[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":290},["ShallowReactive",2],{"project-4282382":3},{"id":4,"name":5,"line":6,"line_source":7,"title":8,"url":9,"domain":10,"maker":11,"posted_at":12,"year":13,"points":14,"comments":15,"rank_in_year":16,"shown_in_year":17,"top":18,"tier":19,"category":20,"subcategory":21,"format":22,"keywords":23,"reception":27,"sentiment":28,"stance_mix":29,"scored_comments":33,"aspects":34,"strip":39,"post_text":41,"what":42,"said":85,"maker_in_thread":181,"shape":185,"grid":188,"attempts":251,"same_week":252,"maker_shows":238,"maker_hidden":282,"reader_version":283,"card":284},"4282382","Ironspread","Use Excel as a simple CRM","title","Show HN: Use Excel as a simple CRM","http:\u002F\u002Fironspread.com\u002Fdb.html","ironspread.com","karamazov",1343068684,2012,54,27,433,1677,26,"notable","productivity","spreadsheet automation","desktop_app",[24,25,26,21],"excel crm","excel python","excel macros","debated",-0.026,{"positive":30,"neutral":30,"mixed":31,"critical":32},4,0,5,13,{"idea":35,"execution":37},{"positive":36,"critical":32},2,{"positive":38,"critical":31},1,[38,31,31,31,40,31,38,40,38,31,31,31,40,32,38,40,31,31,32,31,31,31,31,38,32,31,32],3,null,{"problem":43,"audience":54,"pricing":41,"motivation":65,"time_to_build":41,"stack":70,"openness":84,"stage":84,"team_size":84},{"value":44,"source":45,"evidence":46},"Complex spreadsheet operations need macros; maintaining cross-referenced sheets by hand becomes too much work","maker",[47,50],{"id":48,"by":11,"text":49},"4282730","I tried maintaining different sheets, and it became too much work - each time a new problem came up I had to figure out where all the relevant pieces of data were and…",{"id":51,"by":52,"text":53},"4283276","Ganthor","It's not the built in functions they're trying to replace, it's using python instead of VBA to make macros. While Excel functions are relatively robust, doing more complex…",{"value":55,"source":56,"evidence":57},"Small businesses and people tracking contacts or data in Excel","inferred",[58,61],{"id":59,"by":11,"text":60},"4283291","Two benefits. One, I have very different types of contacts in the same database, and I can sort through them easily. Two, you'll get above 100 contacts at some point - I needed…",{"id":62,"by":63,"text":64},"4283169","true_religion","What exactly do you need a CRM for? Right now, I'm using notepad (please don't laugh) to keep track of who I'm talking to, what they've said, and what leads I have to pursue.…",{"value":66,"source":45,"evidence":67},"Maker needed to scale past 100 contacts and cross-reference scattered data by hand",[68,69],{"id":59,"by":11,"text":60},{"id":48,"by":11,"text":49},[71,80],{"value":72,"source":73,"evidence":74},"Python","commenter",[75,76],{"id":51,"by":52,"text":53},{"id":77,"by":78,"text":79},"4282818","vj44","I would like to see some live data integration into Excel, like pulling server logs into visual graphs in Excel. It shouldn't be too hard with the plugin from…",{"value":81,"source":73,"evidence":82},"Excel",[83],{"id":51,"by":52,"text":53},"unknown",{"praise":86,"objections":91,"requests":123,"questions":142,"alternatives":155},[87],{"value":88,"source":73,"evidence":89},"Python scripting is smoother than VBA for complex spreadsheet operations",[90],{"id":51,"by":52,"text":53},[92,104,112],{"value":93,"source":73,"evidence":94},"Excel alone is enough for small contact lists; a dedicated CRM is not needed",[95,96,100],{"id":62,"by":63,"text":64},{"id":97,"by":98,"text":99},"4283248","graup","How is typing python commands better than using Excel's built in functions to do the same thing? (References, Lookups, Sorting, Filtering)",{"id":101,"by":102,"text":103},"4282864","bigtones","This looks to be a cool tool for automating spreadsheet work, and Excel is fine for a very small client list, but for a long term solution you can use Insightly CRM for free…",{"value":105,"source":73,"evidence":106},"Not clearly better than existing free CRM options",[107,111],{"id":108,"by":109,"text":110},"4282915","jenntoda","Then you'll need to tell me why use this instead of the other currently available, often free, CRM options :)",{"id":101,"by":102,"text":103},{"value":113,"source":73,"evidence":114},"Excel is not structured data and becomes unmanageable as businesses grow",[115,119],{"id":116,"by":117,"text":118},"4285094","cafard","One of my habitual, long, boring rants is on the theme \"Excel is not structured data.\" In the hands of an analyst who knows what he's doing, Excel is a fine tool. As a database,…",{"id":120,"by":121,"text":122},"4285228","ckluis","\"Excel is a poor man's database.