Embracing new beginnings with StoryTribe

As some of you already know, StoryTribe is the product of countless weekends, evenings, and early mornings from David and myself. I'm both excited and a little nervous to share that I'm leaving my full-time position to focus exclusively on StoryTribe. This decision wasn't easy, but I have every faith in this venture.

StoryTribe is incredibly meaningful to me because it's the culmination of my life's work and passions. Since I was a child, drawing has always been my safe place. It’s where I turned whenever life beat me down. For me, it's a form of meditation.

Although my career evolved into User Experience Design, my love for drawing never faded. Fortunately, I discovered many great reasons and benefits to incorporate drawing into UX and product design process, particularly through UX storyboarding. This is where the idea for an easy-to-use storyboard tool originally came from.

Meeting David, a talented full stack developer and founder of an online illustration magazine, was a turning point. Together, we created StoryTribe, a tool that allows everyone to illustrate effortlessly, even if they don't have any drawing skills.

Our journey of building in public gained worldwide attention, and 4 months ago, in March 2024, we officially launched StoryTribe to the public. Since then, 70k+ users signed up and we have 50k users visiting our site every month at zero marketing cost.

StoryTribe represents the connection of all the dots in my life (I love Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address - ‘You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.’) — from my teenage years with endless drawings filling my school books, through my international experiences moving to several countries, to my career in UX and product design, I feel like every skill and lesson I learned has been packaged into this product, now offered back to the world.

The response from people, saying, 'I've been waiting for this product all my life,' truly makes me feel like this is meant to be. Also, so many kind people are offering to help, often without expecting anything in return — just because they love what we do and want to be part of StoryTribe's exciting journey, which strengthens my belief that I'm on the right path.

Thank you for your support, and I look forward to this exciting new chapter with StoryTribe.

Regards,

Yunmie

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