Product
We built our own internal CRM. Six months later, here's what we wish we knew.
A practical account of building an internal CRM at a small team. What worked, what we would throw away, and the math that actually decided it.
Heat. Pressure. Output.
Crucible is a magazine about building startups.
The decisions, the lessons, the people.
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Growth
Doing your own support in the early days
Why founders should do their own customer support early: how the support inbox reveals product truth, what you lose by delegating it too soon, and when to finally hand it off.
Operations
Letting someone go without breaking the team
How founders let someone go without damaging the team: why waiting too long costs more, handling the exit with dignity, and what the people who stay learn from how you do it.
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Field Notes
From the field
A field note is one or two true sentences from inside the work — something learned, changed, or quietly regretted. No polish, no byline.
I've stopped doing pricing experiments without first knowing what I'll do if they fail.
The most useful thing I did in Q1 was cancel a project that was 70% done.
Most internal tools don't fail because they're wrong. They fail because the person who needs them stops opening them.
We hired our first senior IC before we hired our first manager. Six months in, I think we got the order right.
Learned something the hard way this week? Pass it on.
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