Hours Back · A free build contest for Coda and Superhuman Docs teams
Win a free build for the workflow costing your team hours.
Three teams win $30,000 in Coda and AI work: $15,000, $10,000 and $5,000. Everyone who finishes gets a written diagnosis of what it costs you and what to fix first, win or not.
Free. 30 seconds to start.
- Closes Nov 6
“Teams keep adding tools on top of processes nobody fixed, and the hours never come back. I'm fed up with that, so we're fixing three of them for free.”
Scott Weir, Founder, SimplaDocs
What happens after you enter
You get something back either way.
Your diagnosis: normally $500 to $750, free with every finished entry.
- 1
Start your entryToday, 30 seconds
Your name, your email and the workflow in one line.
- 2
Finish your entry5 to 8 minutes, by Nov 6
Who it affects, how often, and what done looks like. Best guesses are fine, and we never need doc access.
See all the questions first
Register
- First name
- Work email
- Which kind of entry is this?
- The thing costing our team hours is…
The problem
- What does it look like day to day?
- How does it work today, and what breaks?
- How many people touch it?
- About how many hours a week does this cost your team in total?
The win
- What would "done" look like, in numbers?
- Where do you see the opportunity?
- Which tools are involved?
- Which other tools?
- A screen recording or screenshots of how it works today
About you (not scored)
- Company
- Your role
- Company size
- Are you a current SimplaDocs client?
- This entry is outside any active SOW we have with you.
- If you win, what can we publish?
- Who would sign off on fixing this?
- Is this on your 2027 plan?
- How did you hear about Hours Back?
- Phone
- 3
Get your diagnosis by email1 to 2 weeks after you finish
One of our builders writes back with what to fix first, what it costs you a year, and how the workflow runs today. Share a copy of your doc (dummy data is fine) and we'll also find what's slowing it down.
Real client project. Rates and volumes are examples.Example diagnosis you'll get
Permit application review
Time per application
Before6 hrsAfterjust over 1 hrWhat the finished build delivered: 250+ hours in a few months
Fix this first
Replace the PDF and the re-typing with a form that writes straight to the table
Saves about 2.5 hrs per application
What it's worthAbout $45,000 a year (example rates)
Time per application
Before6 hrsAfterjust over 1 hrWhat the finished build delivered: 250+ hours in a few months
Fix, highest impact firstEst. savings- High impact2.5 hrs
Replace the PDF and the re-typing with a form that writes straight to the table
- High impact1.5 hrs
Notify the next reviewer automatically when it’s their turn
- Medium impact0.5 hrs
Give each role its own view, so nobody overwrites anyone
- Medium impact0.5 hrs
Replace status emails with a live dashboard for the supervisor
5 hrs per application × 15 applications a month × $50 an hour (example rates)
Total saved$3,750 a month · about $45,000 a year
Applicant emails a PDF formSomeone retypes it into the tracking doc
Typed in by hand3 reviewers check it, one after another
Nobody knows whose turn it isApplication complete?Supervisor approves
Status chased by emailApplicant hears backAll of this happens in one shared doc, so a dozen people keep overwriting each other's work.
Optional. Share a copy with dummy data after you finish, and we'll find what slows it down.
Time to open the doc
14 s2 s
now → after fixes
Quick wins fix
75%
of the slowdown
Where the slowdown comes from
Formulas filtering whole tables · 40%
27 formulas recalculate on every edit
Fix: Look up only the rows they need
CriticalQuick winOne doc for every team · 25%
Everyone loads everything
Fix: Split into smaller connected docs
CriticalBigger changeCross-doc syncs pulling every row · 22%
6 synced tables, all rows and columns
Fix: Sync only what each team uses
HighQuick winClosed applications in live tables · 13%
48,000 rows, 81% already closed
Fix: Archive what’s closed
MediumQuick win
- 4
Winners announcedAround Nov 13
Three teams win builds of $15,000, $10,000 and $5,000. We build them with you from late November to mid-January.
Example diagnosis you'll get
Permit application review
Time per application
What the finished build delivered: 250+ hours in a few months
Fix this first
Replace the PDF and the re-typing with a form that writes straight to the table
Saves about 2.5 hrs per application
What it's worthAbout $45,000 a year (example rates)
Time per application
What the finished build delivered: 250+ hours in a few months
- High impact2.5 hrs
Replace the PDF and the re-typing with a form that writes straight to the table
- High impact1.5 hrs
Notify the next reviewer automatically when it’s their turn
- Medium impact0.5 hrs
Give each role its own view, so nobody overwrites anyone
- Medium impact0.5 hrs
Replace status emails with a live dashboard for the supervisor
5 hrs per application × 15 applications a month × $50 an hour (example rates)
Total saved$3,750 a month · about $45,000 a year
Someone retypes it into the tracking doc
Typed in by hand3 reviewers check it, one after another
Nobody knows whose turn it isSupervisor approves
Status chased by emailAll of this happens in one shared doc, so a dozen people keep overwriting each other's work.
Optional. Share a copy with dummy data after you finish, and we'll find what slows it down.
