When Feature Requests Trigger Insecurity — and How I Fixed It

I’m back in development mode — and once again, catching myself making founder mistakes rooted in insecurity.

It started with an email from an insurance company in Singapore. Their message contained a long wishlist of features for a shared inbox solution. Naturally, I tried to map everything to what we already have in ReplyFabric. But quickly, I got confused.

Half the things they asked for — task lists, labels, notifications — are just standard Outlook or Gmail features. Why were they asking us for that?

Then I looked deeper. Literally. I opened the email headers.
It turns out the message was sent via Missive — another shared inbox tool.

That explained everything. Missive is an extra platform.
ReplyFabric is an invisible brain.

Our users don’t leave Outlook or Gmail. We add intelligence: reading, filtering, categorizing, replying, learning.
No new platform. No training. No onboarding friction.
Just a smarter inbox — with all native features still available.

Had I not checked the headers, I might have fallen into the classic founder trap: doubting the product because a prospect asked for something it’s not meant to be.

That’s how insecurity creeps in — disguised as “customer feedback.”
And that’s where discipline comes in. I have to stay focused on the initial scope, not start adding features because of one email. Every addition must serve a clear purpose and fit the long-term vision — not a single conversation.

A structured way forward

Going forward, we’ll handle feature requests with structure, not emotion.

We’ll create a ReplyFabric Community, open to all users.
There, anyone can post new ideas, feature suggestions, or workflow improvements.

Every month, we’ll host a community webinar where we discuss the requests, evaluate their impact, and vote.
The top three features will go on the roadmap. Simple. Transparent. Democratic.

And for enterprise customers, the model is different.
They get custom features — ERP or CRM integration, special AI logic, separate hosting, extra security layers.
But those are paid add-ons. Tailored solutions with clear value and cost.

This way, we keep ReplyFabric focused, fast, and clean — while still allowing flexibility where it matters.

Building a startup means learning to say no just as often as yes.
Today, that lesson came from an email.
And a line hidden deep inside its headers.