Startup Stories: Allan Branch of LessAccounting

Since 37Signals famously built a business providing well made web apps for small business, there have been a host of great services launched in their mold. One of my favourites has always been a company called LessEverything. A small (but growing) team out of Florida, the guys at LessEverything have a deservedly successful app called LessAccounting that does just what it promises. Built on a freemium business model the app has been followed by LessTimeSpent and LessProjects along with a whole bunch of neat, quirky and fun side projects. I caught up with co-founder Allan Branch to talk about development, marketing and the business of web apps!

Netsetter:
Every time I check in on the LessEverything site I see your stable of services and apps growing, when you and Steve started out, did you think that it was going to get this big? Did you plan the growth or did it just kind of happen?

Allan Branch:
I don’t consider our company “big.” As we go along we become unsatisfied with the tools we were using we decided to write some that work the way we work. Being small let’s us focus on today and what our immediate needs are. I think you’ll see more companies like ours popping up, doing small elegant pieces of web based software that serves a small market and makes their users happy.

Netsetter:
There are a fair few tools aimed at your target market around online, how did you go about getting LessAccounting noticed in such a crowded market?

Allan Branch:
There are tons of invoicing app out there. Most don’t do more than just invoicing which doesn’t satisfy the accounting needs of businesses that make money. We’re an accounting app, we make accounting suck less. We’re less horrible than most full accounting apps and people tend to talk about it.

LessEverything's Flagship Product - LessAccounting

We love money, we love toys and vacations. But we’ve always believed that if we made something that people love then the money will follow.

Netsetter:
When I read about your company and products I always get the distinct impression that you are driven by passion and not money, would you say that’s accurate? Do you think it’s been a factor in the success of your business?

Allan Branch:
We love money, we love toys and vacations. But we’ve always believed that if we made something that people love then the money will follow. So that’s where we put out focus and energies. When you’re driven by money it’s easy to lose sight of the thing that might make you or your products great. We try very hard to stay focused on our goal, which is making people happy. If we can achieve that, then we’ll be successful.

Netsetter:
You’ve got a background in design while Steve has some serious Rails credentials, do you think that’s the ideal partnership for developing a web app? What do you think the important attributes are in a co-founder?

Allan Branch:
Steve gives a talk about how to build a successful web application. One of the things he stresses is to not do it alone. Digging further he talks a lot about picking a partner(s) with different skills. I think one of the keys to our success is where we are alike an where we are different. Having the same ideology about less and users and work and family are great. Having different perspectives on code and design let us complement each other instead of compete with each other.

Leveraging the power of the little guy - the WeAllHateQuickbooks Site

Netsetter:
I recently saw a quirky little minisite you guys created called WeAllHateQuickbooks that pulls in a Twitter feed on the word “quickbooks”. Your marketing is very much geared towards positioning yourselves as the antidote to the bloated world of accounting software. How did you come up with this clearly successful pitch? And do you feel marketing has played a big role in your success?

Allan Branch:
We always hated Quickbooks and we know that is a very common sentiment. Tracking the word quickbooks on twitter made it very clear that almost everyone also hates quickbooks. We’re very lucky to have such a large competitor. Their size makes it almost impossible for them to write software that is easy to use. Marketing is all about telling a story, but I can’t stress enough that making a product that people talk about is the most important part of marketing. If your story comes from people instead of you it is an exponentially better story.

Netsetter:
Have there been any crises you’ve experienced, with the apps, with the business, with hosting? How did you respond and how did it affect things?

Allan Branch:
There are always problem and difficulties. Sometimes there are good problems: the server can’t handle the load is a very good problem to have, it’s a problem everyone wants. Having a partner you can trust and depend on is how we get through the hard times. Steve keeps me calm, he keeps me pumped up and he inspires me. He’s become my best friend and partnering with him is one of the most fortunate events of my life.

LessEverything's Allan Branch

Netsetter:
If you could go back and do it all again, is there anything you’d do differently? Anything you wish you’d known?

Allan Branch:
We’ve made a lot of mistakes. Mostly they were Steve’s, cause I’m perfect and wonderful. I’m sure he would do a lot of things differently. Mostly around how to spend money (don’t spend money, ever).

Netsetter:
For aspiring developers looking to turn their skills into a business, what advice do you have? Where should they start and what big hurdles should they look out for?

Allan Branch:
“Make something users love in the shortest amount of time without ruining your life.” That’s the one liner from Steve’s talk. I think it’s great advice. All three parts of that are important. Making something users love is the most important single thing you can do. Working hard is the second most important thing. Users + hard work = success. But don’t forget: if you ruin your life, get divorced, miss every soccer game, then no amount of success is worth that, in fact, that is failure.

Thanks Allan!