Have you ever had a product you loved, only to have it disappear? It’s a terrible feeling. It’s like losing a friend. If it’s a product you need for work, it’s even worse. You have to scramble to find a replacement, but if it was acquired by a competitor, you’re out of luck. You’re stuck with whatever they decide to do with it. Many times, they’ll just shut it down. Other times, they’ll change it so much that it’s no longer useful to you. The founders are left disincentivized since they’ve been paid out and the culture they once carefully built is gone. The product is no longer the same, and the community is gone. It’s a sad story, yet it happens all the time.

It’s been over a decade, 13 years to be exact, since I started my first company. I have built many products and companies, some venture-backed, some bootstrapped. Most failed, but every single one taught me something new. I learned to design, engineer, and market. I learned to manage people, and I learned to manage money.

The biggest thing I learned though was that I didn’t want to build a company that would be controlled by investors and have to raise venture capital. I didn’t want to build a company that would be acquired and shut down. I wanted something that would last into old age, and something that I would constantly be motivated to improve on.

In addition, I wanted to build a company that would actually make money, but not the Silicon Valley way. I’ve done it before, and it sucks. You raise a ton of money, burn it all, and then raise more money. You don’t operate the business, you operate the fundraising and spend most of your time perfecting a pitch deck and not the product. It’s a terrible way to build a company. I’m sure it works for some, but not for me.

I want to build a company that woill be profitable, and that will sustain itself. It’s the only way to ensure the company will last.

I was a huge audiovisual nerd ever since I saw Windows Media Player, and it had always been my dream to have amazing visuals that would work well with music. So, after deciding not to pursue a career in music, I decided to pursue a career that would help create amazing visuals through engineering. I spent a ton of time on the internet learning Blender. But after attempting to render a bare bones 3 second liquid simulation on my Macbook Pro and having it crash after locking up my computer for the whole day, I realized there was something to be pursued here.

I realized that this had to be a common issue for many people. I tried to solution around something, but at the time I didn’t have the experience and know-how to even begin to tackle the problem. But even then, I knew it was the perfect next project for me. It was a company that I could build for decades and not get tired of.

So, Renderjuice is meant to emobdy all of these values. We’re here to stay, and we’re here to build a product that will last. The way we operate is meant to make that happen. Here’s some rules that we follow:

  1. We grow slowly, even capping growth and pausing new user sign-ups to ensure we can provide the best service possible.
  2. We don’t take outside investment unless it’s explicitly clear that it can directly help us build a better product that will last. We don’t want to be controlled by investors.
  3. Build half a product, not a half-assed product.
  4. We work hard, but don’t burn out.
  5. We keep the team small because hiring unncessarily is the fastest way to burn through cash and possibly lose control of the company.
  6. We take time off if it’s needed to keep the team’s relationship with the project healthy.

Until now, the company has been strictly funded by me and an initial 5k grant that I had won. We’re not profitable yet, but we’re working hard to get there.

We’re here to stay, but it takes work and your support. We’re grateful for every single one of you that has supported us through the bugs, the crashes, and the downtime.

Help us build a product that will last! Please reach out about new idea features, or your issues as they help us improve our service. But be patient with us as we try to implement them. We’re a small team by intention, and we’re working hard to make sure we can provide the best service possible.

We’re here to stay, and we’re here to build a product that will last.

Stephen

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