Internal turned the neglected admin console into a product: quicker to build, harder to abuse, and easy enough for operations teams to shape. Four years and $16 million later, its shutdown supplied the industry with a second lesson - the tool behind your tools still needs an exit plan.

Relay.app made business automation feel less like plumbing and more like teamwork. Its shutdown leaves a useful product lesson - and a September 14 deadline for paying customers to export everything.