What I'm doing now
This is an answer to - what I'd tell a friend I hadn't seen in a year. Last updated: Sep 2023.
Adaface has been a ride 🌊
It's been 5 years and running for Adaface. This year's mission is to persevere. Global tech markets are down. Layoffs are happening all around. Which made us go back to the drawing board. We are doing what we have been good at. Have clearer long-term goals. Keep the costs low. 0 CAC and double down on a self-serve SaaS. Having said that, considering how the market is, the $$ inflow is decent. Also, I am getting hands-on with AI (AI meets Assessments). A few stuff we released recently:
- Ada AI resume parser
- Coding practice with Ada AI
- Ada AI mock interviews* (ongoing)
A little place on the internet 🏠
Co-founded an open-source product on the side called btw: open source Medium (btw.so). Lot of tiny happy wins with 'btw' this year. It's my first open-source product. It got good traction (~300 stars on GitHub + 2 paying customers). More than anything, it motivated me to create my little place on the internet (siddg.com). Writing has been consistent (~2 posts a month). Planning to write 2 long-form "books" (series of themed posts. More on this probably next year.).
I am a not-so-bad RPG game master now 🎲
Learning to play D&D and run a D&D session has been in my todos for a while. Back in 2022, I pushed myself to purchase D&D kits and run two games as a game master. It was an okay-ish experience. Something was missing. Recently, I joined a few D&D sessions where the game world was set in a universe the GM created by themselves. I found my missing piece.
Created my own RPG game that is heist-based (with borrowed mechanics from 'Blades in the Dark' and 'D&D') and centred in a world that I can role-play in my sleep (Gentleman Bastards Sequence books).
I ran the first game in this new world, and it was a bang-on success. There are still kinks to work out, but overall, it came out pretty well. Will run more sessions in this world.
First year of married life ❤️
Oh, and if you missed it, I got married in Dec 2022. Shedding my bachelor habits is a matter still in progress :P But liking my roommate helps.
I travelled a little. Okay, not a little. Moved from Singapore → Gurgaon, India ✈️
Took a huge step and moved to Singapore at the start of 2023. It was a mixed bag. Had fun but also realized it wasn't working out for us as a couple. Moved to Gurgaon, India and got into a good routine here. More than hectic, it was an emotional journey - wrote a post on being homesick.
Back to shedding some post-wedding weight 🏃♂️
Everyone talks about post-wedding weight, and it is real. But I am back to cutting it down. Started my 10K steps a day + 1-2 home workouts a week routine. Started playing with a bo staff as a zinger on top. So far, good. Let's hope I will cut down the rest by the time I turn 31.
Lastly, I joined the likes of Vin Diesel, Terry from 99 and the Rock 👨🦲
Alopecia turned to Totalis. The journey was emotional. But I am glad I can talk about it and move on. Wrote about my alopecia journey here.
