AugusteLef (u/AugusteLef)

AugusteLef commented on Launch HN: Onedoc (YC W24) – A better way to create PDFs github.com/OnedocLabs/rea... · Posted by u/AugusteLef

somberi · 2 years ago

I can tell you that the world I operate in will want something like what you are proposing (fixed rate + OnPrem) and the pricing is going to have a ceiling because building this in-house is a real and viable alternative. Our problem is not so much lack of talent but other product-roadmap priorities. What is the ceiling? I do not know, but can hazard a guess. 1/4th of the yearly cost of a good developer.

AugusteLef · 2 years ago

Thank you for taking the time. It really helps us define our value proposition and outline the next steps in product development. As you mentioned, the challenge isn't the inability to produce something in-house but rather other product-roadmap priorities. Our goal is to ensure that companies needing to produce many documents —where documents are necessary but not core to their business— can use our solution at a fair price and limiting the pain of creating such solution in house. OnPrem + fixed rate seems to be the best option for high volume. We'll explore this and see what future solutions we can offer to meet these needs!

AugusteLef commented on Launch HN: Onedoc (YC W24) – A better way to create PDFs github.com/OnedocLabs/rea... · Posted by u/AugusteLef

nktrnk · 2 years ago

Unrelated, out of curiosity. In a 300 page mortgage document, there’s probably >90% of boilerplate with a few pages of custom content. Hypothetically, you could generate those <10% and then stitch it together with the rest onsite.

AugusteLef · 2 years ago

Street smart! But yes, programmatic merging does get complex, especially with large document sizes. It's a balancing act between functionality and handling those technical challenges!

AugusteLef commented on Launch HN: Onedoc (YC W24) – A better way to create PDFs github.com/OnedocLabs/rea... · Posted by u/AugusteLef

gzapp · 2 years ago

There are also a few good options in a lot of languages for streamlining chromium use.

In C# I'd look to use the Playwright library or perhaps even embed chromium via CerSharp if I were trying to avoid extra processes.

AugusteLef · 2 years ago

It seems there isn't a solution that satisfies everyone so far, indeed. With concerns about languages supported, functionalities, security, etc., there's certainly a lot of room for improvement in this space to offer a better solution!

AugusteLef commented on Launch HN: Onedoc (YC W24) – A better way to create PDFs github.com/OnedocLabs/rea... · Posted by u/AugusteLef

baggy_trough · 2 years ago

This is definitely a somewhat painful process. I have done it with puppeteer / chromium on Debian, and it works very well after the headache of figuring it out. Having to pay 50 cents per PDF and deal with a 3rd party vendor would not provide value for our needs.

AugusteLef · 2 years ago

We've updated our pricing, and it can go as low as $0.005 per document. True, you'll still need to work with a third-party vendor, but isn't it worth considering if the features are competitive and the interface is user-friendly? It would be interesting to know what might convince you to switch from Puppeteer to another solution—or if you're completely satisfied and wouldn't switch regardless of the offerings, which is perfectly fine.

AugusteLef commented on Launch HN: Onedoc (YC W24) – A better way to create PDFs github.com/OnedocLabs/rea... · Posted by u/AugusteLef

roastedpillows · 2 years ago

The pricing is a little expensive. Have you heard of https://htmldocs.com/ I've been using them for a year now and it's free

AugusteLef · 2 years ago

We've adjusted our pricing based on your comments and advice. It's not 100% free, but it now seems to make more sense to most of you. What do you think?

AugusteLef commented on Launch HN: Onedoc (YC W24) – A better way to create PDFs github.com/OnedocLabs/rea... · Posted by u/AugusteLef

Nathanba · 2 years ago

The text says "Instantly generate dynamic documents based on real-time data." but when I changed the react code to give the QR code a red color and clicked render it took far longer, maybe 5-6sec to render again.

AugusteLef · 2 years ago

We'll adjust the wording until we have a faster renderer. Also, the playground might take a bit longer to render since there's a queue and it's been heavily used! We're on it, thanks!

AugusteLef commented on Launch HN: Onedoc (YC W24) – A better way to create PDFs github.com/OnedocLabs/rea... · Posted by u/AugusteLef

ffpip · 2 years ago

FYI there is a typo on the pricing page under the pro plan.

"Generate up to 1'500 documents per month without watermark"

1,500 instead of 1'500

AugusteLef · 2 years ago

Got it, thanks!

AugusteLef commented on Launch HN: Onedoc (YC W24) – A better way to create PDFs github.com/OnedocLabs/rea... · Posted by u/AugusteLef

bbryanj23 · 2 years ago

Congrats on the launch. I was a user of htmldocs back in the day, good to see more products in the space.

One of the features I wish I had with htmldocs was the ability to automatically store generated documents in my own S3. I'd rather not introduce another cloud to my data stack just to host PDFs.

AugusteLef · 2 years ago

Thanks! We are looking to extend our set of feature and integration, offering self-storing on S3 could definitely be one of them! Good call

AugusteLef commented on Launch HN: Onedoc (YC W24) – A better way to create PDFs github.com/OnedocLabs/rea... · Posted by u/AugusteLef

caesil · 2 years ago

I think https://github.com/diegomura/react-pdf is closer to what this company is doing.

In fact their open source library, https://github.com/OnedocLabs/react-print-pdf, seems like a higher-level library that sits above react-pdf. Reminds me a lot of the set of react-pdf based components I built for a corporate job where letting users create PDFs was a huge part of the value proposition.

They're solving a really cool problem, actually, because building out into certain difficult use cases like SVG support was a huge pain.

AugusteLef · 2 years ago

Exactly. We are aiming at offering a solution to build complex PDF design. Which means having 100% control over the layout (margin, header, footer), the style and also the content. That's why we integrated Tailwind, CharkraUI, Markdown, LaTeX, and also wanted to support SVG etc.

AugusteLef commented on Launch HN: Onedoc (YC W24) – A better way to create PDFs github.com/OnedocLabs/rea... · Posted by u/AugusteLef

somberi · 2 years ago

Useful service and a large problem space. Congrats and all the best. As someone who is a target customer, my 2 cents:

a. If this is a strategic value for my pipeline (and it is), we are going to code it ourselves, only because we can host it inside our fences. Critical customer data and hence.

b. The pricing is way off and is not reflective of the cost or value (for us). Even if it was 1/10th of the prices you charge, it will still be a no-go. At the volumes we have, it makes sense to build this ourselves.

c. SOC2 / ISO27001 - You might want to obtain them asap if you are looking to sell to outsourcing companies or FSG.

AugusteLef · 2 years ago

certifications (SOC2 / ISO27001) and offer an on-premise solution! I see there's already a discussion about pricing, so I'll leave that be. However, would an unlimited volume at a fixed cost (and self-host) be an attractive solution? It could be interesting for very high volumes.

u/AugusteLef

KarmaCake day178January 21, 2022

About

Computer Scientist, ex-YC founder (w24 FileForge, API for PDF workflows), now focusing on quantitative finance.

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