"500\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/product-marketing.webp\" alt=\"Product marketing at Canny\" class=\"wp-image-6191 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 987px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 987\/500;width:650px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/product-marketing.webp 987w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/product-marketing-768x389.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 987px) 100vw, 987px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>So far, our plan has worked really well. Primarily, it gives our customers more insight into what\u2019s new in Canny. They can feel that the product is constantly&nbsp;improving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond that, we found benefits we weren\u2019t expecting. This process caused some good ripple effects and discussions internally. Previously, our product development cycles were very flexible. The releases give our product team a rhythm without subscribing to a full <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/what-is-scrum\/\">scrum process<\/a>. Outside of product, our other teams feel more connected. Positive change all&nbsp;around!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Founder time<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve talked about this before, but delegation is still very much something Andrew and I are working on. Especially as our team grows, I\u2019ve been trying to protect my time more. We try to budget our time for things in two&nbsp;groups:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1. Things only we can&nbsp;do<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For me, this includes stuff like writing this blog post! Reflections like these are fully based on personal experience\u2014something someone else (or an AI) wouldn\u2019t&nbsp;know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would also include product management in this list. Of course, we could hire a dedicated product manager. However, at least for now, I feel it\u2019s very helpful for me to stay as close to the product as&nbsp;possible.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2. Things that we really enjoy&nbsp;doing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Andrew, this includes writing code. Over time, Andrew\u2019s responsibilities went into covering our legal and finance needs\u2014things he\u2019s good at but doesn\u2019t particularly enjoy. In the past few months, he\u2019s found more time to get back into the codebase, and I can tell he\u2019s&nbsp;happier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cCanny kicked off well thanks to Sarah&#8217;s design magic and my engineering chops. We see these as our superpowers. Doing what we&#8217;re best at keeps us happy and does wonders for&nbsp;Canny.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>Andrew<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Something that helps me plan my time is writing tasks down. These kinds of systems are really personal, but here\u2019s what\u2019s been working for&nbsp;me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1) Keeping a physical&nbsp;journal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I use a ring planner to write down key weekly work and personal tasks. Every night, I disconnect from electronics before bed and jot down anything new on my mind. Then, I keep my planner open in front of me on my desk as a constant reminder of what I need to get done. Something about writing it down makes it feel more&nbsp;\u201creal\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1063\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/planner.webp\" alt=\"Physical journal\" class=\"wp-image-6192 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1500\/1063;width:650px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/planner.webp 1500w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/planner-768x544.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>2) Brain dumping specific task details&nbsp;digitally<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The nitty gritty gets documented digitally in a tool called <a href=\"https:\/\/ellieplanner.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ellie<\/a>. I can easily move tasks between different days and timebox them as needed. I also use an iOS shortcut on my phone that creates Ellie tasks for me when I\u2019m out and about. It feels really good knowing that I don\u2019t need to store everything in my&nbsp;brain.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1398\" height=\"759\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ellie.webp\" alt=\"Ellie\" class=\"wp-image-6193 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1398px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1398\/759;width:650px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ellie.webp 1398w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ellie-768x417.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1398px) 100vw, 1398px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>This past year, I looked back at the tasks I was doing repeatedly and asked myself what I could delegate. This usually requires some upfront work to train a new person. Once that\u2019s done, it makes a huge&nbsp;difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The biggest changes we made to create space involved internal team&nbsp;restructuring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Team changes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Team changes are often really challenging, and we had to make some tough decisions this last year. That said, I\u2019m confident we are stronger for&nbsp;it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Starting with the challenging parts: we moved people around to make the best use of their strengths. As managers, it\u2019s important for us to identify and recognize the strengths of our team. In some cases, there might be a mismatch between the person and the role they\u2019re in. The best thing to do in that scenario is to make a change. This can be a painful process, but it\u2019s definitely worth&nbsp;it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moving onto management. While we still consider ourselves a very flat organization, we needed help here. It\u2019s been great to have a few people step up and dedicate brain space to help our teams work effectively and happily. While Andrew and I were doing a lot of this management before, we weren\u2019t great at it. Our time was much too divided to give people the attention they&nbsp;deserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Onto exciting parts: opening new roles! When we find gaps, we look for someone to fill them. This year we brought on Clare to help us out with all things operations. She now also leads our go-to-market teams, helping them identify opportunities for impact. One of the people Clare works with is Julia, who came onboard to take on our customer success needs. This is especially important to us given our focus on&nbsp;retention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another role that we wanted to fill this year was support engineering. Previously, we had our engineering team do a support rotation. Over time, it proved to be quite disruptive to core product&nbsp;work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At first, we looked for an entry-level engineer to handle technical support questions. However, one of our engineers, Sara, stepped up to fill this need and so much more. She is now our customers\u2019 point of contact for technical issues. Sitting between our product and go-to-market teams is also beneficial. She spots opportunities for improvement in our processes and communications across teams. We now refer to her as our go-to-market&nbsp;engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cAs an engineer at Canny, I deeply appreciate the opportunity to work for a company that values direct engagement with our customers. By dedicating engineering team members to work closely with users, we gain invaluable insights into their workflows. This enables us to fully leverage the power of Canny and swiftly implement functionalities that align with our customers&#8217;&nbsp;goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>Sara<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Last