The Journey
Raw, unfiltered updates on building hulofuse to cure adult loneliness
Where I Am Now
Engineering Serendipity
The foundation is built. Now comes the interesting part - creating a recommendation engine that understands how real friendships form. Not just matching interests, but recognizing the subtle patterns of genuine connection.
The Path So Far
Started This Blog (Third Time's the Charm)
This domain has been my companion through life's biggest moments - when I moved to California, during my divorce, and now. Each time I've turned to writing when life demanded reinvention. This time feels different though. This time I'm building something.
The Friday Night Realization
That Friday night when I realized I was tired of being lonely.
We Can Actually Build This
My son created the first working prototype. That moment when it clicked - this isn't just an idea anymore. We can actually build something that solves the follow-up problem. It's possible.
Finally Told Someone
After a month of building in secret, I finally worked up the courage to tell someone what I was working on. The embarrassment was real, but so was their enthusiasm.
The Accidental MVP
Realized we'd actually built a minimum viable product without knowing it. Sometimes perfectionism blinds you to progress.
The Doubt Creeps In
"That's cute." "Cool idea." "Just not really something I'd use." My friends' polite dismissals hit different. Maybe they're all having the life I imagined - and just forgot to invite me.
Finding Our Why
I tell myself if I learn something, it's worth it. My son sets a clearer goal: "If 30 people make friends through this project, we've succeeded." Sometimes the simplest metrics matter most.
The Foundation Ships
All the core pieces in place - event discovery, connection tracking, and those crucial follow-up features. Real people could finally try hulofuse without me frantically warning them about broken features or asking them to reinstall everything.
The Universe Winks
Dinner with strangers. They start describing their dream app - and it's exactly what we're building. Their excitement when I told them about hulofuse? Pure validation. Sometimes you know you're on the right track.
Beyond the Obvious
Started building what makes hulofuse different - intelligent recommendations based on behavioral psychology, not just shared interests.
Reality Check at Solano
Dreamed of soft launching at Summer on Solano. Had the perfect t-shirt idea: "Got friends?..." Then reality hit - shirts take two weeks, Apple demands content moderation, notifications aren't built, and Google requires three weeks of QA testing. The launch window slammed shut.
Ordered the shirts anyway. Hired QA testers from Türkiye. Built the notification system. And discovered moderation wasn't just a checkbox - it forced us to ask: do we ban difficult people, or help them connect better?
Beta Launch
Preparing for a controlled release. Testing the recommendation engine with real users. Learning what actually helps people maintain friendships at scale.
What I'm Learning
💡 Key Insights
- • Perfect is the enemy of done
- • The technology was straightforward - understanding people wasn't
- • Most people crave connection but need an excuse to reach out
- • Gentle nudges beat aggressive notifications
- • The follow-up gap is where friendships die
- • Even in my "old age," I can work 16-hour days on pure enthusiasm
🚧 Current Challenges
- • Creating recommendations that feel natural, not algorithmic
- • The app store gauntlet - rebuild, resubmit, new rejection, repeat
- • Finding the sweet spot between curation and spontaneity
- • Making behavioral psychology feel effortless to users
- • Growing without losing the human touch
- • Defining success beyond metrics
Follow Along
This is a real-time experiment. Some days I'll have breakthroughs, other days I'll question everything. Want to see how it unfolds?
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