Ekselio – Loveable for finance workflows (local first)
Hi everyone, I am KD - Back in my college days, I dabbled with coding, learned the basics, HTML, CSS etc. but somehow I ended up in Finance which consumed the next 20 years. Then, during covid I picked up coding again, learned react, typescript, etc - even built a rudimentary site - and then came the chatgpt moment, followed by Claude etc.So, as a side project, considering that I had spent 20 years in finance and M&A I started building Ekselio, loveable for finance workflows.Differently from other vibe coding tools, this is local first - meaning the workflows are orchestrated by the LLM based on the file schema but then the execution happens in the browser - the cool thing is that you can see the canvas, the previews of each node, and the code base (SQl) - see the Canvas tab.That said I did include a home tab, which is more of a visual, mainly because people think it's easier to relate to how folks operate, although I know finance and accounting folks usually like the workflow and full transparency - the other thing is that once you create a workflow you can save it and then next month,you can just click Run and it runs it again with no LLM tokes involved - so the infrastructure is minimal.Everything can be exported in an excel data pack with M code in case someone would want to reproduce - think Audit ready. And, I also connected to quickbooks on line so someone can directly pull in and manipulate their financials live - I also connected to Fred which carries literally 800k series in terms of macro economic data - i.e. oil prices, inflation, CPI etc and finally to stocks.I am hoping people find holes in the architecture or any ideas to make this flow a little bit better. It is in progress so if you run into bugs let me know. Considering that I am using my own API key, I have put a wall in case people overuse it but DM me if you would like to continue using, I can turn off the wall for you - hoping to keep that to a small number of users if I can and wil
FL score
out of 100
Verdict
high confidence
Competition
No competitor data yet
Trend
No signal yet
A local-first workflow builder for finance that runs LLM-orchestrated tasks in the browser, built by a 20-year finance veteran who can code.
The pain
The gap
Build angle
Strengths
- Builder has 20 years of finance domain knowledge and understands actual workflows, not theoretical ones.
- Local-first execution means no per-run token costs, which is a real cost advantage over competitors.
- QuickBooks and FRED integrations are specific and valuable for the target audience.
- Audit-ready Excel export with M code is a genuine differentiator for regulated finance teams.
- Working prototype with transparent canvas and node previews shows technical execution.
Risks
- Unclear if finance teams will adopt a new tool when they already use QuickBooks, Excel, and Zapier.
- No articulated pricing model or go-to-market strategy beyond Hacker News.
- Solo builder scaling to support customers, handle integrations, and maintain infrastructure is a bottleneck.
- Competitive threat from Microsoft Power Automate, Zapier, and Airtable all moving into finance workflows.
- API key wall and token limits suggest the business model is not sustainable or thought through.
- Product positioning is vague. It is unclear if this is for accountants, FP&A analysts, or CFOs.
- No evidence of customer discovery or validation that the problem is worth solving at scale.
Fly Labs Method
Is the pain real, is there a gap, is it the right time, can one person build it.
- Problem clarity
- 75
- Solution gap
- 65
- Willingness to pay
- 55
- Buildability
- 52
Finance teams have real workflow pain, but unclear if they will pay for a local-first LLM tool when spreadsheets and existing software work, and the solo builder faces scaling challenges.
Value Equation
Dream outcome and how likely it feels, against the time and effort it costs.
The problem is specific and the builder has domain expertise, but the willingness to pay is uncertain because finance teams already have entrenched tools and the value prop over Zapier or Power Automate is not obvious.
One-Person Business
Curiosity pull, identity fit, and a path from free value to paid for a solo creator.
A finance expert building a technical solution shows rare skill stacking, but the market size is constrained by the niche audience and the go-to-market strategy is unclear beyond hoping users find it on Hacker News.
Viral Frameworks
Hook strength, shareability, and how cheaply it can be tested.
The local-first architecture is technically sound and differentiated, but the product lacks clear positioning against competitors like Airtable, Power Automate, and Zapier, and the monetization model is undefined.
Builder Lens
Evidence the problem exists, timing, defensibility, and a model that fits on a napkin.
The builder has deep domain knowledge and shipped a working prototype, but the idea lacks a clear narrative about why this solves a problem better than existing tools, and the business model is not articulated.
Five lenses, one composite. How scoring works
The angle
No market research recorded for this idea yet.
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