Founding Software Engineer

Where it started

Seam Social

Our first product was Seam Social, an open-source social network built around fully customizable profiles. Profiles were made from movable canvases, and users could submit Blocks (small programs that could be embedded and resized on anyone's profile).

• Joined as a software engineering intern in June 2023.
• Helped build the product through a $2M seed round.
• Built in public with an open-source product and Blocks submitted by the community.

Finding focus

The pivot to Tome

Seam was too broad and we could not find product market fit. The founder and I both loved books, so we decided to focus on readers. We rebuilt the app to feel more like a normal social network, removed Blocks, and kept customizable profiles (one of the features users liked most).

• Designed Tome around how online reading communities already worked.
• More than 300,000 people signed up ahead of launch (the app took off while readers were looking for a new home during uncertainty around TikTok in the US).

Product ownership

Built end to end

I built almost every core part of Tome. We used Capacitor so the same app ran on the web, iOS, and Android.

• Authentication, posting, and profile customization.
• The feed and feed ranking.
• Data imports from other social platforms and push notifications.
• One shared Capacitor app for web, iOS, and Android.

Launch and scale

A top-six App Store launch

Tome reached more than 100,000 monthly active users. During launch week it was #1 in Books and peaked at #6 overall in the US iOS App Store (above Instagram).