So much happens in a second, more than 220 million seconds just went by.
Lisbon, 2017, the return after a year of recharging. It all started with a dream bigger than the capacity to see the complexity of creation. For kids, anything is possible because we only see the end result, without all the hardships to make it so.
The idea started from the experience of working as a freelancer. All the platforms were their own silos, having to bounce from platform to platform to get things done (and yes, it’s still the normal experience, with some improvements on the horizon with A.I.). From that came the idea of a Collective of Creatives that built and supported a unifying professional hub. It would be divided into three top-level areas:
- Disclosure: Modules, themes, and an easy-to-use visual interface for creating a website, online store, app, as well as business cards, flyers, etc.
- Management: Lists of tasks to be completed, task assignment, scheduling, organization by themes/area, discussion/brainstorming, assigning priorities, etc.
- Support: Messages, requests for help/information, sharing of specific content, knowledge network, etc.
How to do it? By scaling my Design+Development Studio and funding the development with client work, while having an eye open for Entrepreneurship/Acceleration programs.
The Studio was initially called “Criature” but blocked due to copyright. We eventually settled for “Metacosmic” and registered the brand back in 2016. The meaning is “that which is between the micro and macro cosmos,” in a way, all the details between the parts.
Thankfully, we were able to get great leads in the first year while also discovering and entering an entrepreneurship program called “EmpreendeJá” by the end of 2016, in which we were accepted. This made it possible to further develop the idea during 2017 and 2018.
During “EmpreendeJá,” we decided to also make the Hub/Growth aspect of the project more evident, starting a rebranding and re-definition process in tandem with the program.
By the end of “EmpreendeJá,” we had to produce and deliver a solid Business Plan for the next 3 years. If we were selected as one of the winners, a 10k€ investment, we had to hit the defined growth milestones over the next two to three years.
We were selected and thus started full steam ahead in building “Metacosmic” while doing client work to support its development.
In April 2018, another very interesting entrepreneurial program opened that would enable two persons to get a monthly salary for a year. We started thinking that a slice of the Metacosmic platform could be separated and be its own project, and use parts of the same tech in both. That part was the web place builder, imagine a mixture of Webflow, the block-based WordPress and Notion. The underlying tech needed could work for a mobile-first content-creation app, an Instagram Story on steroids, that would also be location-aware, and thus “Placesum” was born. The naming merged the concept of a “place” with “sum” – adding, so adding stuff to a place.
We applied for the “Startup Voucher” program and were accepted. With that, we had two friends, a Marketeer and a Video Content Editor/Manager, join the team by October/November 2018.
Through the end of the year and beginning of 2019, we were hard at work building Placesum, hitting the program milestones and networking to gather interest and hopefully investment for the project.
By March, we had our website live, some initial prototypes working, and further refined the idea into something that could be useful and interesting for users/businesses and could scale. For example, we found out that there were very few apps/platforms that promoted local activities or businesses (we still don’t have many like that) and decided to put more focus on that aspect of it.
I had to continue working on Metacosmic for the “EmpreendeJá” program, doing client work while also building the platform. (You can notice how spread I was; at the time I thought I could do anything in a short amount of time, the reality was that I couldn’t).
In the summer, we had our first public testing of an alpha version to gather feedback and future beta-testers, and also some awesome marketing activities and content.
Please check out the Instagram page for more.
Things were starting to come together and we were looking to release an initial version by the end of the year, having gathered some key partnerships that agreed to allow us to promote and use the app in their businesses and events.
We also applied for an acceleration program called “Tourism Explorers” that would test our idea and put us in touch with mentors and investors. In September, we were accepted and went.
During the acceleration, we got a lot of great eye-opening feedback. It’s very useful to listen to external perspectives when you are working for so long on something.
You can see my final pitch and jury feedback in the video above. It sums up really well the overall experience and status of the project by the end of October 2019.
Up next, you can see some videos showcasing the overall pre-beta app, bugs included.
In the following month, we had a lot of retrospective sessions, looking back at the state of the project and what paths forward we had, if a pivot was needed or even possible since the “Startup Voucher” would end and thus we would lose the monthly salary of two of the team members, without being able to support them with the client work coming to “Metacosmic”.
We ultimately decided to minimize the time allocated to it and put more focus on “Metacosmic”, which was bringing new clients and continuing to grow.
In those two months, we decided to remake the “Metacosmic” website and re-launch, positioning it also as a Venture Studio which was building new products.
Unfortunately, in December I had some serious family issues and had to rethink my future. In January 2020, I was hard at work trying to find clients but ultimately had to make the decision to join a bigger team. I felt it would also be good for me, having until now mainly worked alone or with very small teams (2-5).
Luckily, I didn’t have to look much and discovered Angry Ventures. I applied to many different roles there in an effort to express how versatile my skills were and was accepted for a trial, which in a very short time transformed into a full contract.
Covid-19 reached Portugal, and it was funny seeing that our location-based platform would be in serious danger if we continued to develop it full-time. At this time, we decided to end the project, due to not having time to pivot or dedicate the time needed to finish the current version that would be doomed with Covid.
The next full year, until April 2021, I would be at Angry Ventures. I learned a lot there and will be forever grateful to everyone that I’ve crossed paths with. It was with a heavy heart that I decided to leave and look for a new challenge.
During this time, the “Metacosmic” project was terminated due to me working full-time for Angry Ventures and not having the desired time to grow it.
I also moved from Lisbon to Porto by the end of 2020 and by March/April 2021 found that one company from Porto I had my eye on was recruiting (I discovered Pixelmatters at the same time as Angry Ventures, but Pixelmatters didn’t contract remotely yet and I was based in Lisbon). I applied and was accepted for a few months’ trial which turned into a full contract.
The next three years, up until this current year, I was at Pixelmatters, growing from a mid-level Creative Engineer to a Senior, and working with amazing people that allowed me to further grow as a person and professional. I will also be forever grateful for all the kind, great humans that crossed my path there.
In March, I left Pixelmatters to recharge and work on myself; it was time for a new chapter to begin. After a few months off, I joined my family business called Serrestre, to help it grow, improve processes, and expand its offerings. It’s a bit of a return to my previous entrepreneurial adventures, and a great way to slowly get back to this type of life, while adding physical products to my skill-set.
Why write all this? I finally got some time and energy to make a new site for my stuff. I knew perfect would not happen, so I settled with done. In a way, I feel that along these seven years I was mesmerized by the clock ticking by, or by the need and desire to climb an invisible ladder, or just by having found comfort in a downplayed version of existing to not deal with all that happened in my personal life.
It’s good to look back and reflect on the lessons you can learn from your past, and realize that part of life is just a game of deciding what really matters.
Here’s to the next seven years!
