Alana

Alana built staff management software targeting mid-to-large retailers, manufacturers, and hospitality companies across Latin America, securing YC Summer 2019 funding. ​​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌Early signals appeared promising: enterprise clients expressed interest in automating shift planning and geolocation check-ins, pain points they acknowledged repeatedly in sales conversations. The team measured traction through pilot deployments with three major retail chains and tracked adoption metrics across their shift-planning module, which showed 60% daily active usage initially. However, Alana conflated stated problems with actual purchasing behavior. While prospects complained about manual scheduling, they hesitated at implementation costs and integration complexity with legacy systems. The warning sign emerged when pilots stalled during expansion phases—companies completed trials but didn't convert to paid contracts. Revenue remained flat despite strong feature adoption in controlled environments. Alana had validated interest in solving the problem, not demand for their specific solution at their price point. They missed that Latin American enterprises required extensive customization and local compliance features the team hadn't prioritized, ultimately leading to the company's inactivity.