Building fintech docs from scratch

I found the job browsing LinkedIn, looking for things to do that were not software development.

Writing was not the first thing that came to mind. But I kept thinking about everything I had been doing at MbientLab, and a lot of it was writing. Docs, API references, support answers, release notes. I had been a technical writer for years without the title.

I had an offer to become a technical writer at C3.ai but I turned it down. The reason was the last interview: Clarence Chio, the CTO. I loved his intelligence and his attitude, and I wanted to work for him.

Unit21 built fraud detection and anti money laundering software, and it had just closed a $34M Series B led by Tiger Global. They were hiring for several roles on the back of it. I came in right after it closed, disclosed MbientLab in the IP paperwork on the way in, and started as the company’s only technical writer.

The plan, at the time, was that I would eventually build and lead a team of writers. That never happened.

The Work

Starting from nothing (2021)

ReadMe · OpenAPI · Swagger · Postman · Figma

There was no documentation to inherit. The only thing that existed was a three-year-old fork of somebody else’s docs theme, marked “NEEDS REVISION” and last touched in 2019, plus whatever scattered notes support and engineering had written for themselves.

ReadMe was already bought. Karen had purchased it just before I joined, so the tool was chosen for me. I did not mind. It was fun to use, and I ended up somewhere between customer and beta tester, pushing their support for things I wanted, including the newest OpenAPI spec.

I was the only writer on day one and the only writer on my last day.

The rebuild (2021 – 2022)

Information architecture · API reference · Changelog · Release notes

What I inherited was split in two: a main site and a separate /developers sub-project living alongside it. Over the following year I pulled it apart and put it back together as one thing, with product guides, an API reference and a changelog under a single roof.

The API reference was generated from our OpenAPI spec rather than hand-written, which is the only way one person keeps up with an engineering team. I owned the changelog and the release notes too.

By the time I left, it was 531 documentation pages, 292 API reference pages and 34 changelog entries. Engineers wrote none of it. All of it came through me.

There was a review process for certain features. For everything else it was a startup, and the process was: ship it.

The part that was not writing (2022 – 2023)

Blog · Customer research · Surveys

Somewhere in there the job widened. I started writing for the company blog rather than just the docs, including a piece on link analysis in AML case management.

I also did a lot of product research. Customer interviews, and a great many surveys, some of them run from my own LinkedIn account because that was the audience we could actually reach. The results went to Sam or to whichever product manager needed them.

That was the first time any of my work looked like developer advocacy rather than documentation, and it is the reason the next job was possible.

Exit

• There were two rounds of layoffs. I watched the first one happen. I was in the second.
• The company had raised a $45M Series C in 2022. Then came the part that happens to a lot of companies at that point: growth did not keep up with the story, revenue did not keep up with the growth, and the C-suite started cutting people.
• I had seen it coming and was already interviewing, but nothing was signed when it happened. Gradle came after.
• Miranda, a designer at Unit21, took over the documentation after I left.
• Clarence left that August. He was a smart, compassionate person, and my read is that the layoffs were not what he signed up for.

Takeaways

Learning about money laundering was the best part. I did not expect that. It is a genuinely fascinating subject, and getting paid to understand it properly was the thing I enjoyed most about being there.

Next time I work at a startup, I want founders with more experience. That is the single thing I would change. The product, the market and the work were all fine.

I enjoyed this tech writing thing. Unit21 was a chance to try technical writing and find out whether it was a long-term thing or a one-time thing. It turned out to be something I really liked.

People

• Clarence is the reason I took the job. I would work for him again in a heartbeat.
• Karen hired me and bought ReadMe before I arrived, which turned out to be the right call. Karen has an inherent skill for finding talent and knowing where the next big thing is going to be.
• Andrew, who I reported to after Karen. The most down-to-earth fella I ever worked for.
• Sam, who I reported to after Andrew. Sam embodies everything I respect and admire in a woman, a leader, and an entrepreneur.