How Fine Went From Producing a Web Series to Building a Startup

This week we released the first version of Fine - a platform for building software with AI agents. In the year It took us to get here, we’ve navigated a journey filled with challenges, failures, disappointments, and accomplishments. I wanted to take a moment to share my experience with you, and I hope that you will find inspiration in our story.

A different way to ideate

About a year ago, our team of three founders started our ideation process. We wanted to build something we would enjoy using, and seeing that we are programmers, we were interested in the area of developer tools. We knew that every good startup is based on a great problem, so we set out looking for worthy problems developers face. The common way to do that is by conducting interviews with future clients, so we were looking to interview leading R&D execs in order to hear all about the problems their organization faces.

Now, these R&D execs are busy people. We can’t just reach out to them and expect them to make time for us. Add to that the fact that conducting customer interviews is not an easy job. You need to get the interviewee to open up, and don’t expect them to say “This is EXACTLY the problem I’m facing”. The way we solved this problem? We decided to produce a documentary web series and have them participate in it. If we convince the companies to participate, we thought, we would get direct access to every person we want to interview in the organization. And that’s exactly what happened.

We went on to create Dark{mode}, the first web series about developer experience (later, it became the largest tech web series in Israel). We spent over 60 hours interviewing R&D executives from companies like Wix, Taboola, AppsFlyer, and AI21 Labs. We told the participants in advance that “the conversations are going to deal with everything that doesn’t work. Don’t tell us the good stories”. And so, during the interviews, we got to hear about all the problems that affect the developer experience. The talks uncovered 81 "blockers" that hinder progress in the tech world and range from the fields of PRs and Design to Communication and teamwork.

The approach we took had its pros and cons. You can probably guess that producing a web series is not an easy task. It involved more people than we initially anticipated, required content verification by the featured companies, and demanded collaboration with numerous service providers to maintain a high-quality standard. All of this consumed precious hours that could have been devoted directly to our startup. However, this unconventional path had its advantages. We gained direct access to the interviews we needed and garnered attention in Israel's tech scene, making it easier to connect with investors.

The Birth of Fine

Inspired by the challenges we uncovered during our interviews, we started looking for ways to make a meaningful impact. Three critical factors guided our thinking throughout this process:

1. Anticipating the Future: We continuously asked ourselves where the software world was headed. What solutions would be in demand not just today but tomorrow as well?

   
   

2. Leveraging Our Skills: We assessed our team's unique skill set to understand how we could best support our idea.

   
   

3. Embracing New Technologies: We kept a keen eye on emerging technologies that were previously unavailable.

   
   

Eventually, after iterating on a few ideas, we envisioned an AI-powered platform where developers get the most assistance in building software. We were not happy with only boosting their productivity, we wanted devs to be able to delegate entire software tasks to AI. We imagined that devs would only have to deal with what they want to build, and not with how. Content with our idea, we started putting it out there and talking about it with everyone we could and trying to raise initial capital.

Our journey didn’t start smoothly. In a market still uncertain about the future of AI in software development, securing funding was no easy task. The first three months were marked by relentless pitching, numerous rejections, and an industry on edge. But we refused to be discouraged; we decided to focus on building our vision, believing that Fine's true potential would become evident with time. We also realized that if we were to truly stand on our promise, we would be able to use our own product to continue building it — a concept called "eating your own dog food."

Early Milestones and Building a Community

Our journey gained momentum as we started building the platform. We launched a Discord community and sought early adopters willing to try Fine. Gradually, our community expanded, and Fine garnered attention online. I personally engaged with new Discord users, gathering feedback to refine our product and progress beyond the Proof of Concept stage.

The interviews with community members helped us understand that we need to set ourselves apart from competitors by prioritizing collaboration and teamwork, protecting privacy, and allowing the creation of multi-agents.

After three more months, our hard work paid off when we secured our first client. It was a pivotal moment for us, a testament to the potential of our product and the dedication of our team. Our user community continues to grow, with almost 400 users joining the Fine journey, eager to explore the future of software engineering.

What’s next for us?

Today we are releasing the first version of Fine. Learning from our past mistakes, we will onboard a limited number of users, and provide free credits to help them get started. During our launch week we expect to find oh-so-many bugs, fix issues, and be more engaged with our community. Updates will continue to roll out, but you can expect us to follow Supabase’s “Launch Week” pattern, which is a great best practice for startups.

Throughout this year of challenges and countless rejections, our vision for Fine remained our guiding light. It may sound like a startup cliche, but it genuinely sustained us during the tough times. It's crucial to maintain a bold yet clear vision. Ours is to replace the traditional IDE and become the definitive entry point for software development. This vision fuels our determination, especially when faced with adversity.

Our journey is far from over. We know that the road ahead will be long and filled with challenges, but we are determined to keep our eyes on the ultimate goal. Every email, every breakthrough, and every step forward brings us closer to realizing our vision. The story of Fine is just beginning, and I invite you all to be a part of it. Together, we can redefine the future of software development and bring about a new era of productivity and creativity.

If you are a software developer, I invite you to join us today on this exciting journey and make something extraordinary together.

Our product is waiting for you here, and our Discord community is where you can get help and support.