Building Clarivy in public

"Building in public" gets used loosely, so here's what it actually means for Clarivy: you'll see the product before it's finished, the decisions before they're locked in, and the reasoning behind both — not just a highlight reel once things are polished.

Why bother

Partly because I think it makes for a better product. The people who'll actually use Clarivy are freelancers and small business owners, and they're the ones best placed to tell me when something I've built doesn't match how they actually work. Waiting until launch to find that out would be a waste of everyone's time.

And partly because it's just more honest. Most software gets announced fully formed, as if it arrived that way. Clarivy didn't, and won't — it's being built a bit at a time, in between client work, the same way most of the people using it run their own businesses.

What that looks like in practice

A few things, going forward:

• Regular updates on what's shipped and what's next, not just a changelog nobody reads
• Early access for waitlist members before anyone else, so feedback comes from people with real skin in the game
• Honesty about what Clarivy isn't trying to be — it's not chasing every feature request, just the ones that fit

Where this is headed

Business analytics and custom databases are live first, with recurring reports right behind them. If you're on the waitlist, you'll see each of these land before anyone else does — and you'll get first crack at telling me what's missing.