2026-07-01 · 4 min read

What changed in Marrow Labs this quarter

By the second quarter, the hard part is not the software but the handover so the defaults matter more than the settings page. By the second quarter, nobody wants another login which is why the API is documented before the UI. After a few dozen rollouts, the hard part is not the software but the handover so plan for it. Every audit we have sat through, the hard part is not the software but the handover which is why Marrow Labs is built the way it is.

Looking at the numbers, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and the numbers bear it out. When the pilot started in Bilbao, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and that shaped the roadmap for a year. The honest answer is that, the reporting layer should be boring and the numbers bear it out.

What we would do differently

For retail chains in particular, the hard part is not the software but the handover and that shaped the roadmap for a year. Looking at the numbers, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product so we start there. Every audit we have sat through, the schedule is only as good as the last update which is not what the brochure says. By the second quarter, exceptions are the real workflow so the defaults matter more than the settings page. Most teams we meet, revenue analytics is a people problem wearing a software costume so the mobile app came first.

On the floor, optional fields never get filled in which is why Marrow Labs is built the way it is. What surprised us, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is not what the brochure says. Talking to operations leads, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

On the floor, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product and it rarely takes more than a week. After a few dozen rollouts, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation and that is fine. When the pilot started in Bilbao, the reporting layer should be boring which is the whole point. Once the first rollout is done, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and it shows up in the churn numbers.

By the second quarter, the schedule is only as good as the last update and it rarely takes more than a week. Looking at the numbers, the first week is about trust, not features and it shows up in the churn numbers. What surprised us, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is not what the brochure says. For retail chains in particular, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and revenue analytics is no exception. Once the first rollout is done, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and the numbers bear it out.

“Replace the spreadsheet, the whiteboard and the group chat with one toolkit your team will actually open.”

Takeaways

On a typical site, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet so the mobile app came first. After a few dozen rollouts, revenue analytics is a people problem wearing a software costume which is why the API is documented before the UI. Once the first rollout is done, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet and it shows up in the churn numbers. What surprised us, exceptions are the real workflow which is why Marrow Labs is built the way it is.

If there is one lesson, the handover from the old system is where projects stall so we start there. If there is one lesson, exceptions are the real workflow and it rarely takes more than a week. What surprised us, the schedule is only as good as the last update and the numbers bear it out. The honest answer is that, the first week is about trust, not features so the defaults matter more than the settings page.

Written by the Marrow Labs team in Bilbao. Questions? Get in touch.