We're doing $30k/month solving HR problems no one took seriously.
Birthdays. Kudos. Random coffees.
Tiny things that « didn't matter. »
Until they did.
When Fabien and I left our previous startup, the part we missed the most wasn't the tech.
It was the team.
The culture.
Creating a space where people actually enjoyed working — even remotely.
So we gave ourselves a mission:
Make employees happy at work.
We didn't know where to start.
No deck. No roadmap. Just a hunch:
Maybe HR owns this.
So we reached out — cold emails, LinkedIn DMs.
Had 40+ real conversations with HR pros.
No selling. Just learning.
One theme came up again and again:
« We forgot someone's birthday... again. » 😬
So we built a tiny MVP. Just that.
It worked.
People loved it.
Then we added kudos.
Then random coffees.
Then pulse surveys.
Each one fixed a small, real pain.
But soon we were maintaining 4 apps, 4 brands, 4 messes.
It didn't scale.
So we brought it all together into one thing:
BuddiesHR
Why the name?
Because each app is a Buddy — a little personality with a name and logo, solving one specific problem in your team culture.
Simple. Vertical. Friendly.
Today, it powers hundreds of remote teams — and generates over $30K/month.
KEY LEARNING
You don't have to build something « revolutionary. »
You just have to care enough to solve the small stuff no one else wants to touch.
Stay lean. Stay focus. Stay bootstrapped.
_________________
Enjoyed this post? Drop it a like (👍) — or I'll take it personally. (And follow J.Y for more content like this)