Echoes of the Past — Recounting Stories from Journey of first 2 years at Kissflow
The journey of any person who enters a B2B SaaS product aka platform company is filled with challenges, lessons, and memorable moments. In this blog, I will recount some of the most significant stories from my journey at Kissflow, focusing on the challenges I overcame, lessons learned, and how these experiences have shaped future goals and projects.
1. Overcoming Challenges: Connecting Kissflow with External Tools
In the labyrinth of customer requests, the maze of connecting Kissflow with Power BI emerged as a challenge. Navigating through child tables data, workflow intricacies, and incorporating features such as User workload reports and All items reports, we found ourselves at the crossroads of complexity. To decipher this riddle, my fellow adventurer Prashanth Koyyamalai and I embarked on a quest to determine the architectural destiny — to build or to buy? A saga of lengthy debates and time-consuming deliberations ensued.
When the quest seemed endless, our CEO Suresh Sambandam introduced us to an external speaker who inspired me to network and bring external analytics experts. After several discussions with six experts, we embarked on a collective brainstorming odyssey to find a solution.
2. Lessons Learned: Embracing Non-linear Problem Solving and Cross-domain Learnings
In tackling this challenge, I learned two crucial lessons. First, problem-solving doesn’t always follow a linear path; exploring alternative methods can expedite success. Second, I should apply learnings from various areas to connect the dots better, making me more agile and innovative.
3. Memorable Moments: The Switch to Snowflake
A memorable moment in my journey was when we decided to implement a Big Data-based solution but later switched to Snowflake. This decision turned out to be the best option for our needs, and it had a significant impact on our product’s goal and morale.
4. Tough Decisions and Pivots: Integrating Analytics as a Module
In a challenging twist, stakeholders opted not only for an external BI connector but also demanded its integration into Kissflow as a new ‘Analytics’ module. This decision necessitated a shift in our approach, but the long-term vision promises expanded app functionalities, benefiting the company. Through overcoming obstacles, learning valuable lessons, and making tough decisions, the analytics team has evolved into a resilient force, ready for future projects. As I continue my journey, I will carry these echoes of the past with me, using them as a foundation for my ongoing success.
