A Conversation with the Founders of Classer

Hey, Alex here! I’ve taken over the Classer newsletter for today.

Since they’ve just launched their first batch of Classer Home, I thought it was a good excuse to ask Silvia and Rhys a few questions about how all of this started, what the last three years have actually been like, and what comes next.

Expect a bit of some questionable decisions they took about Classer, a few disagreements, and probably more information about Silvia and Rhys than they were planning to share!

About us

Who are Silvia and Rhys outside of Classer? I know you both pretty well, so I feel like I could answer this one… but tell me.

Silvia: Can you answer that for me please? I always find this question so difficult haha. But let me try. I’d say I’ve always been really curious. I love learning new things and listening to other people’s stories. I’m definitely not an extrovert, although I can pretend to be one for a few hours… after that I’m absolutely knackered and need some time on my own. I’d like to think I’m quite easy-going too. I hate drama, unless it’s in a book, then I absolutely love it haha. I speak 3 languages, and if Classer wasn’t taking up quite so much space in my brain, I’d probably be trying to learn another one.

Rhys: The first thing people usually learn about me is that I love rugby. Being Welsh, I’m very familiar with the emotional rollercoaster that comes with it! Outside of that, I love bikes, especially mountain biking, and I’m always happy with a good BBQ. And in another life I would have loved to be an astronaut.

You’ve obviously known each other a long time, but building something together is a very different thing. How did the two of you meet and how did you end up doing this?

Silvia: I bet it’s no surprise if I say we met at work. I came to Cardiff from Spain through a European grant to get experience in the video sector, and Rhys was working at the same company as a developer and the rest is history really hah. We have plenty of stories from those days that we might share one day, but I think it was pretty obvious quite early on that we were both people who liked building things, using our skills and constantly learning. We’re quite relentless, to be fair. Did I actually answer the question? I feel like we’d need three hours for this one!

Rhys: I think Silvia’s right. We’ve both always liked learning and building things, and even before we met we each had our own little side projects. When we moved to London, we tried building an idea together. It didn’t really go anywhere, but I think that was probably the beginning of us realising we liked creating things as a team. Classer itself came later, when we moved to Bristol. I started getting more seriously into mountain biking, bought a cheap action camera, and quickly realised how painful it was to actually go back through all the footage afterwards.

About Classer

I’ve watched you both spend a ridiculous amount of time on this over the last few years, so I have to ask, what do your families and friends actually think about you building Classer?

Silvia: I actually try not to talk about Classer too much when I’m with family and friends. I want to enjoy that time without my brain constantly drifting back to Classer. Of course they know what we’re building and they’re really supportive, but I’m also learning not to rely too much on their validation… they’re properly biased after all.

Rhys: I’m really close with my brother, and he works in tech too, so you can imagine I probably share more with him than most people. But at the same time, we don’t really have many people around us who’ve built something from scratch, so sometimes it’s difficult to explain what that actually feels like. In general, we try not to let Classer take over every conversation and just enjoy being with family and friends without going into every little detail. But at the end of the day, Classer is such a big part of our day-to-day that it’s pretty hard not to talk about it at all.

There must have been some low points in three years of building this. Was there ever a moment where one of you seriously wanted to give up? What was happening at the time?

Silvia: I don’t think I’ve ever had a moment where I thought, that’s it, I cant’t do this, but there was one point where it genuinely took me a couple of weeks to get my energy back. We were trying to find some support through local grants, accelerators, anything really that could help us move Classer forward. There was a grant available where we live, so we had a meeting with the council about it, and it was honestly one of the most deflating conversations we’ve had.

After everything we explained about what we were building, the main thing they picked up on was a section of our website that said “coming soon.” They kept asking what that meant, and I remember thinking, from everything we’ve just told you… that’s the thing you’ve taken away from this?

It became pretty clear that they didn’t really understand the product or the kind of digital business we were trying to build. At the end, one of the suggestions was basically, “With your skills, you could be a freelancer.” And all I could think was, if I wanted to be a freelancer, I wouldn’t be sitting here asking for help to build a company. That one really got to me. Not enough to make me want to stop, but enough that for a couple of weeks I completely lost that excitement and momentum. Then eventually you pick yourself back up and carry on.

Rhys: I’ve never really thought about giving up on Classer. If anything, I’ve had the opposite feeling, I just wish I had more focused time to work on it. There’s always a day job and a million other things competing for those hours.

One of the things I find interesting about Classer is that you’re building it around your own old footage too. Is there anything you’ve rediscovered through Classer that you’d completely forgotten existed?

Silvia: Mine is from a trip to Australia with my mum and my brother. We went kayaking and somehow ended up going further than we were supposed to. The panic on all of our faces is caught on camera, it wasn’t funny at that moment but really glad I was able to rediscover it again.

