September Update
Gm!
Our work on Hello Friend has been progressing nicely, though it hasn't been without its challenges. After our initial sprint to get a functional prototype on our phones we've been working on improving memory retention, removing hallucinations in the LLM, and generating better matches via tuning the mutual interests model. A minor wrench was thrown into our plans last week when the new iOS 17 update broke our existing build, but after a few of our dependency apps updated we've got it running locally again.
There's been a significant development however in our ability to work full-time. When we began the revised Time Capsule last summer, we raised $83,000 for our team of four to work with. Even though I did not take a salary and one of our Timeweavers left just a couple months in, those funds were only able to support our work through December. Not wanting to quit when we were just beginning to release our software, I decided to personally fund our work over the next 6 months.
Despite the incredible pace of development and release we managed, we were unable to generate meaningful cashflow. We did secure several fund commitments from outside sources by June and originally believed that would let us run through the end of the year, but over half the funds were never received and we found ourselves in a bind this past month. Between the lack of promised funds and the interest beginning to rack up on $70,000 in credit card debt I'd spent to support us this past year, we've had to make the hard decision to look for daily employment to pay the bills while we continue to work on Hello Friend and Sidekick Wallet part-time.
No one wants to fail, especially when doing something they love for people they care for, but the entire team has gone above and beyond in building some absolutely terrific products and I couldn't have wished to do it alongside anyone else. We will continue to build and give updates as we release, but the pace will be slower than the beginning of this year due to our new daily responsibilities. If the bear market relents later next year, our hope is that we'll be in the position to find success during it - and possibly earlier if our plans for Hello Friend pan out.
For now, we forge onward.
- Strongheart
Our work on Hello Friend has been progressing nicely, though it hasn't been without its challenges. After our initial sprint to get a functional prototype on our phones we've been working on improving memory retention, removing hallucinations in the LLM, and generating better matches via tuning the mutual interests model. A minor wrench was thrown into our plans last week when the new iOS 17 update broke our existing build, but after a few of our dependency apps updated we've got it running locally again.
There's been a significant development however in our ability to work full-time. When we began the revised Time Capsule last summer, we raised $83,000 for our team of four to work with. Even though I did not take a salary and one of our Timeweavers left just a couple months in, those funds were only able to support our work through December. Not wanting to quit when we were just beginning to release our software, I decided to personally fund our work over the next 6 months.
Despite the incredible pace of development and release we managed, we were unable to generate meaningful cashflow. We did secure several fund commitments from outside sources by June and originally believed that would let us run through the end of the year, but over half the funds were never received and we found ourselves in a bind this past month. Between the lack of promised funds and the interest beginning to rack up on $70,000 in credit card debt I'd spent to support us this past year, we've had to make the hard decision to look for daily employment to pay the bills while we continue to work on Hello Friend and Sidekick Wallet part-time.
No one wants to fail, especially when doing something they love for people they care for, but the entire team has gone above and beyond in building some absolutely terrific products and I couldn't have wished to do it alongside anyone else. We will continue to build and give updates as we release, but the pace will be slower than the beginning of this year due to our new daily responsibilities. If the bear market relents later next year, our hope is that we'll be in the position to find success during it - and possibly earlier if our plans for Hello Friend pan out.
For now, we forge onward.
- Strongheart
