Friday's App is shutting down

Today, I'm bummed to say that we will be shutting down Friday and ceasing operations. The app will be turned off on June 3rd, 2022.

If you are a Friday customer, please continue to read more about next steps and how we aim to make this transition as smooth as possible for you.

The backstory

I started Friday (originally it was called Friday Feedback) as a nights and weekends project back in 2016 after spending a few years working remotely. Despite the autonomy and lack of a commute, working from anywhere still felt way too tough. I didn't know what people were working on, I didn't know my coworkers, and I didn't really understand how my work fit into the bigger picture.

After working on this side project for a few years, I decided I had to pursue the opportunity full-time. If I didn't, I would always regret it if I didn't try. In the fall of 2019, we raised a pre-seed round of investment and I jumped in FT and hired a few engineers.

Fast forward a few months - we publicly launched the new version a couple weeks before Covid arrived in the US. For the next two years, remote work became the new normal. We raised a seed round in the Fall of 2020 and continued to build.

Today, the number of organizations that offer remote/flexible work has exploded. It's been amazing to see this change despite the circumstances. This flexibility is good for society and leads to stronger families, engaged local communities, and a better work/life balance.

Why are you shutting down Friday?

Despite adding 100k users in the last 12 months, we struggled to answer the following questions:

• Who is the buyer?
• What is the willingness to pay? Where do we find budget?
• Is Friday a replacement to an existing tool like a wiki, or a brand-new one?

Additionally, there's a lot of competition in the "productivity space" and there was a growing interest in investing in this type of tooling. This created a lot more competition in this market.

Ultimately, I didn't have enough clarity to continue pursuing additional investment and as a byproduct, growing the business. The pain-point we aimed to solve is still a very big issue, but I believe over time existing tools (docs, project management, HRIS) will work to solve the problems people face when working outside of the office.

I'm a paid customer, what happens next?

We are suspending billing effective immediately, so you will no longer be charged, but you will continue to have access to the product for the next 60 days. You will have until June 3rd, 2022 to migrate any/all data from Friday before we turn off the application. If you have paid annually, we will be issuing a pro-rated refund for unused time on the subscription.

Our aim is to do everything we can to make sure that the transition is as smooth as possible.

I have a free account, what happens next?

You will continue to have access to the product for the next 60 days (June 3rd) and will be unable to upgrade to a paid account. After that, you will no longer have access to use the product.

I'd like to export my data, what do I do?

We have created the ability to export all data in a zip file in a variety of formats (CSV, json, PDF). Please visit this page to start this process. For larger teams and organizations, we can provide assistance to accelerate the transition.

Do you have any recommendations for other products I can use instead of Friday?

It all depends on how you use Friday, but we have a few recommendations!

• Company Home: checkout Atlas by Atlassian if you want a centralized place to share updates, centralize knowledge, and get to know your team.
• Daily planning/project management: checkout ClickUp or Sunsama (you can get 30 days free if you use this link).
• Docs/Wiki: look into Coda, Almanac, or Notion.
• Chrome Extension: look into Momentum

If you are looking for more customization for status updates, you can try building an internal version of Friday check-ins with Zapier or Airtable.

I'd like to talk to someone at Friday, what should I do?

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please drop us a note at support@friday.app or you can email me directly at luke@friday.app. We'd be happy to help.

Parting thoughts

I want to thank all our users, customers, investors, and employees for giving Friday a shot. I'd also like to thank my awesome wife and family for their support over the last few years.

While I would have loved for a different outcome, I feel incredibly fortunate to have had this opportunity to serve you. I've learned a lot, and I regret nothing.