My new experiment: creating something with zero intention of making money.
That's not 100% true. I would love for this to make money some day. Like, tons of money. Fuck you money! And while I could share a few narratives where that happens -- they do cross my mind -- it's not part of the plan per se.
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I think if I create something genuinely useful, that I personally use on a weekly basis, it's going to be a success. Why? To start, it's much easier to be obsessed with a creation you personally use all the time. When I'm obsessed with something, I'm going to make it great. If fits into my life, there's a non-zero chance it will fit into the lives of a few other people. A community, perchance? 🤓
It's way harder to build a great community than it is to build great software. I've built my fair share of great software. If you build it, they won't necessarily come. The goal of this experiment is to create something for a community of one: me. Then share it with folks. Hopefully some are like me. If that builds a community, we have a key ingredient to (internet) success.
That's not 100% true. I would love for this to make money some day. Like, tons of money. Fuck you money! And while I could share a few narratives where that happens -- they do cross my mind -- it's not part of the plan per se.
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I think if I create something genuinely useful, that I personally use on a weekly basis, it's going to be a success. Why? To start, it's much easier to be obsessed with a creation you personally use all the time. When I'm obsessed with something, I'm going to make it great. If fits into my life, there's a non-zero chance it will fit into the lives of a few other people. A community, perchance? 🤓
It's way harder to build a great community than it is to build great software. I've built my fair share of great software. If you build it, they won't necessarily come. The goal of this experiment is to create something for a community of one: me. Then share it with folks. Hopefully some are like me. If that builds a community, we have a key ingredient to (internet) success.
Now let me share why (and what) I'm creating!
The big simple vision: I'm trying to create the best conditions for my kids to love playing sports.
They love playing baseball, basketball and soccer right now. I'd love to get them into lacrosse. And I assume that they, like me, will play just about every sport under the sun in one way or another. And they'll invent new sports on the fly, just having fun with friends.
This love is important to me. It's a love I had growing up and continues with me to this day. Playing and improving at a ton of different sports might be the most rewarding thru-line of my life. I can get all existential about "why" and "what's the purpose" of other parts of life (job, house, money, etc.). Not sports. Not for a moment have I felt that way about sports.
I trained hard for the Austin half marathon this February. It could have been a great a fun run: I never ran Austin before and I was turning 40 three days later. Or more directed with a goal (which doesn't have to kill the fun!). I decided to set a goal: beat my PR of 1:45.
Not only did I hit that goal; I called an audible mid-race and decided to shoot for a new goal: another 5 minutes faster (from under 1:45 to under 1:40). And I fucking did it. I'm literally getting teary eyed as I write about it.
I want that for my kids. For their entire lives.
There's so much we can do to create these conditions. Mostly: try not to ruin the fun. Adding some fun would be cool, too.
So I'm building a little bit of software, designed with input from my kids. It's not much yet, but it does let you create trading cards. These cards haven't yet achieved my aesthetic goals, but I'll share what they look like today:
If you want to check it out, I'll get this app online soon. Subscribe to my posts here to find out when that goes live.
If you -- or your kids! -- have ideas for the app, or thoughts on why you love sports, please share them with me: spinosa@hey.com . It would be fun to create something with a group of sports loving people.
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PS: I wrote 100% of this without AI. Then fed it to ChatGPT and asked for a headline. I love what it came up with. Mine was garbage. What do you think?