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Retool Raises $50M from Sequoia

retool.com

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Re: Retool Raises $50M from Sequoia

#21

Post by dvdhsu »

jameslk wrote: post #19

I've been using Retool very seriously over the past few months. It's definitely helpful to iterate on some UI ideas and prototype. Once you want to do anything complicated that involves any sort of logic, it becomes very clunky since you're trying to write JS in a tiny web-based code editor box. Refractors (e.g. changing a variable name or deleting a query) is kind of a nightmare since I can't just search for it's us…

Thank you for trying Retool! I agree that we have a lot of room to improve on the writing of more complicated JS, as well as large-scale refactors. We are working on bringing git syncing to the cloud (currently it's only available on-prem), which'll let you edit Retool apps as code. I think that should help a good amount.

Anyhow — thank you for the feedback! I will send you an email in a few hours too. If you'd be willing to hop on the phone to dive into some of this in more detail, it'd be really appreciated. (I'll probably run a few potential solutions by you and see which ones you like.)

Re: Retool Raises $50M from Sequoia

#22

Post by dvdhsu »

anonu wrote: post #18

Wow - really cool & congrats... Sort of reminds me of a handful of RegBI tools - like Periscope Data. But the marketing/positioning is "this is for internal teams". I suppose another important difference here is that you can write to the database from the interface. The API out-of-the-box is pretty neat too. I gave it a quick spin after watching the demo. Large tables take a while to refresh. I dont know if thats jus…

Thank you — seriously — for trying Retool! You're correct on the difference — Retool supports writing back to databases and APIs, which is fairly different from most BI tools.

On the latency part — yes! We are currently working on scaling our systems and latency is a bit higher than usual right now. If this is something anybody is interested in working on, please ping me! :)

Re: Retool Raises $50M from Sequoia

#23

Post by jameslk »

dvdhsu wrote: post #21
jameslk wrote: post #19

I've been using Retool very seriously over the past few months. It's definitely helpful to iterate on some UI ideas and prototype. Once you want to do anything complicated that involves any sort of logic, it becomes very clunky since you're trying to write JS in a tiny web-based code editor box. Refractors (e.g. changing a variable name or deleting a query) is kind of a nightmare since I can't just search for it's us…

Thank you for trying Retool! I agree that we have a lot of room to improve on the writing of more complicated JS, as well as large-scale refactors. We are working on bringing git syncing to the cloud (currently it's only available on-prem), which'll let you edit Retool apps as code. I think that should help a good amount. Anyhow — thank you for the feedback! I will send you an email in a few hours too. If you'd be wi…

Hey there, sure! Feel free to reach out. I think you guys are on to something great. Hope I can help

Re: Retool Raises $50M from Sequoia

#24

Post by DataGrid_Retool »

dvdhsu wrote: post #12
chenster wrote: post #9

Congrats! How does it compare against AirTable and Metabase?

Great question! Against Airtable, primarily in two ways: 1. We are _not_ a system of record, and do not store any data. We'll connect to your data, no matter where it is (e.g. postgres, your own API, Stripe, etc.) 2. We are primarily for building complex UIs, not for simple spreadsheets. If you're looking for a spreadsheet for your database, there are lots of other options (e.g. postico). But if you're looking to bui…

You mention support for complex UIs, but Retool only ships with a basic table, and no built-in support for Data Grids. Something to consider when it comes to building richer page experiences. I would presume you intend to add more standard components as Retool continues to mature.

Re: Retool Raises $50M from Sequoia

#25

Post by AntonioL »

dvdhsu wrote: post #2

Hi all! David, founder of Retool here. We’ve come a long way since we our very first Show HN ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14515494 ) and subsequent launch ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17725966 )! Briefly — Retool is a visual programming language, built specifically for building internal front-ends. The idea is that we can let you use a visual programming interface to get you 70% of the way there v…

Hi David,

Congrats on the funding!

I am wondering whether retool can fit this use case? I have some bunch of data which I would like to sell, and would like to give a dataviz tool to a 3rd party customer to play with my data.

Are you aware of any customer of you with such an use case?

Re: Retool Raises $50M from Sequoia

#26

Post by denster »

100% Agreed! Defining logic in JS is quite clunky for these sorts of tools.

I'm biased[1], but for this reason we took the approach of creating a spreadsheet from scratch for the sole purpose of creating logic for apps (both internal tools & customer facing UX).

Would be curious to get the everyone's input on our spreadsheet-driven approach -- thoughts?

[1] I'm biased, because I'm the founder of: https://mintdata.com

[2] But this example shows what I mean by the "a spreadsheet is better to define logic than JS" approach:

https://mintdata.com/showcase/photo-finder/

Re: Retool Raises $50M from Sequoia

#27

Post by denster »

I think this is a fantastic way to describe it!

I spent 5 years in the 90s creating a WYSIWYG tool with Visual Basic 6 , and VB6 was a life saver.

I think retool is a fantastic, modern-day re-incarnation of that.

However, I think when the UX is important -- that is, a rich, pixel-perfect design combined with robust facilities to define custom app logic, a principles-first approach has to be taken.

We've taken one stab at this, to say that logic should be defined in a spreadsheet specifically tailored for the app-building purpose, and I think only time will tell if this approach is right. [1]

[1] Take with a grain of salt, I'm the founder of

https://mintdata.com

Re: Retool Raises $50M from Sequoia

#28

Post by julee04 »

Congrats to the Retool team! I got a chance to meet David and Anthony when they were working out of their apartment and I was incredibly impressed with how fast they were able to innovate/build. Kevin White from Segment who was an amazing head of growth marketing joined their team as well, so I'm confident it's only a matter of time until we see them become the next big thing!

Re: Retool Raises $50M from Sequoia

#29

Post by ayewo »

drako999 wrote: post #15
polote wrote: post #11

Honestly I have seen Retool being used, and see developers love it. But the one thing I hate about Retool is that anything that a developer does on Retool is tech debt. You want to do a quick form to manage an app ? Let's build it on Retool, you will lose control of everything, you can't improve the form, you don't run the form, you can't apply the usual code review, ... Visual coding is great for people who don't kn…

That's exactly why we built appsmith. A company's core tech stack should be built on open source technology so you're never held hostage by proprietary software. https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith

Interesting project.

1. How soon will you announce pricing?

2. In terms of feature parity, how close are you to matching Retool?

Re: Retool Raises $50M from Sequoia

#30

Post by IshKebab »

drako999 wrote: post #15
polote wrote: post #11

Honestly I have seen Retool being used, and see developers love it. But the one thing I hate about Retool is that anything that a developer does on Retool is tech debt. You want to do a quick form to manage an app ? Let's build it on Retool, you will lose control of everything, you can't improve the form, you don't run the form, you can't apply the usual code review, ... Visual coding is great for people who don't kn…

That's exactly why we built appsmith. A company's core tech stack should be built on open source technology so you're never held hostage by proprietary software. https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith

Ahhh so that's what Retool is. Your page does a much better job of explaining what these things are. And it looks like an interesting project - good luck!
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