Sam Soffes

Changes

Posted on

This is a story about the last 3 months of my life.

So my work history is pretty hilarious. If I was in any other industry, you'd think I was a deadbeat that can't hold down a job. It's slightly different for engineers in San Francisco, but that doesn't change the fact that I change jobs a decent amount.

Depression

Anyway, I was doing Nothing Magical for awhile. It was amazing. I was bootstrapping a company all by myself off of my savings. It turns out when your rent is $3,200, cash goes pretty quickly. (I now live in a much cheaper place, but more on that later.) Anyway, I ran out of money. I had the option to pursue freelance to support myself and not get a day job.

I was really trying to get one of my good friends to join as a co-founder, but it didn't work out. I was pretty discouraged after he turned me down (for totally understandable reasons. We're still really great friends and all.). Raising money on my own was pretty tough, especially for Cheddar. Having a co-founder would have made raising money way easier. I just sat in my apartment for a week and didn't do anything. It was terrible.

Meeting Seesaw

From the same friend who ended up not being my co-founder, I happened to meet Aaron Gotwalt in South Park randomly one day. We talked for a minute and then my friend and I kept walking.

Aaron hit me up for lunch a week or so later. By that time, my friend had turned me down. It was the Monday after and I happened to remember the lunch. It wasn't on my calendar for whatever reason. I had already eaten but rushed to meet Aaron at The American Grill Cheese Kitchen (which is amazingly fantastic by the way) anyway. He pitched me Seesaw after I asked him what he was working on. I was really intrigued.

I've turned down a lot of really cool jobs to work on my own stuff. Most of the time, I decide that I'm going to say no before the end of the pitch. Seesaw had me interested. I kept talking with them for a few days and they made me an offer. I accepted as employee #1.

Leaving Indie Development

I'm really going to miss doing Nothing Magical and Cheddar full time. I'm definitely still working on Cheddar, so don't worry about that. Being employee #1 at a really cool company is something I haven't done before. I'm way excited about it.

The founders of Seesaw previously founded CoTweet and sold it for a pile of money. I'm excited to learn from people who know how to ship great software and be successful.

Leaving San Francisco

With all of this, I'm moving back to Kentucky on Saturday. Nuts, I know. I got engaged last week to the love of my life. I've known Ellen since 2004. We recently reconnected and decided this is what we wanted. I couldn't be happier. She lives in Louisville, KY (where I grew up). I'm moving back there until our wedding (the date is still up in the air, but it's probably September-ish). After the wedding, we're planning on moving. San Francisco is at the top of our list, but that's still undecided.

So movers are coming to get all of my stuff and another company is coming to pick up my car on Friday. By the end of the month, all of my stuff should be in Louisville. I already have an apartment there. I just need to get out of my lease in San Francisco (if you're interested, hit me up on Twitter. I'm @soffes).

The Future

I'll be posting a lot more about Seesaw as things develop. We just announced that we exist today. Tech Crunch was super nice:

Not much is known about what the company will be doing as of yet, but there are currently five team members, including Sam Soffes, a brilliant iOS developer that previously worked at Scribd and Hipstamatic. Soffes still works on his task-tracking app called Cheddar.

Anyway, I'm really excited about having a job again, getting a paycheck (it's been awhile), getting married next year, and just life in general. Life is good. Go make stuff!