Building a Startup with a Lean Team: Our Journey at UpMortem
Tags: webdev, productivity, opensource
Published: 2023-08-31 23:06:30

At UpMortem, we're the proud creators of haly.ai, an open-source Slack chatbot. With a compact team of developers, we're on a mission to automate and optimize. This article delves into the tools that power our efficiency and the associated costs. If you're an aspiring entrepreneur, this might just be the roadmap you need.

## Our Tech Arsenal

Thanks to Google's generosity, we received a significant amount of startup credits. This means a majority of our services find their home on Google's infrastructure. But that's not all. Here's a comprehensive look at our tech stack:

- **Google Cloud Platform (GCP)**
  - Our primary hosting solution, especially for our slackbot.
  - Enjoying free services until our credits expire.
  - Potential savings of up to $200,000 USD over 2 years (and up to $350,000 USD for AI startups).
  - We utilize Google Cloud Run for our slackbot deployment.
  - A word of caution: GCP does have a learning curve, and sometimes, the documentation leaves room for improvement.
  - [Apply for GCP Startup Credits](https://cloud.google.com/startup/apply)

- **Vercel**
  - Our choice for hosting our React app, costing $20 per user.
  - While GCP was an option, Vercel's branch-specific previews won us over.
  - [Vercel Billing Details](https://billing.haly.ai)

- **Development & Operations**
  - Our bot is crafted with Python and Flask. [Check out our code on GitHub](https://github.com/UpMortem/slack-bot).
  - Stripe manages our billing, charging 2.9% + 30¢ per successful card transaction.
  - Domain management is split between Google Domains (for upmortem.com at $12/domain) and GoDaddy (for haly.ai at $200 for two years since .ai domains aren't available on Google Domains).
  - Auth0 handles our authentication needs, and we're currently on their free tier.
  - OpenAI powers some of our operations, with costs fluctuating based on API usage. We also have a $20/month subscription for ChatGPT Pro.

## Seamless Communication

- **Slack**: Our primary communication tool, costing $8.75 per user.
- **Streamyard**: Our choice for livestreaming meetings at $49/month.
- **Google Workspace Business Starter**: Essential for business operations at $6/user.
- **Zapier**: A tool that bridges our operations, costing $29.99/month.
- **Hubspot (CRM)**: Manages our customer relationships at $30/month.

We've automated three of our email accounts: haly@haly.ai, raj@haly.ai, and support@haly.ai. With Zapier, these inboxes are integrated with ChatGPT powered by GPT-4. Incoming emails and their responses are then relayed to the relevant Slack channels. For support queries, the system prompts users for detailed information to aid our debugging process. Additionally, Zapier connects to our HubSpot for marketing campaigns.

## Setting Up the Business

We streamlined our LLC creation using Atlas by Stripe, a process we highly recommend for its efficiency. The setup cost us $500.

**Banking**: We opted for Mercury.com, thanks to Stripe's partnership. It proved to be a quicker alternative to traditional banks.

## Marketing Tools

- **Webflow**: Hosts our marketing website, haly.ai, at $29/month.
- **Videoleap**: Our go-to for video editing at $35 annually.
- **Reals**: Enables us to craft tutorial videos swiftly with AI assistance at $25/month.
- **Photoshop**: Leveraged for its Generative AI feature at $20/month.
- **Leonardo.ai**: Our choice for image generation at $12/month.
- **Runway ML & Google Analytics**: Both are on their free tiers.

### Social Media Presence

We manage our diverse social media portfolio using Hootsuite, which costs $100/month. Our platforms include YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. A note on Reddit: We attempted to establish a presence, but challenges with shadow bans led us to pivot away.

## Affiliate Program

Our partnership with Impact.com, costing $500/month, allows us to offer a 50% commission on all sales. This strategy incentivizes partners to promote our products, especially since we operate without a dedicated sales team.

## Wrapping Up

Starting a company doesn't necessarily mean breaking the bank. While salaries remain a significant expense, the evolution of tech tools means that lean teams can achieve more than ever before. We hope our journey inspires you to take the entrepreneurial leap!