The story of how BuildIn entered my life
- September 24, 2024
26.08.2024 — Notion starts sending notifications about leaving Russia
For the first two days I’m in a daze, then I start looking for alternatives. Objectively, there are none. My requirements: relations, formulas and everything I was used to.
30.08.2024 (though it felt like a whole month passed before I found it)
- I discover BuildIn with formulas and fall into incredible inspiration. It was a match from the very first review: the system even has forms, which Notion doesn’t have yet.
- I record a video for YouTube — showing the sign-up and getting-started process without any preparation.
- YouTube
- VKontakte
- Zen
- A Russian-language community appears
01.09.2024
- BuildIn team members create a Telegram channel: @buildin_team
- I make my first imports from Notion.
- I learn about the ambassador program — waiting for any information.
03.09.2024
- I continue importing data; problems persist, but my interest only grows.
05.09.2024
- I reach a state of complete calm: BuildIn can replace Notion, and everything is fine.
- I start working on the first order to migrate a system from Notion to BuildIn.
09.09.2024
- I create the concept for an educational product — the BuildIn 1.0 knowledge base. I share the link, get the first pre-orders in the bot, design the structure of the base.
- I buy a domain name for the BuildIn website.
- I realise I’ve finally “fallen down the BuildIn rabbit hole”.
- I join the Russian BuildIn Team initiative group.
- I become an administrator of the Russian-language community.
- I translate requests and bugs from the Russian-speaking community for the Chinese developers — so I’m always aware of the key problems, user requests and system capabilities.
11.09.2024
- I film a second video answering subscribers’ questions about BuildIn.
12.09.2024
- I enjoy new features like image recognition and share them on social media — the audience responds actively.
13.09.2024
- BuildIn launches the ambassador program in Russia. I send in my application!
23.09.2024
- I wake up early in the morning, open my email and can’t believe my eyes — I’m an ambassador!
- I get access to a Team Pro space for a year as an ambassador.
What’s next?
I keep studying the platform, helping others master it and developing solutions both for teams and for personal work. And, of course, templates!
FAQ
How is BuildIn different from Notion?
BuildIn reproduces the key parts of Notion — relations and formulas — and at the time of the switch it also had forms, which Notion lacked. For the author that was the deciding argument when choosing an alternative.
How did the migration from Notion to BuildIn happen?
Through data imports: the first steps are shown in the chronicle of September 1–3, 2024. The imports had issues, but by September 5 the first paid order for a commercial system migration had arrived.
Who are BuildIn ambassadors?
Ambassador program members grow the product and the community. The author joined the Russian BuildIn Team initiative group and became an administrator of the Russian-language BuildIn community.
Ekaterina Mikheeva (“Katya Sistema”)Treden founder, BuildIn and Notion ambassador, software engineer