Follow the Gospel

Me™

A little less than a year ago, I started work on a web application for broadcast production. The idea had been in mind for awhile; something I envisioned while interning for a local news station. My goal was (and is) to solve the logistical issues with managing broadcast production (for those in the industry/nerdy enough, you’ll understand the scale of the problem). How production teams work together, how information is shared, and most importantly: how they get that information.

In a bit of a blur and with no previous knowledge of building applications or products, I blindly put together some spur of the moment ideas into a google doc. What is this “thing” I want to make? What are the features? How will it work. I think back now to that initial excitement and it makes me smile. Running around frantically, googling for competitors. “I know people have done this before, but have they done it like this?” I felt a bit silly, but at the same time, I felt like I had struck gold.

For a few weeks, I carried the idea around and let it marinate in the back of my mind. “Is this really possible,” I’d asked myself. I don’t even know how to develop (I’m a designer and the extent of my coding abilities are fixated on the front-end)! After a few weeks, I decided I had to do something. In a bit of a frenzy while grabbing breakfast, I hacked together a quick post about the idea and put it on Forrst. I explained what I’d like to do, what I knew how to do, and what I needed help with. In retrospect, this was the smartest thing I’ve ever done (sidebar: if you’re a founder and you’re looking for a co-founder, I highly recommend reaching out to any designer/developer communities you’re apart of).

I received more responses than I’d expected. Following a handful of email exchanges, I’d organized a team to work on the idea and we set up a collab site. In what I’ve now realized was my first brush with managing teams, I struggled to get things started. Everyone seemed excited, though, I was having trouble getting papers signed (I’d put together an NDA, something I’ve realized is pretty silly in most cases nowadays), responses to ideas, etc. After about two weeks of dead air, I was about to give up. Nobody was responding and interest seemed to be resting a hair above nil. At the end of that week, I left for vacation and put the idea aside for a bit.

The same day I returned from vacation, I had an email from a guy showing an interest in the project (a glimmer of hope!). Little did I know: this was the beginning. Much like the other developers I talked to, we shot a few emails back and forth sharing ideas and discussed how to get started. Finally and with surprisingly little trouble, we got started. As a quick note, I want to thank Alex (now my co-founder) for helping me to build out my vision for this product. It’s been a lot of fun and I’m extremely thankful for him coming on board.

Ten months on, we’re still working hard. During this time, I’ve learned a lot about business, relationships, and design (and in the grand scheme of things, it blows my mind how little that “lot” actually is). I quit my job, built a small design business, and most importantly: I’ve kept working on the application. We’ve still got a bit of work to do, but we’re getting close.

While we’ve been working to wrap up these last few bits, I’ve been reflecting on the past year and what I’ve learned. What I’ve realized is that you have to do things your way. There’s a myriad tutorials, talks, essays, and books that can “guide” you, but ultimately, doing what you feel best, is best. The reason I make this point is that I feel there are a lot of “first timers” out there just like me who can’t make heads or tails of what to do. Should I release an MVP? Is funding important to me? Do I need to move to San Francisco?

A lot of people will guide in you in one direction or the other (and in some instances, make you feel pretty crummy about not taking their advice), but remember: this is about you. This is your dream, this is your vision, this is what makes you happy. Yes, your customers matter. Yes, there are people who’ve done more than you. But when all is said and done, in failure or success, wouldn’t it be nice to say “I did it my way?” I certainly think so and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished thus far. I hope the time I’ve spent working on this application will convert to a successful business, but if not, who cares? I’ve learned more than I ever would have taking the usual route and whatever I do in the future will be supported by that. Onward ho.