Marie Martens

Marie Martens is co-founder of Tally, the form builder she runs with her partner Filip Minev. It was their second startup, she wrote on Tally's blog.

Flying Home From Asia Into Lockdown

Martens was a marketing manager at a digital product studio in Belgium. The couple's first idea, Hotspot, came while traveling in Mexico: a platform connecting hotels with travel influencers. She quit her job in January 2020 and flew to Asia that March to work as a digital nomad. COVID-19 hit, and after two weeks they flew back to Belgium and into lockdown.

Building the Form Tool They Needed

By July they had lost half their clients. Organizing a fundraiser that donated hotel nights to healthcare workers, they again struggled to find a form tool. "Google Forms is very functional but doesn't look great," she wrote, and the others hit a paywall fast. In August 2020 they decided to pivot and build Tally. On Product Hunt in March 2021 they led for 23 hours before losing the top spot.