Idea #15

How we get started.

It was January 25, 2017. I decided to leave Apple. That same day, Tony and Reggie decided to leave with me. Philip joined shortly after.

In February, I began the process of reconnecting with the things I was curious about and cared deeply for. For two months, I jotted down idea after idea — all 16 of them. I shared them in a private Facebook group with the co-founders, using the old “Post” feature (which no longer exists).

These screenshots were captured 7 years ago, when I gave a TEDx talk to share that journey. You’ll find larger versions in a shared Keynote, which, honestly, is a bit embarrassing to share. (Why a shared Keynote? We helped build it, and we still like using it!)

We ended up pursuing Idea #15: The Stats Cruncher — which eventually became HomeCourt. The idea was so small, we seriously asked ourselves:

“Are we willing to at least sink six months of our lives into this, purely for the love of basketball?”

We looked each other in the eye, acknowledged the “yes,” and moved forward.

Nex was founded about one month later, on May 3, 2017.

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