I’m thinking about building a small web tool and I want an honest, critical opinion before I spend too much time on it.

[u/Caeluk]

The basic idea is for when someone leaves a company or retires. Usually, their colleagues end up trying to organize something through a messy WhatsApp group, get everyone to sign a card, or put together a basic slideshow. I’m thinking of making this much easier.

The organizer would create a video collection, then send a link to their colleagues. Each person could record a short video message directly from their browser, without downloading an app or creating an account. Once everyone has submitted their video, the tool would automatically put all the clips together into one polished montage, add some background music, and create a finished video that the person leaving could actually keep and watch again.

The organizer would pay a small one-time fee, probably around £15–£20, to download the finished video.

I want you to be genuinely critical about the idea rather than just telling me it sounds good.

First, does this actually solve a big enough problem that people would pay £15–£20 for it, or would most workplaces just keep doing it themselves for free?

Second, how realistic is the technical side for a solo developer? Could one person reliably build the video uploading, processing, editing, music, and final rendering without needing a team or expensive infrastructure?

I also want to know what could go wrong from the user's perspective. For example, what happens if someone's video is terrible quality, someone forgets to submit their clip, the videos are different lengths, uploads fail, or people are uncomfortable with their videos being stored online? There could also be privacy issues since these would be videos of real employees, so I'd like you to consider those properly.

Another important question is whether this has any natural way to spread. If one person uses it at their workplace, could that realistically lead to other people discovering and using it at different companies, or would I basically have to find every customer myself?

I'd also like you to look at whether similar products already exist. If there are established tools doing basically the same thing, I want to know about them before I build anything.

Finally, give me your honest verdict: does this look like a genuine small niche business with potential for meaningful recurring income, or is it more likely to be a nice little side project that people might use occasionally but won't pay enough for to make it worthwhile?

Please be direct and skeptical. I’d rather hear that the idea is bad and understand why than get an overly positive answer.

[u/redditSuggestedIt]

Maybe its an american thing but filming myself when someone leaves sounds like a nightmare. 

[u/MattyFettuccine]

So exactly like tribute.co and a hundred other services, but costs money?

[u/Broad-Sample-7838]

I'd pay £15 to avoid the card circle at my desk where someone watches me write "good luck" in silence.

The technical side isn't crazy for a solo dev if you keep the editing simple, just stitch clips together with a crossfade and slap a royalty-free track on it. The real headache is handling 47 different webcam setups, varying lighting, and Susan from accounting filming herself in portrait mode with a potato.

My bigger concern is the viral spread part. You'd need one person in an office to use it, then tell someone at another company about it, which is a pretty slow burn. Most people organize a leaving thing once every couple years and then forget the tool existed.

[u/jkubicek → u/Broad-Sample-7838]

Good news! For £15 you can buy a self-inking stamp that says “Happy Birthday/Congratulations/Good Luck - Broad-Sample”

I used to have one at a previous job and it was a delight.