Time to open the doc
14 s2 s
now → after fixes
Quick wins fix
75%
of the slowdown
Where the slowdown comes from
Formulas filtering whole tables · 40%
27 formulas recalculate on every edit
Fix: Look up only the rows they need
CriticalQuick winOne doc for every team · 25%
Everyone loads everything
Fix: Split into smaller connected docs
CriticalBigger changeCross-doc syncs pulling every row · 22%
6 synced tables, all rows and columns
Fix: Sync only what each team uses
HighQuick winClosed applications in live tables · 13%
48,000 rows, 81% already closed
Fix: Archive what’s closed
MediumQuick win
Three ways to enter
Which one sounds like your team?
Fix it
Your doc is slow and people work around it. It worked, so everyone piled more onto it.
We rebuild it so it’s fast again.
For example
- The client tracker everyone works around
- A project doc that takes forever to load
- The CRM half the team stopped updating
Build it
The workflow you always meant to build, like an approval that still lives in email threads.
We build it in Coda or Superhuman Docs, with your team.
For example
- Approvals stuck in email threads
- Client onboarding run from a checklist
- Budget requests living in spreadsheets
Automate it
The task someone does by hand every week, like the Monday report.
We clean up the process first, then build a Superhuman Go agent that drafts while a person approves.
For example
- The Monday pipeline report
- Weekly status updates for leadership
- Copying data between tools
Not sure which fits? Pick the closest. We judge the problem, not the label. More than one workflow? Enter each one.
Enter my workflow now →What three teams win
The build that gets your hours back.
$30,000 in Coda and AI build work, free to the winners.
Gold · 1stGold (1st place)
$15,000
A rebuild or new system more than one team runs on.
Silver · 2ndSilver (2nd place)
$10,000
One workflow, start to finish.
Bronze · 3rdBronze (3rd place)
$5,000
One focused fix, done properly.
- $15,000: A rebuild or new system more than one team runs on.
- $10,000: One workflow, start to finish.
- $5,000: One focused fix, done properly.
Every build includes, late November to mid-January
- Kickoff with your team
- Your before-number, measured
- Built in your workspace
- Handover and docs
- You own all of it
Scott Weir, Founder, SimplaDocs
Why we're doing this
We've worked with more than 250 teams, and most of them tell us the same thing. They have more tools and more AI than ever, and they're working more hours than before.
Usually a new tool or agent went on top of a process nobody fixed first. The hours, and the money, never come back.
That's what I'm fed up with. Coda, Superhuman and AI can give people real time back, with their partners, their kids, or on a bike, like I do. Hours Back is our effort to prove it.
So we're doing it in public. No build of ours starts without a before-number, and your before and after becomes our proof, named or anonymized, your choice. That's why it's free.
What it looks like when it's done
Fix it · U.S. state environmental agency
Reviewing an application went from 6 hours to just over 1. Over 250 hours saved in a few months.
“From all of the vendors I’ve worked with, Simpladocs brings me the highest ROI.”CIO
Build it · Global management consultancy
Budgeting for 20+ products moved out of spreadsheets and email threads into one source of truth.
“Instead of chasing updates, we were reviewing decisions.”Finance & Planning Lead
Automate it · Nowadays Media
Outreach emails that took 4 minutes each now send in seconds.
“It’s one person doing the job of at least three after the automations.”Kaspar Povilanskas, Co-Founder
#1 Coda and Superhuman Docs Expert Partner · 250+ teams · See all our work
Good fit
- One workflow costs your team hours every week.
- You can say what done looks like, even roughly.
- Your team works in Coda or Superhuman Docs.
Not a fit
- A quick formula question. Scott's YouTube channel is faster for that.
- Something that has to ship this month, since winning builds run from late November to mid-January.
Need sign-off first?
A one-page brief for your manager or finance team: what it costs, what you commit to, how judging works and what happens to your data.
Questions
Free to enter and free to win. No doc access. Best guesses are fine.
Usually within 1 to 2 weeks of finishing your entry. If we have questions while we write it, we'll reach out.
Only our judges and builders read entries. We delete them 12 months after the program closes, and you can ask us to delete yours anytime.
No, the form is enough. If you'd like a deeper diagnosis, you can share a copy with dummy data after you finish your entry, and we'll email you the steps. Winners share access under our standard confidentiality terms.
Nothing to enter, and nothing for the winners. Winners get a normal statement of work with every line priced, then a 100% program award, so you pay nothing and procurement has a clean record.
You do. It lives in your workspace, and we hand it over with documentation. If you want support after that, we'll quote it, and there's no obligation.
We're publishing the before-and-after numbers. Your build becomes the evidence, named or anonymized, and you choose which.
Yes, with work that's outside any engagement you have with us today.
Yes. Teams anywhere can enter, except where the law doesn't allow it.
You still get the written diagnosis and a quote.
On merit, never chance. Two builders score every entry on their own first. Business impact 30%, feasibility 25%, fit for Coda, Superhuman Docs and Go agents 20%, a before and after we can measure 15%, and how useful it is to other teams 10%. Company size never changes your score.
A separate team workshop, earned by sharing Hours Back. Share your link and earn points when people complete an entry through it. It opens October 20, and points never affect who wins the builds.
No, SimplaDocs runs it.
Entries close November 6.
About 30 seconds to register and 5 to 8 minutes to finish.
