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Building Stockaj Alone — Why I Need Your Support

· 6 min read
Alexandre Bianchi
Alexandre Bianchi
Creator of Stockaj

I want to be honest with you.

Stockaj is built by one person. I write every line of code, handle every support message, design every screen, write every blog post, manage the infrastructure, and make every product decision. There's no team, no investors, no VC money. Just me, my laptop, and an unreasonable amount of coffee.

How It Started​

I built Stockaj originally for a music festival. The team was managing hundreds of pieces of equipment — walkie-talkies, barriers, speakers, cables — across multiple venues, using spreadsheets that were outdated before the event even started.

I thought: "This can't be that hard to solve." So I built a small tool. Then the tool grew. Then other organizations started asking for it. Then I realized I was building a product.

That was 4 years ago. Since then, Stockaj has evolved from a simple inventory tracker into a full rental management platform with barcode scanning, a kiosk mode, QR codes, REST API, webhooks, multi-user workspaces, and more features than I can list here.

The Reality of Solo Development​

Here's what people don't see:

Building a SaaS product alone means you're simultaneously a backend developer, frontend developer, mobile developer, DevOps engineer, database administrator, designer, technical writer, marketer, customer support agent, accountant, and business strategist.

On a typical day, I might:

  • Fix a bug in the rental return flow at 8 AM
  • Write a database migration at 10 AM
  • Debug a webhook delivery issue at noon
  • Design a new UI component at 2 PM
  • Write documentation at 4 PM
  • Answer support emails at 6 PM
  • Work on the kiosk desktop app at 8 PM

There's no "hand it off to the design team" or "let DevOps handle the deployment." Every problem is my problem. Every decision is my decision.

I love this work. I genuinely do. There's something deeply satisfying about building a product from scratch, knowing every corner of the codebase, and seeing real people use something you created to solve a real problem.

But I won't pretend it's sustainable the way it is now.

The Financial Reality​

I'm going to be transparent because I think transparency is important.

Right now, Stockaj doesn't generate enough revenue for me to work on it full-time. I balance development with other work to pay the bills. This means features take longer, bugs get fixed slower, and the product evolves at a pace that frustrates me as much as it might frustrate you.

I deliberately chose not to take VC money. Here's why:

  • VC money comes with expectations — grow fast, monetize aggressively, exit within 5-7 years. That's not compatible with building a sustainable tool for European organizations.
  • VC-funded products often pivot or die — when the money runs out or investors want a return, users get abandoned. I've seen it happen dozens of times.
  • I want to keep prices fair — a VC-backed company needs to maximize revenue. I want to offer a genuinely free plan and keep paid plans affordable.
  • I don't want to sell your data — ever. That's a much easier promise to keep when you don't have investors pushing for "alternative revenue streams."

But bootstrapping a SaaS product in Switzerland — one of the most expensive countries in the world — is genuinely hard. Server costs, infrastructure, domain names, SSL certificates, email services, development tools — it all adds up. And that's before counting rent and food.

How You Can Help​

If Stockaj has been useful to you — or if you believe in what I'm trying to build — there are several ways you can help:

1. Sponsor the project​

I've set up GitHub Sponsors for anyone who wants to support Stockaj directly. Even a small monthly contribution makes a difference. It tells me that the work matters and helps cover infrastructure costs.

2. Upgrade to a paid plan​

If you're currently using the free plan and Stockaj adds value to your work, consider upgrading to the Starter plan at CHF 29/month. It's the single most impactful thing you can do — paying customers are what keep this project alive.

3. Spread the word​

  • Tell a colleague about Stockaj
  • Share it in your community, Slack group, or forum
  • Leave a review or recommendation somewhere relevant
  • Link to us from your website

Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing channel for a bootstrapped product. Every person who discovers Stockaj because you mentioned it is a potential user who helps the project survive.

4. Report bugs and suggest features​

Feedback is incredibly valuable. If something doesn't work right, or if you have an idea that would make Stockaj better for your workflow, let me know. Every bug report makes the product better for everyone.

What I'm Not Going to Do​

To be clear about what this project won't become:

  • I won't add a "premium" paywall in front of data exports. Your data is yours, always.
  • I won't sell your data to third parties. Not now, not ever.
  • I won't kill the free plan. It exists because I believe small teams and individuals deserve good tools.
  • I won't move servers out of Switzerland for cost savings. Data sovereignty matters.
  • I won't fill the product with dark patterns to trick you into upgrading.

These aren't marketing promises. They're the reasons I'm building this in the first place.

For Non-Profits and Associations​

If you're running a non-profit, association, or community project — I want to help. Stockaj is used by organizations lending furniture to refugee families, festivals tracking equipment across venues, and community tool libraries.

These organizations do important work, and inventory management shouldn't be a financial barrier.

Contact me to discuss free instances or reduced pricing for your organization. I review every request personally.

The Road Ahead​

I have a long list of features I want to build — better reporting, multi-location support, a mobile app, label printing, mail merge, and much more. The speed at which I can get there depends directly on whether this project becomes financially sustainable.

Every sponsor, every paying customer, every person who shares Stockaj with someone else — you're all part of making this happen.

Thank you for reading this far. And if you've used Stockaj, thank you for trusting a solo developer with your inventory.

Alexandre Bianchi — Developer, founder, support team, and everything else at Stockaj.

Based in Switzerland. Building tools for people who manage things.