rebrand-to-raise-company Feature Specification

Date: 2025-10-26 Feature: rebrand-to-raise-company Status: Complete

Overview

Complete rebrand from “Arqi” (AI-powered Investor Relations platform) to “The Raise Company” (stealth fintech startup). Transformed the website from a feature-rich marketing page with email signup to an ultra-minimalist dark landing page with just company name and contact button.

User Requirements

User requested:

1. Rebrand from Arqi to The Raise Company
2. Update positioning to stealth fintech (from investor relations)
3. Dark website design with white text
4. Minimalistic layout with logo/name and contact button only
5. Contact button should link to beste@theraisecompany.ai
6. Simple landing page suitable for Y Combinator application
7. Domain is www.theraisecompany.ai

Technical Specifications

Implementation Details

Design Approach: Complete visual redesign from colorful gradient to minimalist dark theme

• Background: Changed from purple gradient (#667eea to #764ba2) to solid black (#0a0a0a)
• Typography: Kept Inter font, simplified hierarchy
• Layout: Removed all sections except company name and contact button
• No JavaScript required (removed email form functionality)

Content Strategy: Stealth mode positioning

• Removed all feature descriptions and marketing copy
• Removed email signup form
• Removed footer with social links
• Single mailto: contact button

Files Modified/Created

Modified Files:

1. _config.yml - Updated site metadata and configuration
   • Changed title from “Arqi” to “The Raise Company”
   • Updated description to “Stealth fintech company”
   • Changed contact email to beste@theraisecompany.ai
   • Removed Twitter and LinkedIn social links
   • Updated SEO name
2. index.html - Completely simplified page structure
   • Removed tagline, description, features section, and email form
   • Replaced with minimal layout: company name + contact button
   • Contact button uses mailto: link to beste@theraisecompany.ai
3. assets/css/main.css - Complete visual redesign
   • Body background: #0a0a0a (dark)
   • Text color: #ffffff (white)
   • Logo styling: Simplified, removed gradient effects
   • Hidden: tagline, description, features, footer
   • New contact button styling: transparent background, subtle border, hover effects
   • Updated responsive breakpoints (kept 768px and 480px)
4. CNAME - Fixed typo
   • Corrected from “www.theraisecomapny.ai” to “www.theraisecompany.ai”
5. CLAUDE.md - Updated project documentation
   • Updated project overview, styling approach, content strategy
   • Documented minimal design principles
   • Updated configuration details

Key Decisions Made

1. Complete Minimalism: Decided to hide rather than delete HTML elements (using CSS display: none) to make it easy to restore features later if needed

2. No JavaScript: Removed dependency on form submission JavaScript since contact is now a simple mailto: link

3. Dark Theme: Chose pure black (#0a0a0a) rather than dark gray for maximum contrast and modern feel

4. Contact Method: Used mailto: link instead of contact form to keep implementation simple and avoid email backend setup

5. Typography: Maintained Inter font from original design for consistency with modern SaaS aesthetics

6. Responsive Design: Kept existing responsive breakpoints but simplified rules to only adjust logo size and button padding

Testing Requirements

Manual testing recommended:

• Verify company name displays correctly on all screen sizes
• Test contact button mailto: link opens email client
• Check responsive design on mobile (480px), tablet (768px), and desktop
• Verify dark theme (#0a0a0a) displays consistently across browsers
• Test hover effects on contact button
• Confirm domain routing (www.theraisecompany.ai) works with GitHub Pages

Dependencies

No new dependencies added. Existing Jekyll stack maintained:

• Jekyll 4.3.x
• jekyll-feed
• jekyll-sitemap
• jekyll-seo-tag
• Inter font from Google Fonts (loaded via layout)

Future Considerations

Potential enhancements when coming out of stealth:

1. Add company tagline or mission statement
2. Implement email signup form for waitlist/launch notifications
3. Add social media links (Twitter, LinkedIn)
4. Include team photos or founder information
5. Add “About” or “Careers” page
6. Implement analytics tracking (placeholder exists in layout)
7. Add favicon (referenced in layout but file doesn’t exist)

Implementation Notes

CSS Architecture: Used display: none strategy to hide elements:

• .tagline { display: none; }
• .description { display: none; }
• .features { display: none; }
• .footer { display: none; }

This approach allows easy restoration of sections by removing the display rule.

Color Palette:

• Background: #0a0a0a (near-black)
• Text: #ffffff (white)
• Button border: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2) (20% white)
• Button hover border: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4) (40% white)
• Button hover background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.05) (5% white)

Layout Structure:

<div class="hero">
  <div class="container">
    <div class="hero-content">
      <div class="logo"><h1>The Raise Company</h1></div>
      <div class="cta-section">
        <a href="mailto:beste@theraisecompany.ai" class="contact-button">Contact</a>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Domain Configuration:

• CNAME file points to www.theraisecompany.ai
• GitHub Pages will serve site at this domain once DNS is configured
• Repository baseurl kept as /raise-ai-marketing-website for GitHub Pages path routing