We started with a clipboard on a kiln.
In 2022 Maren Østby was running Clay Collective PDX, a 14-wheel community studio on SE Division Street. Every firing was tracked on a clipboard taped to the kiln room door, and every month ended with her matching that clipboard to a pile of Venmo payments.
Theo Achebe was one of her members, and a backend engineer. He built a small app so members could log their pieces from a phone. Within a year three other Portland studios were asking to use it, and Kilnbook became a company.
What we believe
Studios are not gyms
Generic booking tools do not know what a bisque load is. We build for the way clay actually moves through a studio.
Members should see the queue
Half the questions at a studio front desk are "is my bowl out yet?" Kilnbook answers that one before anyone has to ask.
Small team, real support
We are nine people. Four of us throw every week, and support is answered by people who have loaded a kiln.
The team
Kilnbook is based in Portland, Oregon, with teammates in Asheville and Leeds. We are bootstrapped and profitable, and we plan to stay that way.
Want to work with us? We are not hiring right now, but we always read notes from potters who write code. Say hello.