Building Fireplace: My First Startup
Co-founded a social media startup and helped to develop the mobile app and website, using tools like Redis, Typescript and Neo4j.
Timeline
Aug 22 - Present
Tools
Typescript, React Native, Neo4j, Redis
Role
Co-Founder
Link
Setting the Scene
🔥 My friend Allen pitched me this app idea called Fireplace. He wanted to create a platform that would streamline event planning and foster vibrant communities online. I decided to work with him in making this come to life, ready to dive into the tech side of things.
Tech Talk
👨💻 My role involved establishing the app's core codebase and implementing sophisticated technical solutions. We harnessed the power of Neo4j, a specialized database, to architecturally organize data. To enhance the app's speed and responsiveness, I integrated Redis, a cache system, which helped speed up our queries to be mere milliseconds.
The impact Redis had on our API requests, bringing it down to 5ms.
Learning the Ropes
🚀 Beyond coding, our journey took us through accelerators and pitch competitions. These experiences exposed us to the startup ecosystem, demanding us to present Fireplace's vision to diverse audiences. Through these endeavors, we learned about business strategies, effective communication, and the nuances of entrepreneurship.
Continuing Forward
🛠️ Presently, I spearhead the technical development of Fireplace's app. Collaborating with Allen, we iteratively enhance the app's features, design, and functionality. We are using different graph algorithms and AI tools to make Fireplace truly useful in the world today, so we can foster meaningful connections that bridge physical distances.
An example of the graph database - with users, activities, communities, organizations all connected.
Final Reflections
🌐 Fireplace is an exciting venture which is a vibrant part of the Northeastern entrepreneurship community. Our journey continues to evolve, as we refine Fireplace into a dynamic platform that enhances the way people connect and engage in the digital age.