Timing really is nearly everything. And what it isn't, circumstance makes up for. — Steven Van Zandt
It was such a great plan, it really was. You know those success stories where lightning strikes someone with a genius idea, and then somehow stars align and they take their idea to fruition right when it's needed most? Wild success ensues, and you get to read about the virtue of following your dreams, and how simply seizing opportunity is all that separates you from similar results. If I was really cheeky I'd give you a numbered list of steps to follow. Well this is not one of those stories, this is a tale of timing, really bad timing. This is a cautionary tale to show how even endless enthusiasm, diligent work, and careful planning can be hilariously mocked by the unforeseen.
My big idea was a software solution to the cat herding problem of figuring out who's in and out when trying to get together with friends. I'm an old skateboarder (really old!) and it's an activity that is generally less enjoyable and less safe alone. So skating with friends is a key part of the sport. We used text messaging to plan sessions and it sorta works but has a lot of failings like the first joke or unrelated comment can fully derail the in/out responses, the skate session invite scrolling off into oblivion. Seemed like a problem that could be perfectly solved with a mobile app.
Enter Muster, a mobile app for getting people together in the real world. I tend to play the long game, meaning my pet projects sometimes take a while but I don't quit easily, so back in 2019 the app had been a project for going on a decade. The iOS version was finally nearing completion and the excitement of actually releasing this thing into the wild was getting real. What had started as a Minimum Viable Product very much morphed into a full-featured app, and the unwillingness to not ship something half-baked at least partially explains the ridiculously long development timeline. In tragedies there's often a seed of self-destruction if you look deeply enough, and in the case of Muster the perfectionism of features caused the publish date to slip literally years and eventually land in early 2020. So I was wrapping up the final touches on this app for helping people get together…what could go wrong?
On February 20, 2020 I excitedly published my decade-plus long project to Apple's App Store, the dream was now reality. Indeed, that dream of connecting the world one intimate event at a time was officially beginning. I celebrated with a drink and dessert (actual photo)…it was now time to sit back and wait for the world to adopt this can't-miss new idea. I imagined finally doing away with clumsy antiquated texting to plan our skate sessions, and the app quickly growing beyond our skateboard crew as a solution for all informal RSVPs. Muster would be a force for good, bringing friend and foe together. Bullies and bullees burying the hatchet, dogs and cats living together in harmony, was peace on Earth finally within reach? I should've savored that dessert a bit more…probably a good general rule to live by.
The CDC Museum lists the official start of the COVID-19 pandemic as December 19, 2019, with the first U.S. case on January 20, 2020. But given that pro sports dominates much of American culture, it would be March 11, 2020 when things "got real," as the NBA canceled the remainder of their season. So less than three weeks after the launch of the app that had been carefully designed to break with other forms of social media and put the focus on people being face-to-face with each other, we find out that being face-to-face with each other is literally life-threatening. Brutal.
I had managed to create a doomsday app purely through an accident of timing. Like catastrophic timing, some of the worst timing ever. How could you possibly spend ten years of your life creating something, only to release it within weeks of it becoming absolutely useless? Worse than useless, dangerous! That was a crushing, helpless feeling, sadly but mercifully overshadowed in some ways by the life and death consequences of the pandemic, which trivialized our individual pursuits in the wake of literal survival for many. Even so, we all knew there would eventually be a return to normalcy, just no clue how or when, and at what cost.
So yes in hindsight I should've been working on Zoom not Muster leading into 2020, but here's the good news about horrific timing…eventually time heals most things, one way or another. You just have to hang on and not let the lows of the present erase the potential highs of the future. I can't say I was bursting with such cool-headed stoicism in 2020, there was little pretense of calm or wisdom in the moment. Nevertheless, quitting wasn't on the table, the newly released app languished unused during COVID, as did many of us, while we safe-distanced and waited to find out what happens next.
Then time marched on and eventually things got better. Even though Muster's initial release was comically flawed, like on a Shakespearean level, it ultimately survived COVID, and is alive and well today. It continues to help me and my friends not skate alone, and it has remained a vibrant project that is still evolving and improving as I stumble to unravel the subtle social challenges of bringing humans together.
I guess the takeaway (in both tech projects and in life) is to realize that even the best attempts at planning can go horribly awry, and the only thing you can truly control is how much quit you have in you. I learned that sometimes the best laid plans will be thwarted by the unknown, where opportunities become problems that turn into predicaments. The only choice is to quit or press on, and if you believe in yourself and what you're doing that choice is surprisingly easy to make.
Muster is available now on the App Store, built by Stalefish Labs.
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