This was a tough decision, but Aaron (co-founder) and I decided to shutdown Plumb.
I’m doing okay, I’ve got options and I’m figuring out next moves.
Right now focused on two things:
1. Getting my team placed somewhere they can keep building
2. Making sure our customers get offboarded smoothly
It sucks that this is how this product ends, but the team built something technically beautiful even if the market timing didn’t work out. I’ll be writing more reflections on that later.
This is a good summary of why we didn’t “just keep going”:
What I’m taking away
We invented workflow subscription. Invented MetaJSONSchema. Created a powerful AI workflow automation builder. We experimented with “magic mode” for natural language workflow generation and edits.
None of that mattered because nobody asked us to build it, and despite how rad it was, no one may ever care.
We spent years solving technically interesting problems instead of operationally valuable ones. We didn’t pick a vertical, a function, or a high-value task set on day one. That’s the mistake. Not the tech. Not the execution. The starting point.
If we did it again, we’d start with the problem, not the platform.
What happens now
I’m helping my team land somewhere they can keep doing great work. I wrote about each person here and would appreciate eyes on it if you’re hiring or know someone who is.
I’ll write more about what we built and what we learned.
The prototype work deserves a proper technical breakdown. How we executed. How we ran the company. How we made decisions. What decisions we made. How workflow automation and subscription worked and why it was hard…all that’s coming later.
For now: I’m supporting the people who bet on this with me over the past five years. That’s what matters.
It’s been a wild ride. I’m grateful for all the people who’ve been a part of it along the way.
Until next time, stay curious.
Chase ✨🤘
P.S. This was probably the coolest prototype we built. OpenAI launched their “Agent Builder” at the beginning of the week and frankly, it was subpar compared to the stuff we were building (and this prototype is from LAST YEAR):
You can read more about it here. Here’s a video of me walking through why “drag and drop editing” and “magic mode” both need to exist, how it worked and why we built it: