Limbo Is Now A Side Project
This is not an Our Incredible Journey post, although it kind of is.
The TL;DR
Limbo is moving to a side project for Tyler and I. It’s made an impact, but it hasn’t had enough traction to support us full time.
However, we bootstrapped Limbo with no ties to anyone else, so we have the freedom to decide how it lives without profit being the ultimate motive. We’re choosing to keep it running as there are folks happily using it, and we see no reason to end it.
Limbo will remain available for the foreseeable future. You can still use it to hire or find work. We’ll be working on it only as a passion project. Changes made will slow down and likely be to better support low volume/high signal hiring.
Two Goals
When we started Limbo, we had two goals for ourselves:
- Build a platform to reduce discrimination in hiring at resume review, helping people find great jobs.
- Build a sustainable, small business for ourselves, and most importantly on our own terms.
We’ve had some success with our first goal. The vision we had for the product when it was just an idea has come to fruition, and we’ve helped some great companies and people find each other. We’re incredibly proud of the work.
Our second goal, though, has remained out of reach. We’ve not been able to build the traction to make Limbo a full time role for us, and our runway as a bootstrapped-by-design company is pretty limited.
Another Option
However, while most companies at this juncture would shut down, we have a second option.
We intentionally built Limbo without investment. We did this so we would have the freedom to decide for ourselves how it operates, and because we had no intent to capture a market and provide a 10X return. We just wanted a small business that could support a few people and make a difference in hiring.
This freedom means profit does not have to be our ultimate motive. We know there are people using Limbo successfully now, and the vision for the project is completed. We see no reason to end it, and as a side project its income will overtake its costs. We’ve built Limbo to be simple and inexpensive to maintain since day one.
So we’re converting Limbo to a side project.
What does this mean for Limbo?
In terms of your Profiles, interactions with Limbo presently, Reveal Requests, credits: nothing at all. Limbo is the same.
In the future: Limbo has, and will have, lower volume than our initial intent. This could lead to different product choices (like focusing on a chronological view, or a specific niche, for example). Really though, it will probably mostly mean product velocity will slow down a whole lot, as it will be a passion project for Tyler and I as we have full time jobs. You can still rely on us for maintenance and support.
Where are you going?
I (Chris) am very excited to be joining MailChimp, and will be helping them build out a brand new office in Oakland, CA.
I’ve been incredibly impressed with MailChimp’s values, their impact on small businesses, and their commitment to better their Atlanta community. I’m excited to help bring that to Oakland. They are also a bootstrapped company, having not taken any investment since day one.
MailChimp will be hiring a whole lot in Oakland, Brooklyn, and Atlanta this year. Feel free to reach out to me personally or browse open roles if you’re interested in hearing more about why I’m excited.
Tyler is currently working as a freelance designer and frontend engineer helping a fortune 500 retailer design and build internal cloud infrastructure tooling. In the coming months he plans to take a bit of R&R time then come back and start looking for his next full-time home.
Otherwise, we’ll still be right here, reviewing Profiles at night.
We couldn’t have taken this task on without the help of many folks. Thanks so much to everyone who has used Limbo, talked about it, encouraged us on this bootstrapped path, or given advice.
I personally also want to thank my wife, Jen, who has been supportive, thoughtful, and energizing through every high and low. Thank you, love.
We hope this story isn’t over and that hiring catches up to where we know it can be. Thanks for taking the leap with us. And if you’re looking to hire, there are still great folks on Limbo looking for you.
