Fathom2019
Breaking a seven-year streak
Fathom had not shipped a new product in seven years. We slowed down before we sped up.
The situation
Fathom hadn't shipped a new product in seven years. Leadership was brilliant but uncertain about modern product development. The culture was risk-averse.
The obvious move
Start building immediately. Ship fast, learn fast. The lean startup playbook.
What I did instead
Slowed down. Ran a vision workshop with the founders first to align on what we were actually trying to do. Established four guiding principles. Then invested heavily in research before writing a single ticket.
What happened
46% month-over-month increase in new customer revenue. $100k MRR in Q1. Patent filed. And the team that hadn't shipped anything new in seven years now had the muscle to do it again.