Fleeting Notes

TL;DR: I embarked on an entrepreneurial journey with SynchroCise, an app born from a hackathon win. Despite the initial excitement, market realities and continuous pivots highlighted the importance of genuine passion and starting with a real-world problem. While SynchroCise didn't make it to the market, the lessons learned paved the way for my next venture, Fleeting Notes.

There's been a barrage of questions headed my way, all curious about the why and how of me leaving my stable, full-time job. This post isn't just about addressing that curiosity. More than anything, I hope it might nudge someone out there to take a leap, or just provide an engaging narrative to those looking for one.

The Genesis

Post-graduation, I found myself at Geotab—a mere few months into the world of full-time employment. Life was comfortable. I had a role I was content with and no immediate ambitions beyond that.

However, life has a funny way of altering plans. One ordinary day, a buddy of mine, in a bid to jazz up his resume, asked if I'd be interested in joining a hackathon. Why not? Helping out a friend and potentially creating something fun seemed like a win-win.

Our collaboration led to the creation of an app—SynchroCise. And, to our amazement, we clinched the top spot at the hackathon! SynchroCise, in essence, was a platform where one could virtually synchronize their workouts with friends. Given our success, I thought, "If a panel of hackathon judges found value in it, surely there's a wider audience out there?"

The Hustle

Brimming with newfound enthusiasm, I took to developing SynchroCise alongside my day job. The ambition? Get this gem to market. But a nagging voice constantly whispered: “It’s not ready.” So, feature upon feature was added, but it never saw the light of day.

In pursuit of guidance, I enrolled in BET300 in Waterloo—an entrepreneurship course I can't recommend enough. A key lesson from there? Market research. And oh boy, was that an eye-opener! Our 'unique' app? Not so unique after all. The market had something eerily similar, with even more features than we had envisioned.
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Read the rest at: https://www.thinkwong.com/blog/side-project-to-resignation-part-1