DeepL is such a poster child for German sw startups.
They truly had something unique when they started - but instead of polishing the product with enough VC runway to either find an exit or grow into a real consumer driven utility like Grammarly - they tried their hand at a B2B play.
From then on, their software integration sucked (browser plugins, etc.), their file translation sucked, and their “sass” shenanigans reached adobe levels.
I hate to have to agree. Also, I signed up for a Pro account but then found out that using the API is an entirely different service that seemed almost completely disconnected from the main one with separate billing. It was so confusing and felt like it was built by a company the size of SAP or something.
For what is worth, ChatGPT's API and chat interfaces are also completely different products with separate billing and I haven't seen anybody batting an eye.
They truly had something unique when they started - but instead of polishing the product with enough VC runway to either find an exit or grow into a real consumer driven utility like Grammarly - they tried their hand at a B2B play.
From then on, their software integration sucked (browser plugins, etc.), their file translation sucked, and their “sass” shenanigans reached adobe levels.
Why can’t Germans do software?