“Launching soon” was doing a lot of work in the subject line.
I sent a holiday update to friends, former colleagues, and people I had built companies with over the previous 15 years. The short version was direct: I had started a business called Loop, and I wanted them to join the waitlist.
Caroline and I had been working on it for six months.
The reason for the product was personal. I had spent a career moving between startups and had lost touch with people I respected and liked working with. LinkedIn could tell me they existed. It did not do much to help me understand which relationships were active, which ones were drifting, or who I should talk to next.
Loop was supposed to sit in the inbox and on the phone, learn from email and calendar activity, and help with the work of maintaining a real professional network.
That was the clean version I sent to the broad list on Monday.
The Wednesday version went to two Alpha testers. It included a Chrome Web Store link, a TestFlight build, and four steps:
- Install the updated Chrome extension.
- Resync LinkedIn contacts.
- Update the Loop app in TestFlight.
- Test.
I said the updated extension would be published by Friday. Thanksgiving sat directly between the promise and the deadline.
The product screen recording from that Monday began with a much calmer description: “Relationship co-pilot.” Underneath, Loop called itself an assistant for activating and cultivating a network.
Behind that screen were the usual Alpha mechanics. The extension imported contacts. The app surfaced recommendations and follow-ups. Testers had to make sure they had the correct build in two different places before any of it could be useful.
We were also planning calendar integration, contact sync that did not require LinkedIn, improved recommendations, and a move from the Alpha environment to production before the end of the year.
The email to my network said we were launching soon.
Soon still meant install, resync, update, test.