Shipping Soul: Why My Projects Will Always Be Weird

I’ve come to terms with a simple truth: my projects are never going to be mainstream, and that’s by design. In a tech world chasing the next unicorn startup, I’m over here building tools that make me smile, even if they only ever have one user (me). I call it “shipping soul” — pouring my personality and quirks into what I create. Yes, it means my projects tend to be a bit weird. They solve problems you didn’t know existed, or solve common problems in unusual ways. But that weirdness is exactly what makes them mine.

Take Coach or Traider, for example. Coach occasionally sends goofy motivational quotes because I find a dash of humor keeps me engaged; Traider isn’t trying to beat Wall Street, it’s trying to mirror my thoughtful (and sometimes overthinking) approach to trading. These aren’t features that a product manager targeting millions of users would necessarily greenlight. But I greenlight them, because the goal isn’t mass appeal — it’s resonance with my own needs and creative vision.

There’s a lot of pressure in software development to make things “scale” and to cater to broad audiences. I get why: more users, more money, more notoriety. But I find a lot of meaning in making something that maybe only a handful of people will ever use, if not just myself. It’s incredibly liberating to say “I’m building this because I want it to exist,” without worrying about investors or market fit. In a sense, it’s like art. An artist doesn’t paint thinking about how to optimize the painting for virality on social media; they paint to express something genuine. That’s how I approach my code.

Embracing the weirdness also means embracing vulnerability. When you put so much of your soul into a project, any feedback feels personal. But I’ve learned that’s okay. I’d rather have a project that a few people love (or that deeply serves me in my own life) than a bland app that thousands kinda like for a week before moving on. So yes, my projects will always be weird. They’ll also be full of soul and authenticity, and I’m proud of that trade-off.