It’ll be best if you start here…
The Problem
Have you ever needed to get an approval from a client? Do you transfer that content in slide decks, word documents, spreadsheets, emails? Do you have to transfer that content manually between each of those places? Do you have more than one copy of each asset? Do you manually keep track of each version when you have to make revisions? Do people get added in and taken out of email threads? Do people give you feedback who actually aren’t your client? Do you have to dig through email threads to find feedback? How many emails chains does it take to get something approved? Do you really know when something is approved?
How much time do you and your team spend just keeping track of everything?
What if there was one platform that tracked all of your content, feedback, versions and approvals, and automated all communication — would that potentially be valuable to your business and clients?
We’ll that’s what VRBTM does.
VRBTM sends content to your clients where you can set approvers, commenters and viewers, in secure, authenticated review pages where all activity and feedback is tracked in a single, timestamped, feed. Oh, and approvals are legally binding so you can enforce your project plan when clients ask you for more than they’re paying for.
You can test out our prototype right now, and we’ll have beta accounts ready by the beginning of 2017.
Every well put together development project has a README.md file which should have all the instructions for how the code base works and what anyone unfamiliar with the project needs to know to get it up and running.
So we’re going to do that with this. A Who, What, When, Where, Why of what we’re doing.
WHO
Two guys working to build something that matters.
Wes Jones leads teams through marketing, production, development and strategy. I could use labels to define all of the work he’s capable of, but that would make this too long of a description.
Nick Dandakis can get a handle on anything, picking up new languages and development techniques like it’s nothing. A true problem solver, every challenge is met with the intention to figure it out.
(we wrote these for each other, because writing in the third person is just too much…)
WHAT
We’re working on developing a content approval platform that transfers files for review, feedback, and approval between content creators and clients to cut out the inconsistency of email and having too many non-decision makers weigh in on work. We know there are already transfer services for digital files and even a few with review/approval functionality. However, none of them are specifically authenticated and legally binding.
See above The Problem.
We intend to start by targeting digital content creators, which as a market has would be enough. However, what if every school required that students submit work verbatim, or if the only way lawyers could submit documents was if they were verbatim, or if hospitals kept all of their patient documents verbatim. (I have a number of friends in medicine and they tell me horror stories of the archaic systems being used). There’s opportunity here in nearly any industry that requires two people to work together where content or information is created.
That said, no matter the market, the key is making it a verb. Where the only way people want to send and receive work is if it’s verbatim. The idea is that whatever is sent verbatim is the exact and most current version.
One thing for Nick and I, is that we’re considering this a project for the first six months. Allowing us to iterate and test without the pressure of revenue, margins, and external stakeholders. We’re the actual users of this product, and we first want to make something that we want to use, and that a few other people love so much they share with their friends.
WHEN
Right now.
I started working on this idea nearly a year ago and it has since been something that has always remained persistent.
WHERE
For now, nights and weekends in any place we can find. Which ends up being our apartments, hotel lobbies, airplane seats, and any other place that’ll put up with us hanging around.
We’re in New York, and Nick likes it to be known that he lives in Brooklyn.
WHY
The usual start up stories anyone hears about are either the phenomenal successes or the catastrophic failures. Rarely is there the behind-the-scenes, day-to-day account of building something as it’s happening.
Documenting everything was Nicks idea and has quickly become my favorite, and what I think will be our strongest marketing channel early on.
I expect it will keep us accountable, and create a dialogue between us and those we are building this service for so that you can help shape what it becomes.
A Note on Timing
We’ll each be documenting our weeks individually and will have separate posts, which will likely be released on Thursdays. For now, we expect this to be weekly, however down the line as our sprints transition to two week phases the cadence could change.
How Do I Follow Along?
You can follow the publication here on medium and/or sign up for our email list and we’ll keep you up to date on our progress and releases.
You can get started by reading Kicking off Verbatim | Week I by Wes, and VRBTM.CO Development Stream | Week I by Nick.
We’d love to hear from you…
Get in touch at Founders@vrbtm.co, talk with us on twitter @vrbtm.co, and read our story on medium.
Wes Jones is on Twitter @WesJonesCo
Nick Dandakis is on Twitter @Dandakis
