Would this be a useful app without Slack?
We also allow email notifications but figure most teams prefer to integrate through Slack.
Show HN: Slackbot for founders to track their startup's finances
21–30 of 36 posts
Re: Show HN: Slackbot for founders to track their startup's finances
#22This is potentially enormously sensitive data that'd be very valuable to competitors etc. I'd want to see a much more extensive privacy policy than the current state of https://www.swayfinance.com/privacy , particularly as it's a free service in need of an eventual business model.
And to add to that the real issue is that Slack stores data unencrypted on their servers.
This would be handing your financial data over to a third party to old in an unsecured format. Yikes.
Re: Show HN: Slackbot for founders to track their startup's finances
#23Why don't you just wire it up to the Xero API instead of the bank accounts?
Re: Show HN: Slackbot for founders to track their startup's finances
#24Why don't you just wire it up to the Xero API instead of the bank accounts?
Agree - Xero, Intuit, MYOB, Saasu etc.
Lends itself to more than just banking data plus becomes an audience to market directly to.
Re: Show HN: Slackbot for founders to track their startup's finances
#25This is potentially enormously sensitive data that'd be very valuable to competitors etc. I'd want to see a much more extensive privacy policy than the current state of https://www.swayfinance.com/privacy , particularly as it's a free service in need of an eventual business model.
And to add to that the real issue is that Slack stores data unencrypted on their servers. This would be handing your financial data over to a third party to old in an unsecured format. Yikes.
Wow--didn't realize that. If that's the case that's a major issue for anyone considering building a product that transmits sensitive data on top of Slack's platform.
Re: Show HN: Slackbot for founders to track their startup's finances
#26We made a Slackbot for startups to tell them some simple financial metrics (how much is in their bank account, and what their latest transactions in those accounts are). We're connecting to company accounts through Plaid (plaid.com) and sending them a financial 'digest' through Slack/email each morning. As consumers we've been using a couple apps like Digit (digit.co) to track our personal finances but couldn't find…
I'm a founder and the guy in charge of the $$$. This sentence doesn't resonate for me: "Logging into our company bank accounts to keep track of transactions has been pretty painful (online business banking UI is really hard to navigate) so hopefully this can make the process easier." If you've already tested your target customer segment and found that they find this to be "pretty painful", then you can conclude that…
I agree with the above. This seems like a "neat to have", but not a huge productivity enhancer.
I'm seeing more and more apps like this. It's telling me that a lot of the low-hanging fruit has been picked in this technology cycle and entrepreneurs are looking desperately for unoccupied niches to fill.
Re: Show HN: Slackbot for founders to track their startup's finances
#27Why don't you just wire it up to the Xero API instead of the bank accounts?
Agree - Xero, Intuit, MYOB, Saasu etc. Lends itself to more than just banking data plus becomes an audience to market directly to.
Really great point. Plugging into SaaS accounting software would be perfect
Re: Show HN: Slackbot for founders to track their startup's finances
#28There are a ton of Slack apps popping up.
Are they typically side projects? Or on the VC / startup path?
(This is not a dig at Slack apps, just curious whether people see a big market here)
Re: Show HN: Slackbot for founders to track their startup's finances
#29Why don't you just wire it up to the Xero API instead of the bank accounts?
Agree - Xero, Intuit, MYOB, Saasu etc. Lends itself to more than just banking data plus becomes an audience to market directly to.
Yep, could calculate things like invoices owing, draft invoices that haven't been sent yet, as well as calculating average monthly expenses so you know if everything's looking okay or not.
Also, hooking into Xero immediately makes it usable by companies in countries outside USA.
Re: Show HN: Slackbot for founders to track their startup's finances
#30This is potentially enormously sensitive data that'd be very valuable to competitors etc. I'd want to see a much more extensive privacy policy than the current state of https://www.swayfinance.com/privacy , particularly as it's a free service in need of an eventual business model.
Great point about the privacy policy. It's important to us to make it clear that we're not misusing the information. Thanks for the feedback!
No.
It's important to your customers that you make it clear that their data is safe.
If it isn't, you need to make that clear, too.
Right now, I have no basis to extend trust to you, and no desire to do so.