my original plan was to publish something every week, which obviously fell off.

my writing came to a halt, but that doesn’t mean the past few months weren’t busy.

i’ve been heads down working on a few things. in short, i was working on:

• new features for Early Chapters

• Index - a creative workspace for collecting and creating

  • iOS mobile app (coming soon to App Store)

  • Chrome browser extension

• a social tool to help with managing the various social media accounts

• two internal products for making content creation easier

• launched a new personal website

• and trying my hand at content creation on socials.

so here’s to getting back on track and trying this writing thing again.

here’s a quick recap of what’s happened over the last few months:

April 2026

life updates:

• walks with my nephew while the weather is perfect

• started to experiment with premiere pro

• learned to make vietnamese coffee (cafe sua da) with ube cold foam

• went on a midweek adventure with friends i haven’t seen in over a year

what was shipped:

• Early Chapters

  • added push notifications for retention

• Index

  • built the visual library/bookmark component for Index

  • users can organize their bookmarks with tags, folders, and boards

• Misc.

  • internal Figma plugin to speed up creating social media assets

May 2026

life updates:

• benched 205lbs for the first time

• not many life updates this month

what was shipped:

• Early Chapters:

  • marketing:

    • partnered with mommy creator @sincerelyjessica on IG for a mother’s day giveaway

    • bit the bullet and bought the m5 macbook pro since my old mbp was giving out. (lesson: if a tool will make your life exponentially better, go for it - sometimes you have to do it before you’re ready)

  • features:

    • bulk upload capabilities for video and image assets

    • improved upload speed

• Index features:

  • project management layer to keep track of tasks, documents, moodboards, and any reference material

  • started building the chrome extension for saving on your browser

  • created a free moodboard generator for quick moodboarding

• social media tool:

  • built social media scheduling feature to keep track of multiple social media accounts

  • built a complimentary tool to help with content creation

June - July 2026

life updates:

• visited friends in SF for a much-needed getaway

• visited Lake Tahoe for the first time

  • this was the most rejuvenated i’ve felt in a long time and realized how important it is to take breaks

• started picking up more hobbies like golf and pickleball

what was shipped:

• Early Chapters:

  • early chapters users can now share directly from their camera roll

  • fixed bugs on early chapters app

• Index:

  • launched the Index iOS app for mobile capture and to access your workspace from your iphone (still in review with app store approval)

  • launched the Index chrome extension for capturing on your browser

• Jero.zip

  • created a new personal website for all of my things i’m working on

What’s next?

my primary goal has always been to create products. so, i’ll continue to improve my products and acquire more paying users.

i’m also realizing the importance of putting myself out there across multiple channels.

as a very private person and having been off IG since 2020, this is extremely uncomfortable, but necessary.

but like most endeavors during this season, i’m treating this as an experiment and setting the intention to document this phase of my life.

as for this newsletter, the main reason for the writing hiatus was because i’m unsure of what i wanted to write about.

but instead of just waiting around, i plan on writing about the journey of building & growing products, personal development, realizations in my 30s, and general updates around my products.

i also want to start more creative projects just for fun. i have a very long archive of photos and videos that i’ve never edited, design sketches that never made it to renderings, and just more designs that i’m thinking about.

that was a long-winded way of saying here’s what you can expect from me:

• improve the current products and if needed, create more products.

• create more content and share more of my journey and the things i’m learning.

see you all next week!

if you haven’t already:

• download Early Chapters - the private baby album to keep track of your baby’s memories and milestones in one place.

• sign up for Index - the creative workspace to manage your entire creative process

• follow me on IG: @jero.zip

i now have an almost 6 month old nephew, along with several friends who had babies in the last year or two.

it feels like everyone around me is having babies.

—

after losing one of my parents, i’ve been thinking a lot more about memory and cherishing your loved ones.

because over time, life gets busy, and things fade.

voices fade.
moments blur.
details disappear.

and you don’t really notice it until you try to remember something you can’t fully get back.

—

with all these new babies, everything is a first.

first smile.
first laugh.
first everything.

and naturally, everyone tries to capture it.

group chats get created.
photos get sent.
videos get shared.

but over time, it all gets messy.

things get buried in camera rolls.
lost in message threads.
it’s hard to go back to.

—

i started noticing this pattern:

every time i asked someone about their baby, the first thing they’d do is pull out their phone and start scrolling.

scrolling…
scrolling…
scrolling…

trying to find that one moment.

—

that’s what made me want to build something.

not just to store memories.

but to make them feel accessible again.

—

so i started building something for my nephew.

now came the ideating and building.

i just had one problem…

i’ve never built an ios app before.

and my coding skills are still pretty beginner.

but i didn’t want that to be the reason this didn’t exist.

so along with my friend, claude code, i started figuring it out as i went.

—

i started simple.

a place to keep:

• photos and videos in a timeline

• milestones (first smile, first laugh, first tooth)

• custom moments that actually matter to you

but there was one feature that mattered more than anything else.

video logs.

—

what i wish i had now is something my dad left behind for me.

not a photo.
not a memory.

just something i could come back to, and feel like he’s there again.

so video logs are a way for parents and loved ones to leave something behind.

something their child ( & maybe their child’s child) can come back to later.

and still feel like they’re right there with them.

—

after a couple weeks of planning, building, hitting rate limits, and figuring things out…

early chapters is now live.

this is v1. it's still evolving. but it's a start.

if this resonates with you, you can check it out on the app store (ios for now).

ps. this is all part of a bigger shift i’m going through —
learning, experimenting, and figuring things out in real time.

the video above was my first product video.

i wrote more about the pivot here.

it feels like more and more people are ‘starting over.’

& i can confidently say i’m on that boat.

but i wouldn’t call it starting over.

i’d say it’s more of a pivot.

for context:

the last few years have been challenging, to say the least.

a lot of change, loss, and moments that forced me to slow down.

i had to take time to regroup and take care of myself.

i’m still working through things, but i’m in a better place now.

now, back to the pivot:

for the first time in my adult life, i’m going all in on working on the projects that excite me the most.

no clients.
no boss.
just me trying shit out.

i’ve been in the marketing space for almost 10 years now.

but i’ve always had this urge to build things.

& due to serependitious timing, i feel like right now is the best time for me to finally follow that.

one thing i’ve always wanted to do is write consistently.

so i’m starting a newsletter called ‘work in progress.’

this will be more personal:

• sharing what i’m building,

• what i’m learning,

• and documenting the process.

but i don’t just want to write.

i’ve always loved storytelling through photos and videos, so i started a new instagram, @jero.zip

during this chapter, i plan on experimenting:

• building apps & software,

• designing products,

• shooting photos & videos,

• writing,

• & whatever inspires me.

i’ve been a big fan of Farza for some time now, and his video about ‘starting from zero in sf’ stuck with me.

the takeaway: make something, show it to the world.

so for now, i’m just building things and sharing them.

if you want to follow along, i’d love to have you here.