but not least, we hired our first virtual assistant! Steph is from the Philippines and helps out with a bunch of our miscellaneous tasks. These range from finding our retreat accommodations, to keeping our task statuses up to date, to building an AI benchmark dataset. These might seem like small tasks, but they add up to a lot over&nbsp;time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our team changes this last year made a huge difference in our overall impact as a&nbsp;team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Personal updates &amp; goals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We are so much more than our day jobs! All of us at Canny enjoy life outside of&nbsp;work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Andrew and I were able to go on a few trips including a month in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, and a spontaneous trip to Hawaii. It\u2019s very different from being digital nomads, but I always enjoy an&nbsp;adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"507\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/trip-pics.webp\" alt=\"2024 trips\n\" class=\"wp-image-6194 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1500\/507;width:650px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/trip-pics.webp 1500w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/trip-pics-768x260.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Outside of that, we mostly enjoyed our quiet life in Toronto with our dog,&nbsp;Emmy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I personally spend most of my free time on hobbies. I started <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ghostfoxstudio\">a little side hustle<\/a> making artisan keycaps out of polymer clay. Through that, I\u2019ve learned that I get a lot of joy out of creating something with my hands, shipping it to someone, and then seeing them love&nbsp;it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"637\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/keycaps.webp\" alt=\"Key caps\" class=\"wp-image-6195 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1500\/637;width:650px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/keycaps.webp 1500w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/keycaps-768x326.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The other big thing for me is journaling. I\u2019ve been writing in my journal every day since January 1st this year, and I plan to for the rest of the year. I\u2019ve found appreciation for documenting things that I know I\u2019ll enjoy looking back at years from now. I\u2019m also happy I can finally make use of all of the stationery I\u2019ve been collecting for so&nbsp;long.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1096\" data-src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/journaling.webp\" alt=\"Journal\" class=\"wp-image-6196 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1500px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1500\/1096;width:650px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/journaling.webp 1500w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/journaling-768x561.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>This is technically not in the last year but we\u2019re moving to Seattle next month! It was a complicated and sudden decision, but we\u2019re looking forward to being back on the west coast. If you\u2019re in the area, say&nbsp;hi!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team had some awesome accomplishments this last year&nbsp;too:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jacques: Got married and moved to&nbsp;Mexico.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Maria: Is working out consistently and learned at least five songs on the&nbsp;guitar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Eric: Became a dad and won first place in some Updog frisbee games with his pup, Cloud&nbsp;Strife.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Kaman: Joined Canny, opened an Etsy shop, got married, and climbed Mount&nbsp;Fuji.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ramiro: Ran his first 20k, traveled a bunch, and learned to&nbsp;snowboard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dan: Started doing local sauna popups in Madison, WI. Check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smokinbarrelsauna.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Smokin\u2019 Barrel&nbsp;Sauna<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Julia: Joined Canny and is learning Spanish, sewing, and&nbsp;salsa.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Adam: Had a baby who is coming up on 10 months&nbsp;old.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Year 8<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We are inching closer to double&nbsp;digits\u2014wild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During hard times, I\u2019m especially grateful for our amazing team. While we\u2019re working remotely, we are trusted to deliver. A lot of cool product stuff is coming down the pipeline, and I\u2019m excited for our customers to see them. Our go-to-market team is on deck to make sure everyone knows the value Canny brings to software&nbsp;development.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay tuned especially to our next big AI-powered features. We are pushing hard to nail down the experience and quality. <a href=\"https:\/\/discord.gg\/xCjUYpT7CE\">Join our Discord<\/a> if you want the&nbsp;inside-scoop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we can get together in person, the focus is on team bonding. We work better together when we know each other better as people. Our next retreat is in Italy in&nbsp;May!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We feel good about our team at the moment, so we\u2019ve slowed down hiring. I love having a small but mighty team. That said, this could change! Keep an eye on <a href=\"https:\/\/careers.canny.io\/\">our jobs page<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in being a part of team&nbsp;Canny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m hopeful that year eight will be a significant year in our story.&nbsp;Onwards!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"hs-cta-embed hs-cta-embed-127905612377\" style=\"max-width:100%; max-height:100%; margin:0 auto; width:650px;height:313.4505275px\">\n  <link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.com\/embeddable_cta_placeholder_v1.css\">\n  <div class=\"hs-cta-loading-dot__container\">\n     <div class=\"hs-cta-loading-dot\"><\/div>\n     <div class=\"hs-cta-loading-dot\"><\/div>\n     <div class=\"hs-cta-loading-dot\"><\/div>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"hs-cta-embed__skeleton\"><\/div>\n  <picture>\n    <source srcset=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" media=\"(max-width: 650px)\" \/>\n    <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Form CTA\" data-src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/5705808\/interactive-127905612377.png\" style=\"height: 100%; width: 650px; object-fit: fill\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/>\n  <\/picture>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sarah Hum, our co-founder, is sharing year 7 highlights. She&#8217;s talking about AI, the economy, founder reflections, team dynamics, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[262,774,263,554,413,815,814,117,813,393,812,53,811,25,388],"class_list":["post-6185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-founder-stories","tag-ai","tag-arr","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-bootstrap","tag-bootstrapped","tag-canny-ai","tag-economy","tag-founder","tag-highlights","tag-product-marketing","tag-profitable","tag-retreat","tag-review","tag-saas","tag-startup"],"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 in review: 7 years of running our profitable bootstrapped SaaS - Canny Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/year-7-in-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Year in review: 7 years of running our profitable bootstrapped SaaS - Canny Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sarah Hum, our co-founder, is sharing year 7 highlights. 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