Cartographer
An open-source developer tool with a site, install scripts and docs.
What it took
In development
Oldie
A care tracker for senior dogs: medications, care tasks, vaccines and weight, shared with everyone in the household so nobody has to ask whether the pills were given. It started with Bambu, Olivia's galgo.
What was set up
The landing before the launch.
Oldie is the one in progress, which makes it the clearest example of doing the roadmap first.
- The site at myoldie.com, live ahead of the app, with a plain description of what it will do.
- Senior dog care guides on the site, each citing its sources, so the site is useful before there is anything to download.
- The brand, the name, and the pricing plan: a free tier for one dog and one person, and a household plan for everyone else.
- Domain, DNS and email on the domain.
- The app itself, in development for iPhone and Android.
What it taught
You can launch the business before the product is finished.
A site, a clear promise, a pricing decision and a set of genuinely useful pages are a business people can find and remember. The app arrives into that, rather than the other way round. For founders whose product will take months, this is usually the right order, and it's the order the Standard tier is built around.
Oldie also came from the same place as the rest of the work: watching two people share the care of one dog, and noticing where the handoffs broke. Nobody needed a smarter app, just the same list in both their pockets.
Current status, features and pricing live on myoldie.com.
More work
Two more launches
Making Moves
Moving-kit dinnerware with a Stripe shop and a real supply chain.
What it took