No backlog, no hype — how Moneybird built the #1 bookkeeping software in the Netherlands w/ Edwin Vlieg

I pay for software I barely use. Just because I love how it's designed.My accountant has me on Exact Online for bookkeeping. It works. But the UX is so ugly I refuse to create invoices there.So I pay for Moneybird every month — just to use one feature: invoicing.I could skip it entirely. Save the money. But I don't want to. The brand, the experience, the attention to detail — it makes me want to open the app.That's the power of great design in B2B.And that's why I had to get Edwin Vlieg on the podcast.Edwin is the co-founder of Moneybird — the #1 bookkeeping software for entrepreneurs in the Netherlands. 400,000+ users. 80-person team. 17 years bootstrapped.🧠 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻:0:00 - How Moneybird started in 2008 when everything was on-premise2:38 - The market back then and why competitors didn't survive5:19 - Starting with invoicing, not accounting (and why that mattered)7:32 - Why they built for entrepreneurs, not accountants10:26 - The positioning that made them #1 in the Netherlands14:44 - Design culture and team structure at Moneybird16:21 - How ShapeUp works with rotating teams (and why it prevents silos)24:51 - Why process is the product that builds the product29:16 - How they decide what to build next (hint: no feature backlog)31:26 - Framing vs shaping: how they avoid wasting time on bad ideas33:46 - Phased rollouts with feature flags and the surprising feedback they got41:43 - Why good ideas bubble up and you don't need a backlog44:15 - Support engineer rotation: why builders should feel their own bugs45:24 - Their approach to AI: rule-based engines + AI, not pure hype50:06 - Redesigning purchase invoices with AI (and what users did that they never expected)56:56 - Why they launched an MCP instead of building a chatbot1:03:32 - Edwin's favorite products and the terminal UI movement💡 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀:→ 𝗥𝗼𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀Fresh eyes catch what the original team missed.→ 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲If leadership isn't excited at the framing stage, don't waste weeks on detailed specs.→ 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗴𝘀Start small. Get feedback. Scale to 100% after you've learned.→ 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝗴𝘀When you might be fixing bugs next cycle, you ship better code this cycle.→ 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗼𝗴Good ideas bubble up. No need for a graveyard of feature requests.