Yak Tack was something I started back in 2018. I'll get into the origin and motivation a bit deeper in later post. But primarily, I started it to keep my software-development skills sharp since I'm not doing much coding at work these days. I also started it because, as I like to tell people, words are my jam.
I worked with my wife, who's an interaction designer at Google, on the logo. We landed on this.
I was happy. She was happy. We were all happy. We're still happy.
After working for months on this thing, I decided it was time to do a proper launch. We scheduled a 10-day vacation in Florida to visit the in-laws in August 2018. I thought I'd capitalize on the free babysitting and get Yak Tack ready for Product Hunt -- the de-facto startup launcher. I got all the assets ready to go, work up early, and hit "publish."
A couple hours later, this guy named Matt Holsinger finds me, and makes this comment on my Product Hunt page:
"That logo looks like a naked person doing yoga from behind. And now I can’t see anything...butt... that."
My animal instinct was to launch a response salvo. But intellect prevailed, and I just went along with his dumb comment. Thick skin.
The launch was pretty good. My user base in Japan and Europe spiked. People other than me started using Yak Tack.
I started working on more features. And in August 2019 (one year later), I once again found myself in Florida with the in-laws. It was time for a second launch on Product Hunt. Matt finds me again, and writes:
"Logo still looks like a naked person from behind with long hair and hands outstretched toward the air... can't unsee it."
Jesus. I mean, how about something constructive? Did you try Yak Tack? Did it work? Did it suck? I put a lot of time and cognitive load into this thing man. Help me out here.
I don't know why people behave this way. Trolling on Product Hunt is really discouraging.
Anyway, I'm glad that a lot of you found Yak Tack because of these launches. I'm glad you're using it to remember words, and to learn English. It's you who keep me going!
I worked with my wife, who's an interaction designer at Google, on the logo. We landed on this.
 |
| [the logo] |
After working for months on this thing, I decided it was time to do a proper launch. We scheduled a 10-day vacation in Florida to visit the in-laws in August 2018. I thought I'd capitalize on the free babysitting and get Yak Tack ready for Product Hunt -- the de-facto startup launcher. I got all the assets ready to go, work up early, and hit "publish."
A couple hours later, this guy named Matt Holsinger finds me, and makes this comment on my Product Hunt page:
"That logo looks like a naked person doing yoga from behind. And now I can’t see anything...butt... that."
My animal instinct was to launch a response salvo. But intellect prevailed, and I just went along with his dumb comment. Thick skin.
The launch was pretty good. My user base in Japan and Europe spiked. People other than me started using Yak Tack.
I started working on more features. And in August 2019 (one year later), I once again found myself in Florida with the in-laws. It was time for a second launch on Product Hunt. Matt finds me again, and writes:
"Logo still looks like a naked person from behind with long hair and hands outstretched toward the air... can't unsee it."
Jesus. I mean, how about something constructive? Did you try Yak Tack? Did it work? Did it suck? I put a lot of time and cognitive load into this thing man. Help me out here.
I don't know why people behave this way. Trolling on Product Hunt is really discouraging.
Anyway, I'm glad that a lot of you found Yak Tack because of these launches. I'm glad you're using it to remember words, and to learn English. It's you who keep me going!