Took me 30 years to build an app I actually use
I made art for myself, instead of a startup for others.
I’m calling it Breakpoint. I use it every day. But it took me a lonnnnng time to get here.
I've been working on this project for…
3 months (first commit: 21 October 2024)
2 years (first therapy session in 2023)
17 years (bootstrapped first startup in 2008)
30 years (coded something just for me in 6th grade)
1995
In 6th grade I wrote my first bit of software just for me. A silly little text based game in QBASIC on MS-DOS. Seeing my vision come to life through software was magical. I loved it. So hard. Despite my mom's gentle guidance away from the field — "programmers are a dime a dozen" — it was all I wanted to do. I was transfixed in awe.
I would spend the next 30 years chasing that feeling.
17 years ago, with a couple great friends and co-founders, we bootstrapped our first startup, Homefield. Online video sharing and editing for sports teams. This led to an incredible journey in the startup space and NYC.
2 years ago I started therapy. It was awkward and difficult and I sucked at it. It's still difficult. But IMHO, I suck a little less at it these days.
3 months ago I started to take my duct-tape-and-bubble-gum process for getting the most out of therapy and turn it into a piece of software. That app really sucked for a while. There was so much I didn't like about it. I mean, I kinda hated it. But therapy says to give oneself some grace, and I'm a bit more able to do that these days.
Then something pretty good happened.
2025
Over the last few weeks, this app has become my daily driver. I enjoy opening it every morning. Some mornings it actually surprises me with something kinda cool.
It’s still far from what I envision it to be. But I’m quite proud of the way it scratches my itch. Honestly haven't felt this way about my own software since that text-based app from 6th grade.
So, ok, here it is: https://breakpoint.now
🙈
It’s so raw. The landing page is wordy and gross. The first use is janky. The code isn’t optimized. And if you look close, I use like 30 different shades of green 🤢
But! If you can get past all that, it still takes days or weeks to really appreciate what the app can do for you. It’s a terrible startup.
But I ain’t building a startup.
stARTup
I’m building this as a piece of art because I want to. This approach has been rather enjoyable. I go deep on whatever seems interesting, from technology to psychedelics to the existence of free will. I re-write pieces of the app when they don’t feel right to me. Updates get pushed at whatever random hour they hit.
I think something is starting to flow from this approach. Something juicy. Something I’d like for others to experience.
If you decide to check out Breakpoint, please do give me your honest impression. It’ll only make things better. Let me know what’s confusing, what misses, and what lands for you?
If this little app can help others, that would be so cool.