Rhys: For me, it’s some of the first footage I have of mountain biking with my brother. You can really see how excited I was, which is slightly embarrassing now but it’s such a nice memory to have.

The spicy bit

Okay, I know you two well enough to know you definitely don’t agree on everything. What do you tend to clash on when it comes to Classer, and has learning to work through that changed your relationship at all?

Silvia: I don’t think it’s changed us in a bad way. If anything, I think it’s probably made us stronger. We’ve definitely had arguments around Classer though. I remember once being really picky about a colour after Rhys had just spent two days building the whole feature, and he was understandably frustrated that that was the thing I focused on. So a lot of it has been learning how to communicate better, to think about where the other person is coming from, and to remember how much work might sit behind something before reacting to the tiny detail in front of you. At this point, I feel like I’m earning a psychology master’s degree alongside building Classer haha.

Rhys: Yeah, I agree. I think a lot of it is about respecting each other’s space and also learning when to let things go. Silvia can be quite direct sometimes, as she would say, “I’m Spanish” - I can see Silvia nodding- and I’ve had to learn that it’s never coming from a bad place, it’s just a different way of communicating. I can be direct too, but probably in a more British way, a little more measured and with a few extra words around it. So I think we’ve both had to meet somewhere in the middle and learn how to disagree without taking things personally.

And be honest here… which one of you has actually been right about Classer more often?

Silvia: I’m gonna say Rhys. I have a tendency to want to try a million different things, and he’s usually the one who helps me turn those ideas into something a bit more realistic and focused.

Rhys: That’s a tricky question. My job tends to focus more on the smaller interactions and technical decisions, while Silvia is usually thinking about the bigger picture and where Classer should go next. So she’s naturally the one putting more ideas out there and seeing what sticks.

Looking back on the last three years

You’ve been doing this for nearly three years now, what has been the best part of building Classer, and what moment are you most proud of?

Silvia: For me, it was probably when we got accepted into the Accelerated Growth Programme in Wales. We’d tried so many different ways to get support, filled out so many applications, and then suddenly there was someone who actually understood the idea and saw the potential in it. I don’t think it was only about what we were going to learn from the programme. It was also that feeling of, okay… maybe this really could become something. After hearing no so many times, that little bit of validation meant a lot.

Rhys: I would say when we launched the very first version and started getting feedback from real people. It felt a bit surreal because we’d built the whole thing from scratch, no AI shortcuts back then, and suddenly people were actually downloading it, using it and telling us what they thought. I think that was the first moment Classer felt properly real to me.

If I could put you in a room with the old Silvia and Rhys, what would you tell them? What were you completely naive about, and what do you wish you’d known then?

Silvia: To be fair, I’m not sure I’d tell us anything super special, probably just stay consistent and give things enough time. But at the same time, don’t confuse consistency with stubbornness. You can start building something, realise part of it isn’t working, and need to change direction. So I think the real lesson is to keep showing up, but keep paying attention too. Stick with the problem, not necessarily the first version of the solution.

Instagram is probably a good example of that for us. We’ve tried bringing Classer back to Instagram so many times, stopped, changed the type of content, started again… and at times it definitely felt like we were just wasting time. But looking at it now, I think we needed all those attempts to understand what actually felt right for Classer. We’ve recently started again with a much clearer direction, so if you want to follow that part of the journey too, you can find us on Instagram.

Rhys: As early as possible, surround yourself with people who are building something too. It makes a huge difference having people around you who actually understand the weird problems, frustrations and little wins that come with trying to build something from scratch.

What comes next

If you could dream big, what would you love Classer to become?

Silvia: I’d love Classer to grow into something that feels bigger than just the product. In my head, there’s a physical Classer shop somewhere by the forest, where we sell our products but also have different activities, events and reasons for people to actually come and spend time there and record good memories. Almost like a little home for the community around it.

Rhys: My dream is to pay off the mortgage. Then I think I’d allow myself to dream a bit bigger.

Quick fire

Who is more impatient?

Silvia: Me!

Rhys: Silvia

Who overthinks things more?

Silvia: Rhys

Rhys: Silvia

Dream brand to partner with?

Silvia: I’m going to say Insta360, mainly because they actually reached out to us once… and then disappeared lol So I’m putting it out there again in case this somehow works. But I’ve also always loved the idea of partnering with an outdoor clothing brand. That would be a bit of a dream.

Rhys: Maybe Santa Cruz or Fox. I’m probably biased because of the mountain biking side, but seeing Classer connected with a brand I’ve followed for years would be pretty special.

A company or founder you really admire?

Silvia: Teenage Engineering

Rhys: Steve Jobs

One word for the last three years?

Silvia: Consistency

Rhys: Relentless

And one word for what comes next?

Silvia: Focus

Rhys: Sleep?