The Hero’s Journey: Building Boring Software

You may have seen this story arc.

The hero's journey — known above the line, unknown below; challenges, ego death and rebirth, transformation, returnA hand-drawn circle divided by a horizontal threshold line. The known world sits above it, the unknown below. Travelling clockwise from the top: challenges on the right, ego death and rebirth at the bottom, transformation on the left, and the return to the top.RETURNKNOWNUNKNOWNCHALLENGESEGO DEATH,REBIRTHTRANSFORMATIONOdysseus

You've definitely experienced it in the cinema.

The Odyssey

Now a decision is on me, and my story looks like this.
I don't think it's that linear but…

My story on the same circle — start first businesses, fail lots, survive, some successes, build something boringThe same hand-drawn circle as the hero's journey diagram, relabelled with Charlie's own path: starting first businesses on the right, failing lots and surviving at the bottom, some successes on the left, and building something boring at the top.BUILD SOMETHINGBORING.START FIRSTBUSINESSESFAIL LOTS, SURVIVESOME SUCCESSESCharlie

For the last 6 months I've been turning my Dad's accountancy practice into an AI-first org.

My ego said it was ‘boring software’.

A way to fund building a ‘cool’ product, whilst looking after family.

Coco

Life with the CEO (Chief reason for Everything Officer).

Then building boring became the most fun.

It goes back to Cal Newport in So Good They Can't Ignore You.

My memory of it:

Don't become a yoga teacher because you like yoga.
Passion comes from crafting a skill.
It arrives after the doing — not because you decide something is your passion.

Me reading So Good They Can't Ignore You

AI-generated, obviously. There is no photo of me reading it.

Building software is fun.
Building software my dad's team actually uses, every day — the most fun I've had in years.

Way more fun than building into a void…

The Distribution Problem and the Void.

The void earlier this year:

Design Canvas, the Mac app from my last email.
A founder told me “I need this to exist.”
Then: no distribution channel.
30,000 lines of code, going into a meaningless void.

I started to look for solutions to distribution.

Yet the boring software has already made or saved 10,000s of pounds.

The software — profitability view, revenue vs time invested

The team's excited.

Message from the team

I talk about this project first to friends now.

At the Founders Kite Club trip in Portugal, it was the project I talked about first.

Founders Kite Club, Viana

(Catch-up: Founders Kite Club Viana in June was a lot of fun. But I was missing my daughter too much to justify the time away on this kind of solo trip.)

So I started strategising:

Do social media, or find a distribution channel. Make ‘cool’ software work.

Yet the signals were saying something different…

Early product-market fit?

Last week we presented the software to sixty accountants on a webinar.

AI inside a real 900-client practice — live with AVN

Unprompted, they're reaching out.

Inbound from an accountancy firm after the webinar

So what's happening with my ego?

This was a Fable chat, and the moment grabbed me walking on the beach:

The Fable chat — seek wealth, not status

It's time for an ego death and rebirth.

This was the walk when Coco woke up:

Beach walk, Coco awake on my back

Smiles all around!

From cool tech start-up product designer.
To “I build boring software for accountants”.

The bottom of the circle.

Early signs of Cal Newport's passion finding me.

Build something boring — and this path is well trodden…

Turns out, this path is well trodden to success.
(More on that next email.)

Much love,
Charlie

P.S. Message me if you've had a similar revelation. I love getting email.
P.P.S. I'm still designing for select projects.

This is email five. Previous emails: ellington.design/emails. For the Mac app, see email three.

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