A living trail of things I’m building, breaking, or pretending to finish.
Some are active, some are dust. All of them taught me something.
This is where I track the chaos, one sprint, stumble, and saddle-up at a time.
Total projects: 15 (Only projects where I was the founder)
🟢 3 succeeded, 🟡 4 in progress, 🔴 9 failed.
Last update: Jun 2025
Something new 🥸
May 2025 – Present
Back to my roots: game development and using maps, which have been my “special interest” for quite a while. :p
Social Alarm 🟡
May 2025 – Present
Inspired by a message from our niece, we wanted to wake up to messages from friends and loved ones.
What’s happening?
We did some initial market research, studied players, ran some ads to test interest, and completed a technical proof of concept. There’s a good chance this project won’t continue or will pivot to something else. I’m happy, though, that we gained some insights from the research and proof of concept before building the entire thing. I might write more about my process since I’m enjoying it.
Smart Keys for Mac 🟡
Jan 2025 – Present
Same purpose as the iOS version, but with the concept of AI Shortcuts. https://smartkeys.so/for-mac
What’s happening?
I haven’t found a good channel for this product yet, but since I’m an active user, maybe the most active one, I’ll keep trying it.
Smart Keys for iOS 🟢
Aug 2024 – Present
Whether you’re polishing grammar, adding a bit of flair to your texts, or translating on the fly, Smart Keys makes it all effortless. https://smartkeys.so/
Why did it succeed?
Low maintenance tech stack and found product-market fit with a positive LTV/CAC ratio.
Hyper-Local Activity and Coloring Books 🔴
Nov 2024 – Dec 2024
Hyper-local coloring and activity book for kids based on their school, neighborhood, or city, especially in small or underserved cities, all powered by AI agents.
Why did it fail?
I ran a pilot in Walnut Creek but didn’t see much traction, so I shut it down. The goal was to sell in bulk to cities, libraries, and events. Technically, this was an interesting project to test agents capabilities. I found this agent use case quite interesting: A positive outcome for small communities that might never happen if done by humans because the ROI would be too small. But scaling the personalization may work.
Secret Project 🔴
Feb 2024 – Mar 2024
Too embarrassed to share what this project was about.
Why did it fail?
I found some interesting channels and managed to test two ideas, but I felt too ashamed to continue working on this. 😰
PromptTea.Party 🔴
Sept 2023 – Nov 2023
Kaggle for Prompt Engineers.
Why did it fail?
Started as a hackathon project, it evolved with some friends in the East Bay, and we shut it down when we realized that LLMs would evolve so quickly that the project wouldn’t make sense.
Youper 🟢
Feb 2015 – Present
Youper combines psychology and artificial intelligence to understand users’ emotional needs and engage in natural conversations. https://youper.ai/
Why did it succeed?
Pioneer in the field, amazing team, VC-backed, and covered by a lot of media.
DonorDrive + Strava Extension 🔴
Oct 2023 – Feb 2025
Connected fundraising campaigns with your outdoor activities. Successful pilot for ALC 2024. This was my first Build in Public project. Some details here.
Why did it fail?
Non-profits didn’t show much interest and both companies made the API more restricted.
Empathy Bottles 🔴
Nov 2017 – Feb 2018
App was inspired by the Non-Violent Communication (NVC) methodology.
https://producthunt.com/../empathy-bottles
Why did it fail?
I chose the wrong tech stack (Ionic) and didn’t have a clear business model for an anonymous social network. Server costs began to increase.
The Last Trip 🔴
2010 – 2015
Youtube channel about landscapes and places that are being destroyed and will soon no longer exist.
Why did it fail?
Besides some videos going viral, the cost and time to make those them were high and caused some conflicts with my day job.
Kombina.me 🔴
2014 – 2015
Marketplace for selling goods at a discount based on what the buyer plans to do with them. I sold my VW Bus to an environmental and educational project.
Why did it fail?
I didn’t do a good job sticking with it to find more customers, besides myself.
BackPackBook 🔴
2008 – 2015
Blog specialized in travel book reviews.
Why did it fail?
It had no business model and faced many issues with hacker attacks and custom WordPress code.
DiaTech 🔴
2001 – 2003
Web agency and tech infrastructure for small companies, founded with friends.
Why did it fail?
Lack of maturity. Friends became ex-friends, and then I joined another company.
Design Agency 🟢
1998 – 2001
Design agency with my brother.
Why did it succeed?
Merged with another company with friends.
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