We used to work together for a great B2B SaaS startup. We were both working as Product Managers on different projects, but got along pretty well.
Working remotely, We got the chance to get to know each other better during a Team Building event in Portugal.
We almost instantly clicked and felt we should work together on side projects. Tristan had already launched several successful projects in the past, and Toni had an entrepreneurial experience a long time ago and the will to level up his «Product Game» by building tools from A to Z.
So, by the pool, we decided to brainstorm ideas and build Productivity tools as side projects, work on it at night and weekends and have some fun.
When Threads was announced we decided to build a content repurposing tool for the new platform. Over a weekend we built the landing page, defined all the platform and brand, announced it on Product Hunt the next monday.
Unfortunately, Meta didn't open the new app in Europe and didn't make an API available which blocked us to move forward.
It was a failure but it allowed us to ensure we were a fit to work together and gave us a «backbone» to build future project on and be quicker.
The next venture project came from our own frustrations:
When Tristan launched his previous app, he got a lot of coverage. But he struggled to keep track of every mention of his brand online and had to go on every other platform and social media to check for new mentions.
And as a Product Lead in a Bank, Toni spent hours researching online mentions of the products we launched to check for user reviews, comments and press coverage.
That's how we decided to build Buska, to give startups and SMBs an accessible platform to monitor their brand online on autopilot. We felt there was a real need for an Online Reputation Management tool taylored for Startups, with accurate mentions and accessible features.
But as a side project, it was difficult to go through quickly with the project, since we had a full time job.
Luckily, it was Summer Season with the holidays coming up.
Tristan had a 2 week vacation in Canada, and 16 hours on a plane with internet access.
He took that chance to finish coding a working prototype inthe plane, which he managed to do brilliantly 💪🏻.
Toni used his vacation to do the marketing, branding, and content for it.
We decided to launch on Product Hunt asap, so we had 45 days to build an audience, bring awareness to the product and build genuine relationships to support us on the day.
We engaged intensely with makers and Product Hunt communities across social media, and worked on promotional material to be ready for the launch.
We launched on October 2nd, and managed to make it to #3 Product of the Day. We received numerous positive feedback from people on Product Hunt.
It really helped us focus and improve buska to provide the best social listening solution for entrepreneurs and to build a tool to help them monitor their online reputation.
