theoblank

The tech stack is pretty straightforward (Rails back-end, using Expo/React Native for the mobile apps).

The biblical texts are actually rendered in a WebView and the native code communicates back/forth to the WebView with a basic javascript bridge. I wasn't sure this approach would work at first, but it's actually worked out quite nicely.

Handling theological bias has actually been one of the bigger challenges (not technical of course). People have such drastically different views and prejudices of the Bible that I'm always walking a careful line of what resources are approved vs not.

Yes, sorry about that! I haven't yet opened it up to all countries.

Very cool! I'll check it out.

Hmm, that's a bummer. I thought I followed all the rules?

Currently I've added ESV, NIV, NRSV, KJV, and a few other public domain translations. Getting access to translations has been a challenge due to licensing costs.

Yes, I'm a huge fan! A lot of their stuff is integrated into Spark Bible.

That's a good question that I'm still exploring. I'm still debating the non-profit vs for-profit route. At the moment this is bootstrapped and self-funded, but if I can gain enough traction I may attempt a freemium business model where people can pay for more advanced study tools (e.g., original languages) and potentially for in-house produced video content.

Thanks for the feedback! Added to the todo list ;-)

Hey HN!

Spark Bible is a free app I built for iOS & Android. The idea is that many millions of people read the Bible regularly and want it to impact their lives for good. However, the Bible is also quite difficult to understand.

There is a lot of foundational knowledge people only get through graduate education in theology or biblical studies (e.g., understanding the differences between ancient near eastern cultures vs today’s cultures). My goal is for Spark Bible to make that type of knowledge and learning more accessible to the average Bible reader.

Good point. I’ll add that it’s important to remember you’re part of a larger team with a mission that is (most likely) not to just build software. From my experience, the most valuable software engineers are the ones who excel at both programming AND at interfacing with the other teams in the company (design, biz dev, etc).

Reality is this will lose them paying subscribers, so without a doubt this is an expensive mistake regardless of who’s to blame. Large subscription businesses are very careful about when to email the segment of their subscriber base that is paying but inactive. This email just reminded a bunch of people they are paying for something but not using it, and therefore should cancel (granted, it’s unclear who it went out to).

It could cause some ESP/deliverabilty problems too.

On the bright side, this can serve as a reminder to us all to make sure this doesn’t happen at our companies.

Sounds interesting! What segment are you targeting? Seems like more of an open platform concept, but curious if it’ll also target schools and universities?

I took up fly fishing after overworking for nearly a decade. It is the best thing I’ve ever done for my mental health. The downside is there’s a big learning curve and it’s not a quick activity (depending on where you live), but it is absolutely the most therapeutic activity I’ve ever done.

I agree with this general sentiment. Many people have an idealized vision of WFH and aren't paying attention to the challenges.

Another factor I haven't seen much discussion of is people with vs without children. WFH with children presents a whole new slew of challenges.

This is an important perspective that I haven’t seen many people explore. Sure, work-from-home is going to be great for some people (and HN is probably the single best enclave of that demographic), but there are also many who will be victims of this “revolution.” Business leaders, and even peers who just care about their co-workers, can help make sure these collateral issues aren’t forgotten.

I was an Airbnb superhost for a few years. I’m not aware of any incentive for hosts to report damages that aren’t legitimate. I’m also not sure why, if this is due to damages, they wouldn’t attempt to charge you versus ban your account.

I’ve always had surprisingly good experiences with Airbnb’s phone customer support. Perhaps try calling them again to ask for clarification. It could just take connecting to a more helpful support rep.

Best of luck!

This practice seems to be becoming more and more normal for B2B products. I like to see pricing too, but understand that in some cases it’s not the best sales funnel.

(At the end of the day it should be a measurable part of the sales funnel, and perhaps should be A/B tested.)

For Okay, I wonder about the hybrid approach. They could have the “startup plan” that has published pricing and self-service signup, and then the “enterprise plan” that requires contacting them for pricing and setup.

I would seriously consider not allowing special treatment in cases like this. In my experience things like this can be a slippery slope. Decide what is most broadly reasonable for both your company and your customers, communicate it well, and then spend time and energy on your core product.

Yeah, and there's a whole skillset required for overcoming a lot of these downsides and the whole company has to proactively work to overcome them.

I also wonder how many companies will get bit by leadership (CEOs, engineering team managers, whoever really) not working as well in a remote environment.

There's no perfect way, but my approach is always to be very candid about expectations and consequences. So, I would discuss this very issue and explain how some people are good fits for it and some aren't. There's always been an idealized vision of remote work (e.g., people imagine themselves working from a beach in Fiji).

Also, just looking for people who have successfully worked remotely before is a plus. People who have built meaningful side projects on their own can also be a good sign (although definitely not a sure sign of success).

First 10 was friends and family (B2C product). First 100-1,000 is much harder now than it was 10 years ago. 10 years ago was a "if you build it, they will come" type landscape, but now there's a lot more noise for B2C products.

I believe you need a marketing strategy day 1. Facebook Ads (as much as I hate to say it) seem to be the easiest and cheapest way to target and find the first batch of users.

I agree with this as well. Around 50 people (maybe even 40) companies are required to start operating in a more bureaucratic way, and more often than not this means there's a top-down approach where software developers are just doing what they're told rather than influencing what gets built.

I co-founded a startup that was fully remote for 6 years and then hybrid for another few years (our NYC office had at least 1/2 of employees in-person full time).

I did a bunch of interviewing and hiring for remote software engineers during this time (interviewed 100+ people). One of the main things I tried to assess was whether or not the person was a good fit for working remotely (essentially, they needed to be very good at self-motivating their productivity). Some people's personality just doesn't work as well in an isolated, work-from-home environment. In my opinion, this is going to be a new realization many companies (large and small) are going to come to in the next year and will have to deal with accordingly. It's also unfair to people who were potentially thriving at their jobs when in-person full time, but may now be struggling to maintain the same productivity remotely.

I think it's inevitable that things will shift slowly back towards full-time in-person workplaces.