There Is No We

Graphite is me. It’s one person. Justin Hunter.

One day, I hope there is a we. And at varying times, there has been a we. There’s always been help. Advisors, friends, and family have all been there for me, providing advice and just talking through things with me. But when a brand uses “we” it means something very specific. It means there’s a whole team behind the brand. That’s simply not the case with Graphite and it’s important to me that I try to be as transparent as possible with Graphite.

The first time I ever read Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, I was struck by Jason Fried’s anecdote about starting his first company. He didn’t want his customers to know it was just him, so he pretended the company was larger than it was. Eventually he realized how misguided that was (even if the rest of the world still thinks this way). It was the first time I’d seen someone suggest that the whole concept of faking it until you make it was bullshit.

And yet, I fell into that trap with Graphite. As the app’s popularity increased, and as I fielded inquiries from people who were interested in using Graphite for their businesses, I reverted back into the mindset of pretending to be larger. People won’t respect a one-man operation, right? People need to know there’s a bunch of people working on their problem, right?

It’s an easy trap to fall into. But no more. The fact is, Graphite is better because it’s just me. You know who you’re dealing with when you email. You know a real person is going to attend to your needs if you’re using Graphite for your business.

Will Graphite eventually be a we? Sure. But for now, I’m happy with it just being me.