It's been about two months now. And right on cue, I've found myself doing that thing where I just... stare out the window. Not because I'm stuck—more like I'm circling the end of a project, and my brain starts looking for something to chew on. Usually, that's when the anxiety kicks in: Did I make the right choices? Did I build the right thing?
But this time feels different.
After two years of living out the Tolkien quote—"Not all who wander are lost"—I've realized something: there are no "right" decisions. Just decisions. And then, the ones we leave unmade. You either pick a path and keep moving, or you freeze at the crossroads, stuck in place and way out of key. There's no neutral in this game.
The Graveyard of Good Ideas
This is the first time in over a decade that I've stepped off the hamster wheel long enough to take a real breath. It's given me a chance to look back.
Over the past two years, I've built close to a dozen different little apps. All technically "done" (ADHD-style done, anyway) and stuck in some kind of weird MVP liminal space, mostly collecting dust. Some are now in other people's hands. But, most are sitting in GitHub repos or chilling on powered-down servers in my basement.
There was a to-do app for kids with ADHD—my own kids used it during late COVID and return to school. the app was my re-entry point after a long dev break. Then came an AI-powered soccer coaching tool. Less of a startup play, more of a geek-out project for this rec league coach who had an itch that needed scratching. It automated playing time, balanced lineups, adjusted for performance, even factored in weather and cardiovascular strain by age to ensure kids weren't over exerting themselves in the heat of summer.
Side note: If your kid's under 11 and playing soccer in 30°C+ heat, they shouldn't be on the field for more than 8 minutes at a time. Seriously. I'm obviously not a doctor—but the science is out there. Anyway... I digress. (#ADHDLife)
This Time Feels Different
This new app? It's something else entirely.
Three straight months of consistent, focused, daily work. Up at 5 a.m., five hours of deep coding, then breaking for more fuel and exercise. Then back at it.
Time vanishes. Ideas land clean. Code and design flow together. It's the most well-lubricating zero-to-one journey I've ever been a part of, and despite the rough edges I'm launching with, I'm proud of it.
Actually, I'm especially proud of the rough edges. Because, as hundreds before me have said, if you're not at least a little embarrassed by your first launch, you probably waited too long to ship. I'm plenty of embarrassed. Just enough embarrassed that version two is already in the can and ready to go in a couple of weeks.
Three (Re)Learned Lessons
1. The MVP bar is higher now.
If you haven't built from scratch recently, you might be underestimating just how much user expectation has changed. What passed for an MVP in 2010 wouldn't make it out of beta testing today for most startups.
Yes, launch before you're ready—but don't skip the fundamentals. If your audience expects shortform video and you're not including it, you're leaving growth on the table.
2. You're still guessing.
User interviews. Jobs-To-Be-Done. Analytics dashboards. Great tools. But they give you clues, not conclusions. It's still a lot of guesswork. It always will be.
If you're building anything truly new, you're still guessing. Ford's "faster horses" quote? Still true. Insight isn't a roadmap. It's just... better guesswork.
3. Never go full Moses.
Explore. Experiment. Wander a bit. But build guardrails. Wandering aimlessly in product land can turn into a 40-year desert walk — and unlike Moses, most of us don't get 120 years to work with (his apparent age at time of death).
Modern life average? Around 71. Losing 40 years is more than half your life's work. Don't do give that time up wandering out of key and never finding yourself back at the root note, forgetting that the point is to find a harmonic resolution.
Where This Is All Headed
Honestly? No idea if this app's going to go anywhere. Statistically speaking, probably not. And I'm good with that. I built it with purprose. I built it to help my kids practice communication skills while sitting around the dinner table. That's been a hit in my family, providing a lot of laughs and life-long memories.
That's all I need.
What's Next Up? Pivot Points
I may write about the value of building pivot points into your app as you go. They show up naturally, but only if you're looking for them and keeping them in mind. And when they do? A small turn at the proper moment can change everything.
Eventually, you're going to hit a real fork in the road for your app. You won't get to keep going straight. You'll have to pick: left or right because you can't do both. Why not have those path's in mind as you build.
Until I get around writing that, take care. And if you're at your own crossroads, maybe try picking something at random. Flip the coin and evaluate how you fill the moment the coin hit the ground Picking something. Anything. Just get moving again.
