The Story 

When you think about a million-dollar idea, most people envision something complex with a lot of moving parts. For TallyForms, the story couldn’t be further away from that conception. The tool was created primarily out of frustration when Marie Martens could not find a simple solution to collect data. 

Most of the products in the market either came with a limited format or bombarded users with limits and paywalls. That is why she kept the platform concept extremely simple; Tally would allow users to create any type of form without breaking the bank. 

To help her with this initiative, she teamed up with her partner, serial entrepreneur, and web developer Filip Minev. The goal was to start with a free Minimum Viable Concept (MVP) before expanding to premium features. 


However, the journey was filled with challenges. 

Before Tally would become one of the internet’s favorite indie form tools, it had to sustain a period of challenge and stagnant growth. This is the story of how the team navigated through those challenges and created a successful startup. 

The Challenge 

Starting on top the initial challenge for Marie was to get the platform off the ground without having any external funding. The couple had to keep things lean and work on the initial concept. From the development of the MVP to the handling of the entire production, the couple had to adopt a hands-on approach and handle everything themselves. 


A factor that made the entire process even more challenging was that Tally was trying to compete against large-scale enterprises like Typeform, which had millions of dollars in funding. 


Another factor that added considerable difficulty was the fact that the couple was tight on funding and had to figure out organic ways to acquire customers. Paid launches and advertisements were out of the question for the startup. 

The Strategy 

Tally’s initial strategy was designed around maximizing the individual strengths of the couple. The business also had to tactically adapt it’s revenue structure to focus on customer acquisition initially. Here’s how they made it happen:

 1. Starting With a Free Launch 
When Tally started building, the market was highly competitive for form-building applications. The platform had to compete against incumbents like Google and Typeform. To find space, the platform had to position itself differently.  The answer was to offer unlimited forms and responses for free. Tally also provided access to 99% of the form-building features for free. The free nature of the tool was designed to speed up customer acquisition and reduce onboarding difficulty.  


2. Leveraging #100Days of NoCode  
During the initial period, the team decided to launch Tally on Product Hunt in 2021. The launch was intended to provide initial traction and benefit from exposure to a wider audience.  Tally further expanded this strategy when the team decided to utilize the #100DaysofCode hashtag on Twitter to connect with a supportive audience. The goal was to demonstrate the technical development of the platform and connect with a community of developers who could be potential users in the future.  


3. Creating Separate Priorities With Co-Founders 
Tally was lucky to have initial co-founders who had diverse skill sets. Marie had a background in marketing, and Filip was the technical brain behind the project. They decided to focus on their strengths and have individual separation of priorities to get the best outcome for the project. 

The couple also created a separate framework to manage their personal lives and ensured that they were able to have different work and personal zones.