☕ Why I'm leaving the Stan Store & The Magic of Being a Unicorn 🦄

Hello, and welcome back!

Whether you're new here or this is our second cup of coffee together, I'm glad you're here. This week, I want to talk about the "why" behind some recent decisions, share a new life lesson, and give you a sneak peek at what's coming soon.

The Problem with Stan Store

As a content creator and software developer, I’m always looking for simple tools that just work. When I decided to set up a way for people to support my volunteering, I landed on the Stan Store. I was a bit skeptical about the platform, but Steven Bartlett’s put his name on it, so I’ve decided to try it (anyway).

The setup was incredibly fast, taking me about 30 minutes to make it online (empty, but online). The daily posts from the team during the challenge make it easy to setup payments, products etc. The community around the platform is filled with ambitious and creative people, and the helpdesk is responsive and kind.

But, as I dug deeper, I realized there was a big problem. The software itself.

• Security: As a cybersecurity advocate, I was concerned that Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) was not available for regular users. This means your password was the only thing protecting your account, your customer's data, and your money. This is a massive risk and a major reason why I'm migrating. While 2FA was enabled for me, it was not a standard feature for everyone, and I hope they roll it out soon.

• Performance: The platform is painfully slow. I'm talking 30+ seconds just to load a new store. For a modern web experience, this is a major red flag.

• User Experience: I noticed a simple but concerning issue: the URLs for buttons aren't visible at the bottom of the browser. This prevents a simple security check that I encourage everyone to perform before clicking a link.

• Community Platform: The community website itself is a mess. It's a key hub for users, but notifications often get lost. The platform's technical limitations were so severe that the Stan team had to use external tools like Notion to share important information with the community. When a platform's own team has to use outside solutions to make things work, it speaks volumes.

I’ve learned a lot from this experience, and while it was a great proof of concept, I've decided to migrate to a more reliable platform. It’s simply not a solid foundation to invest my community's time and effort. I'm curious about your experiences with platforms like this. Feel free to reply to this email and let me know your thoughts.

Don’t Try to Fit Into a Box

Speaking of finding a better way, my latest blog post is a short story about not being a horse in a field of horses.

I once had a boss who asked me, "Why can't you be like others?" My answer then is my lesson to you today: Don’t pretend to be less than you are. Your unique perspective is your most powerful asset - it's what makes you a unicorn.

Read my latest post: The magic of being a Unicorn

You can find more lessons like these on my blog:

• Trust is the Foundation of every relationship

• Teenagers are the adults under construction

• You will be alive only 100 years

What's Brewing Next...

My private Discord community is growing, and I'm getting ready to open it to a wider audience soon. If you're interested in being on the early access waiting list for an invite, just reply to this email with "Discord."

Thanks again for joining me on this journey. I look forward to sharing more insights with you next week.

Cheers, Anna 🦄