COMMUNICATION
COLLABORATION
WATCH DEMO
COMMUNICATION
COLLABORATION
WATCH DEMO
– Michail Kollewijn
Communication can make or break a business. When teams aren’t aligned, even the smallest projects can spiral into chaos.
For Michail Kollewijn, a CEO leading not one but two companies, this wasn’t just a theory — it was reality.
Michail is the founder behind:
Between the two, his teams handle everything from adapting content for global audiences by translating and localizing, to managing manuscripts, proofreading, and all other technical aspects of book publishing.
As their teams grew, managing communication, both internal and external, became more complex. That’s when the search for a reliable, centralized solution led them to Pumble.
In this customer story, we’ll explore how Michail and his teams overcame their communication challenges, why they chose Pumble as their communication hub, and how it transformed the way they collaborate every day.
Let’s dive in.
Like many growing companies, Transcre8 and PublishMe faced a familiar challenge — finding a centralized communication platform that worked well both for internal communication and client-facing interactions.
Also, with a remote team of 15 to 20 people, spread across different projects and languages, they needed a platform that could organize discussions and keep everyone aligned.
As Michail put it, a reliable communication hub is necessary:
“Having a centralized communication platform is always a necessity.”
They were also trying to find a tool with an acceptable price point:
“At the time, we also had another, almost more important, question that we were trying to find an answer to — the price point. As soon as you start scaling the team beyond 2–5 team members, those monthly recurring costs start adding up.”
The problem with many tools on the market was that they either came with steep recurring costs or packed in features that Transcre8 and PublishMe simply didn’t need.
What they needed was a lightweight, reliable, and cost-effective solution — a platform that would streamline communication without becoming another obstacle in their workflow.
All-in-one communication platformThe search for the right tool wasn’t short.
Michail and his team spent time researching, reading blogs and reviewing comparison articles about different platforms:
“I think it was a lot of reading blogs and doing research — those comparative articles. Eventually, Pumble came up, and we narrowed down the search, comparing Pumble with others and reading reviews. Then, we did a trial and realized we didn’t need a lot of the fancy features.”
Instead of complicating their workflow, Pumble fit perfectly with their existing setup:
“We’ve optimized a lot of the processes using Google Drive and Sheets, etc. But for groups and channels, and guest channels for clients, Pumble is very valuable.”
Another factor when choosing Pumble was its simplicity:
“I was used to working with Slack, which has a ton of integrations you can opt into. But, a lot of options can make it almost more difficult to define a clear work process. I like to keep things very light and basic, with the idea of less is more or having a lean business model that makes it easier to pivot, adapt, and change, or evolve.”
For Transcre8 and PublishMe, Pumble was not only one of the most affordable platforms they tested, but also one of the easiest to use:
“For chatting, document sharing, keeping tabs on progress, etc., Pumble has served us really well, and it continues to be one of the easiest to use and cheapest options I’ve seen out there that has practically everything the competition offers as well.”
To sum up, the price and ease of use is what drew Michail in, but also what made him stay:
“So, the price point and ease of use were practically the main deciding factors for us to start using Pumble. And, because it continued to tick those boxes, we stuck with it.”
Michail describes Pumble as a tool his team uses daily for various tasks:
“On a day-to-day basis, we primarily use it for:
Here’s how Pumble’s core features make a difference for Transcre8 and PublishMe.
For a company that operates in multiple languages and works on different projects simultaneously, Pumble’s channels quickly became indispensable.
They allow Transcre8 and PublishMe to separate conversations by team, project, language, or topic:
“For our internal teams, we have language channels — we have the French team, the Spanish team, and the German team, in their respective channels. We also have Marketing in separate channels.”
Beyond productivity, channels also foster community. Michail’s favorite channels are the ones where team members can talk about day-to-day life:
“I guess the favorite channel is always the one where everyone can just talk about their day-to-day life because it’s the most approachable, the most humane. It’s the one where you would just congratulate someone on their birthday, etc. — the one that takes you out of the daily grind.”
This balance of structured work channels and informal spaces for team bonding helps the team stay both focused and connected.
Organize your team communicationClient work is central to translation companies, and Pumble’s guest access feature is a powerful way to connect with clients and streamline external communication.
For Transcre8 and PublishMe, client communication is easy with Pumble:
“Once negotiations are clear and completed, we onboard our customers to our internal dashboard for the purpose of making sales reports available each month, negotiating contracts, sending manuscripts, etc. And then, we invite them to our work channel on Pumble, where we introduce relevant team members or project managers who will oversee the project.”
This direct line of communication helps eliminate delays and keeps projects moving smoothly:
“Guest channels were a nice little addition to our workflow that we didn’t anticipate. They make it really easy to invite an author or a group of authors to a certain work channel and have a direct line of communication.”
For Transcre8, guest access in Pumble makes it easy to communicate with clients, turning what could be siloed updates into real-time collaboration.
Add guests to your Pumble workspaceWith fast-moving projects and clients expecting real-time updates, being tied to a desk isn’t always an option.
That’s why Pumble’s mobile app has become an essential part of Michail’s toolkit:
“It’s also good that you guys have an app. It’s good and bad: it means that work follows me everywhere, but it also means that you’re available every minute.”
Although Michial jokes about the double-edged sword of constant connectivity, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
Pumble’s mobile app ensures that no matter where team members are — in a meeting, commuting, or working remotely — they can stay in sync, respond to updates, and keep clients satisfied.
Stay connected — use PumbleFor Michail and his teams, adopting Pumble solved a critical issue — finding a centralized communication platform that was both affordable and reliable.
Pumble has become an integral part of how they operate, with:
Instead of juggling multiple tools or paying for expensive apps with features they didn’t need, Transcre8 and PublishMe trust Pumble — a lean, flexible solution that fits their needs perfectly.
As Michail puts it, being able to reach his whole team is invaluable:
“Being able to just reach everyone at the same time is the most valuable feature to us.”
With Pumble, the teams at Transcre8 and PublishMe have a reliable tool to support all their communication and collaboration needs.
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