\" My boss. \"It works. Business users and MBAs don't need programmers to make changes.\" Me. There is a time and a place for using each tool. We use…",[124,128,135],{"value":125,"source":73,"evidence":126},"Live data integration, such as pulling server logs into Excel graphs",[127],{"id":77,"by":78,"text":79},{"value":129,"source":73,"evidence":130},"Integration with Unbounce",[131],{"id":132,"by":133,"text":134},"4282925","namellaweb","We use insightly over here at Namella! Fantastic product. But we reallllly need integration with Unbounce. :)",{"value":136,"source":73,"evidence":137},"SBCL support",[138],{"id":139,"by":140,"text":141},"4283760","sbcluser","I'd love something this based instead on SBCL",[143,151],{"value":144,"source":73,"evidence":145},"Why use this instead of Excel's built-in functions or existing CRMs?",[146,147,150],{"id":97,"by":98,"text":99},{"id":148,"by":109,"text":149},"4282519","I see a promising start here, but I am puzzled by why all this instead of just maintaining different sheets and use lookup functions myself. From reading your friend's blog it…",{"id":108,"by":109,"text":110},{"value":152,"source":73,"evidence":153},"What does a CRM provide for under 100 contacts?",[154],{"id":62,"by":63,"text":64},[156,160,167,174],{"value":157,"source":73,"evidence":158},"Insightly CRM",[159],{"id":101,"by":102,"text":103},{"value":161,"source":73,"evidence":162},"Google Docs sharing",[163],{"id":164,"by":165,"text":166},"4283351","mseebach","Ctrl-A, Ctrl-C, Crtl-Tab, Ctrl-T, docs.google.com, New Document, Ctrl-V, Share. Done.",{"value":168,"source":73,"evidence":169},"QueryCell",[170],{"id":171,"by":172,"text":173},"4283296","j_s","Also check out: http:\u002F\u002Fwww.querycell.com\u002F",{"value":175,"source":73,"evidence":176},"Salesforce, Freshbooks, Quickbooks",[177],{"id":178,"by":179,"text":180},"4283816","rexreed","For better or worse, Excel is still the most widely used general-purpose business application. Even SalesForce, Freshbooks, and the ungodly Quickbooks have failed to put a dent…",{"comments":36,"answered":38,"key":182},[183,184],{"id":48,"text":49},{"id":59,"text":60},{"commenters":186,"max_depth":30,"maker_replies":36,"first_comment_mins":18,"lifespan_hours":187},23,56,[189,193,197,201,203,205,207,208,209,212,214,217,218,219,221,224,225,229,230,232,235,237,239,243,245,247,249],[190,31,38,191,192,31],"4282874","project\u002Fcritical\u002Fidea","andymoe",[194,31,31,195,196,31],"4283003","other\u002Fcritical\u002Fnone","grecy",[198,31,31,199,200,31],"4285243","other\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","shiftpgdn",[202,31,31,199,196,31],"4286280",[148,38,40,204,109,31],"project\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea",[48,38,31,206,11,38],"maker\u002Fneutral\u002Fidea",[108,38,38,191,109,31],[62,36,40,204,63,31],[210,36,38,191,211,31],"4283279","fletchowns",[164,36,31,213,165,31],"commenter\u002Fcritical\u002Fidea",[215,36,31,213,216,31],"4283786","superuser2",[59,36,31,206,11,38],[97,40,40,204,98,31],[51,40,32,220,52,31],"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fexecution",[222,40,38,191,223,31],"4283468","kimmiller",[77,30,40,204,78,31],[226,30,31,227,228,31],"4283015","commenter\u002Fneutral\u002Fnone","troels",[171,30,31,227,172,31],[178,32,32,231,179,31],"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fidea",[233,32,31,199,234,31],"4284569","malandrew",[236,32,31,199,179,31],"4294156",[116,238,31,199,117,31],6,[240,241,31,199,242,31],"4283329",7,"rodolphoarruda",[101,244,38,191,102,31],8,[132,244,32,246,133,31],"project\u002Fpositive\u002Fnone",[120,248,31,199,121,31],9,[139,250,32,231,140,31],10,[],[253,258,263,268,273,278],{"id":254,"name":255,"points":256,"category":257},"4283896","Markupwand",342,"dev_tools",{"id":259,"name":260,"points":261,"category":262},"4285019","Hacker News Comments",189,"web_saas",{"id":264,"name":265,"points":266,"category":267},"4287588","Brandseen",181,"games",{"id":269,"name":270,"points":271,"category":272},"4287398","I Dream Books",146,"consumer_social",{"id":274,"name":275,"points":276,"category":277},"4292498","Filepicker.io web widgets",83,"infrastructure",{"id":279,"name":280,"points":281,"category":20},"4288470","Collections for Mac",67,false,"v2",{"id":285,"name":5,"line":6,"ai":282,"cat":20,"year":13,"points":14,"comments":15,"rec":27,"s":286,"top":18,"kw":287,"maker":11,"domain":10,"tier":19,"attempts":31,"strip":288,"url":9,"mix":289,"praise":88,"objection":93,"sub":21},4282382,-0.03,[24,25,26,21],"100030131000351300500001505",[30,30,31,32],1794036498182]