But Why?
When I started working on Drover in 2018, I assumed the path forward was the venture capital-funded way of most tech startups. But with time I became aware of a broadening gap between what I wanted to build and the way a tech company was supposed to behave. I tucked it away as a crazy idea for a while, but it was like an itch that I could never quite free myself of. I needed to do something about it. So here goes. I’ve decided to build Drover as an open source project, with the hope of making it a nonprofit if needed to handle managing it.
The modern business environment is based on the idea of always trying to get a little bit more out of users—more data, more ad views, a higher subscription tier, etc.
But every time a company tries to optimize for profits, the user experience gets a little bit worse. Both in little ways, like paid sticker packs that bloat conversations with distractions, to major issues such as discovering at the worst possible moment that the feature you really need is limited to a higher-priced tier.
I believe technology should give the users what they want, when they want it, without worrying about costs. Don’t add superfluous features to drive up prices or tailor your product for rapid acquisition in the market.
One of the most common ways for companies to get more from users is to get them using a product more often. Even mindfulness products and those designed to make you more productive use tricks like gamification and friendly-sounding reminders to keep you using them.
As an app inspired by a field trip, from the beginning I wanted Drover to be something that provided important information when it needed to but otherwise left you alone so you could get the most from your experiences. The less you’re using it, the better. Information is there when you need it, but without the stream of notifications meant to keep you on your phone.
The odds of being able to build something like that with any kind of outside investment were slim. Honestly, the odds of making something like that profitable are low. But I firmly believe that now more than ever we need technology that’s about enriching the lives of users instead of the bank accounts of investors.
The idea behind open source software isn’t new. In fact, some of the biggest names in the internet are open source. Wikipedia. Firefox. WordPress. The idea isn’t to build the next billion-dollar unicorn, but to treat our software like a community resource that belongs to everyone and can benefit everyone.
And the benefit of open source is that it provides tremendous flexibility and opportunities. It’s been my experience that local organizers and volunteers in the community are some of the most creative people out there in finding ways to use technology to meet their needs. Open source gives them an avenue to do just that and easily share the results.
There are absolutely challenges to open source, and I go into this fully aware that there will be hard times ahead. The phrase bandied around these days is “skeptical optimism”, and I think there’s no better way to describe starting an open source project. The hardest part, at least in the beginning, is convincing people that this is a worthwhile project. (That’s partially what I’m trying to do here.)
I realized more and more that I wanted to help people. When I thought of the kinds of groups Drover is designed for, I wanted them to feel safe and supported. I also wanted to be part of and give back to the open source community. In short, I wanted to feel like I was doing something good instead of just building another tech company.
There’s an old adage that founders shouldn’t get too emotionally invested in their businesses. But I’ve never been able to stay detached from Drover. From the beginning it felt like all my experiences up to that point had been leading me directly to it. The time spent organizing community events, the hours spent volunteering, even the frantic emails to people with updates on room changes or access codes.
But beyond the practical side, I’ve always wanted to encourage others to be curious. I want to help them learn about the world and connect with our fellow humans. At heart, I’m an optimist, and I want to make sure I’m helping to build something that can improve the future.
When I started working on Drover, occasionally I’d have people tell me, “It sounds like you’re trying to take on Facebook.” The subtext being that I’m clearly crazy and embarking on an impossible task. But I never thought in those terms. I was just hoping to provide an option that was better-tailored to group needs. But I am crazy enough to believe that there’s room for improvement in our technology and want to offer a different way to think about things.
So I’m going on an adventure. I don’t know what’s going to be involved. I don’t know what’s going to happen. But it’s one I’m looking forward to.