The Knack team on web applications, online databases, and beautifully designed products.
We returned from our third official Knack retreat a few weeks ago. It was an epic 6 days in Miami where we met 8 new team members, ate way too much food, and somehow got some great work in. Some of us are still recovering.
We're working on a full write-up, but thought we'd share a few images here in the meantime.
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I recently returned to a backyard full of snow after having spent a great week in Puerto Rico at the first official Knack corporate retreat.
We posted a great summary here of the entire retreat.
Along with getting to know our team and work together in person, it was also an apt time to reflect back on how we got there.
It wasn't that long ago where working together with a team of 9 in a beautiful setting would have seemed a bit like a fantasy. Not every startup explodes on the scene in a matter of months.
We've taken the “long way”, which made the retreat that much more gratifying.
Continue reading...Joshua Guy Lenes replaced a custom-programmed database with a Knack solution so more team members could help build and maintain it.
Joshua Guy Lenes is familiar with complex, custom database solutions. He works with the American Association of University Professors to manage union memberships. They used to employ a custom-engineered database coded in python, django and sql.
It was a suitable system but there was one big problem: Josh, a trained and capable developer, was the only person who knew how to manage the database and keep it running smoothly. It was too complex to easily bring on others to help.
He knew this would not be sustainable in the long run — if Josh somehow became unavailable how would the system be maintained?
Josh needed a more flexible database solution that his team could easily use and manage without his assistance, and the search began for a replacement.
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Here at Knack we have the unique opportunity to see all of the web apps and online databases that are built for specific industries.
A great example is the beverage industry, where we”ve seen a particularly strong fit amongst the craft beer and wine sectors.
This attention may or may not be heightened by the near and dear place wine and craft beer holds in our hearts 🙂 Eric makes his own wine, Steve ran a wine blog, and craft beer is always on Brandon”s Christmas list.
Many of the breweries and wineries we”ve worked with are big enough to have significant I.T. needs, but don”t have the technology budgets to pay for bloated software or full-time technology staff.
Many of these individuals not only manage “the books” but they wear several hats like purchasing agent, production supervisor or even brewmaster.
This is why Knack is so appealing: it”s quick, easy to use, and perhaps most crucially can immediately provide major benefits. Customized apps can quickly be built to help manage sales, inventory, and distribution without a huge investment in time or money.
This combination of simplicity and customization were exactly what appealed to Jessica Jones of Ninkasi Brewery:
“We needed a platform for group project management and collaboration. Other options were either not customizable enough or too complex to teach all of our staff at varying levels to use.”
Trey Bowden of Dogfish Head Brewery was pleased with the ease of use when creating a production management database:
“When I was recently tasked to build an internal database-driven app for “beer product holds & dispositions”, I knew Knack was the right tool to get the job done in a timely manner…You can”t beat the simple user interface, built-in reporting, and cloud-connected capabilities with it”s Zapier interface (as opposed to using something like MS Access).
“We just launched our first app in early 2015 and our production team couldn”t be happier!”
Here”s a look at some of the apps we”re seeing for beer and wine users:
Continue reading...Discover how no-code platforms like Knack can help you build a custom CRM system that streamlines your workflows and improves customer relationship management. With drag-and-drop functionality, integrations, and API access, no-code tools make building a bespoke CRM easier and more cost-effective than ever before. Learn about the benefits of using Knack to create your own CRM, including flexibility, no-coding required, flexible pricing, data security, and support. Read on to find out more.
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We’re pleased to announce that Knack is now integrated with Zapier – a website that makes it easy to connect different internet apps and services together to share data from service to service!
Zapier opens up powerful possibilities to extend and enhance your Knack app with other services like Gmail, WebMerge, MailChimp, Twilio, and many more.
Here are a few examples of how you can integrate Knack with other services on Zapier:
The following is our page on Zapier that describes in more detail how it works:
https://zapier.com/help/knack/
We’ll be outlining a few of our favorite services and “Zaps” in future blog posts. Keep us posted on any you’ve created so we can share them here!
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