The Month of July

Environment: People's Coffee in Salt Lake City

This month has been all about C1x.

C1x Development

C1x is so close. In the past month I've released three updates for the app and I'm getting ready to release a massive fourth, including a full design rework and tons of new features that has C1x looking like a finished product. Beta testing has been live for almost a month now and I still need to track down additional testers for the app, especially on Android.

I've recorded nearly all of the development process, and since my last update, I've recorded and published 3 videos to finish alpha development and then another 30 videos for all progress since the alpha. Some of those videos are 4+ hours long, and they don't include most of my marketing efforts or any planning or on-the-course testing (or tutorial video filming). All to say that C1x has essentially been a full-time job for the past month. If anyone really wants to watch ~50 videos of app building, the C1x YouTube channel would be a great place to start.

I'm trying to take a more entrepreneurial approach with C1x than I did with Throw with the Pros, focusing on user experience and intuitive design rather than constantly adding more features without improving the old. I've never been prouder of an app, and for once I think a project of mine will do a decent job of selling itself. The shot logging is simple, the graphics look great, and the app already gives players an advanced visualization of their game beyond anything else currently on the market, even while only being in a beta version.

On top of this, I have a laundry list of ideas under my "To Add Later" list which will take what C1x is currently capable of doing to an entirely new level. I'm not sure these ideas are actually what users will want though, so I want to gain some traction with the base app first before I jump into more features.

I'll release V0.0.5 shortly after this update goes live, after which I'll be focusing on the C1x smartwatch app and cleaning up a few items before gearing up for a launch. I've loved every second of development so far, and I'm excited to finish the app and hopefully prepare for a public release within the next month. That might be a bit optimistic, but we'll see. I think I can do it.

C1x Marketing

I had a full plan for how I would market C1x, and then I scrapped the whole thing. I created a ton of social media post templates and have gotten a little use out of them (the C1x social accounts are looking a bit more active), but I am constantly reminded of how much I dislike using social media. Creating posts, writing captions, and trying to create engagement on a platform like Instagram literally sucks all enjoyment for me out of a project. For the sake of building something cool, I'm severely cutting back on my marketing efforts for the app.

C1x still has an Instagram account and YouTube channel, and I will continue to market in ways which do not kill my motivation for the project. These include continuing to record coding sessions, posting the occasional update to social media, and starting a new series where I cover tournament rounds on the Disc Golf Pro Tour using C1x. I still send out regular email newsletters to the testing group, and I plan on starting some in person marketing for the app in the near future. I don't think I'll do much marketing beyond this until I'm ready to launch.

A perk of designing an app that looks really cool (at least I think it does) is that it will be much easier for me to let the app market itself. I'll put together an advertising plan for launch, but I'm building C1x with intent of letting the app do a lot of the legwork for me.

Throw with the Pros Development

I released V1.0.11 in Throw with the Pros at the start of the month, but haven't done much development since. I implemented a couple of fixes related to fonts and an issue impacting the female-protected divisions, but I'd like to have a few more items to add/fix before I push out another update.

Throw with the Pros Marketing

I've only gotten one response from the Ambassador team on their TwtP gear (jerseys), so I'm waiting to get a couple more in before I order them. I was also able to implement most of the feedback I gathered from the public round, and would still call that endeavor a success.

I did run a paid advertisement for Throw with the Pros on Instagram, and got nearly 150 new users from it. I'd say money well spent, and it seems (at least initially) like a lot of them are sticking around. Definitely something that I'll try and translate over to C1x at launch.

I don't think I'll run another public round any time soon, but it was a pretty cool experience and I'd definitely consider another round in the future. This pretty much marks the end of my current marketing plan for Throw with the Pros. I might revisit it once C1x is out into the world, but I'll probably go dark on this project for the next month.

Professional Disc Golf

Disc golf has been rough lately, but I think in a good way. I've done nothing but work on my form for the past month (with a couple of tournaments sprinkled in), and I can feel myself breaking bad habits and slowly adding distance. As an example, I birdied hole eighteen at Roots DGC for the first time in a tournament (450' par 3 at a local SLC course), a hole that I've never been able to get within 50' of.

At the same time, my accuracy has absolutely tanked. I knew that this would be an expected result of changing my form, but it's still hard to live with when I'm competing regularly. I'm not great at avoiding a results-focused mindset, especially in tournaments (because why else am I there?), and over the past month I've had two terrible results at tournaments. I know the changes are necessary, but it's hard to go from competing for wins to finishing well below the cash line.

I intend to stay the course until my distance is where I want it to be, and I'll hope that the continued reps will slowly bring my accuracy back to a point where it's serviceable in competition. There's definitely still a long road ahead, but I'm excited by the prospect of absolutely sending frisbees at some point in the future.

Substack

I've been keeping up my posting schedule on Substack, including one weekly post where I create a plan for the coming week, and another weekly post where I ramble on whatever idea, philosophical or otherwise, pops into my head that day. I've definitely had moments of staring at a wall waiting for something to come to me, but I think I'm slowly getting better at avoiding writer's block and just writing.

I have no plans to stop this any time soon. It's not always my favorite thing to do, but I do think that it's forcing me to become a better writer and a better thinker, and those are skills that will translate well into literally anything else that I decide to do. Also, sometimes I'm just going through it, and in those instances writing becomes a great coping mechanism.

Physics

I completed a couple of exercises in the new Columbia University course I found on special relativity, but haven't done much recently with my limited bandwidth after working on C1x. I plan on picking this back up in the future, but probably not before C1x is launched.

Other

I spent some time updating a financial planning spreadsheet (as I gear up for a potential career change), participated in my first foray into the legal system, and hiked 30 miles through water in two days down at Zion NP. It was a busy month!

Onward,

Dylan