Why I’m Building OurJourney for Shipaton 2026: Origin Story and Six Non-Negotiables

Last week my family received news that changed the shape of everything. My mother-in-law was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. My wife is an only child. We have three daughters — 8, 3, and 11 months old - and beyond the sadness that comes with knowing that someone who’s played an important part in my life may no longer be there, there’s a more stinging pain that I feel in my core. It’s hard to express what it is, but I feel it coming from the realizations of the pain that comes from three sets of people that make up my life: mother-in-law: is facing the fear and worries that come with not knowing what the next year holds, what comes after, and that she won’t be around to share her unconditional love with her daughter and her three granddaughters as they navigate life wife: will lose a best friend, only parent, and confidant who she’s always been able to share things that only a mother would be able to understand my 3 daughters: 8, 3, and 11 months - the oldest two have memories, a connection, and love that they’ll miss, while the youngest won’t have any memories of her grandmother. They’re left to miss out on the support, love, and memories that they’d otherwise have been able to experience I started building OurJourney because I couldn’t stop thinking about the messages that would never be said, the voice they might forget, and the practical chaos that lands on a family when someone is seriously ill or facing the end of their own life’s journey. I wanted a private place where that love could still arrive years later, and where the daily weight of care could be shared without turning into another group chat that no one wants to open, or having to turn to social media as a way to share updates and check in with everyone in the family group. OurJourney is a private, invitation-only app for families facing serious illness. One person is the Captain. Everything else hangs off their journey. They (or someone they trust) can leave text, photos, video, and audio that deliver on a future date, a birthday, a milestone that hasn’t happened yet, or after they’re gone. At the same time, the family gets a shared care layer — appointments, medications, tasks people can actually claim — so “let me know if you need anything” becomes logistics instead of vague goodwill. I’m shipping the first version during RevenueCat’s Shipaton. This article is the beginning of building it in public. The non-negotiables A few decisions were made before most of the code existed. They are not features. They are constraints. 1. No engagement mechanics of any kind. No like counts. No streaks. No badges. No ranking. No “suggested” posts. A dying parent should never open the app and notice that this update received fewer reactions than the last one. We show faces, not scores. The feed is reverse chronological. Forever. 2. The Captain has absolute final say. Anything scheduled can be edited, rescheduled, or deleted by the Captain up to the moment of delivery. No one else — not the Co-pilot, not support, not the system after death — can override that. 3. We will never automatically announce that someone has died. Even in full auto-pilot mode, outbound death notifications (in-app/email) require a human to press send. 4. Posthumous content must never ambush. Every legacy delivery lands as a notification that something is waiting. It is opened deliberately. 5. Privacy is structural. Invitation-only. Short-TTL signed media URLs. Removing a member revokes access immediately. We designed the system so that we (the operators) cannot read the journal, the vault, or the messages. 6. The Captain should never have to be required to log-in. Many real signups will be adult children setting this up for a parent who is too sick or too unfamiliar with phones. The Co-pilot path has to be excellent. What ships first The initial release focuses on the spine: Journey & membership, the private feed, Legacy scheduling with the full trigger set (including milestone unlock), a practical Vault, Care calendar + medications + task board, clear roles, and offline-first compose surfaces. Why Shipaton? Shipping under a deadline forces prioritization and prevents the death spiral of “I just need to polish this” or “This last feature should be added before launch”. Building in public forces clarity. The Peace Prize category asks whether the work provides real social good. The Build-in-Public category asks whether the process itself is honest and useful to others. Both feel aligned with what this product is trying to be. I’m documenting the decisions, the trade-offs, the things that break, and the feedback that changes the product. If you’ve been a caregiver, if you’ve lost someone, or if you’re building in a sensitive space, I would value your perspective. The app will be on the App Store and Google Play in the coming weeks. More soon.