Episode 9 - Meet the Founder: Nick's journey to building Spoony

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Transcript

Maddy: This podcast is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nations. We pay our respects to the traditional custodians of this country and elders past and present. We extend our respects to any First Nations, Aboriginal, and Torres Strait Islander people joining us today.

Welcome to today's episode of No Spoons To Give, the podcast where we explore life's ups and downs with neurodivergence, chronic illness, and disability and chat with the voices that make our community so wonderful. Hi, Larissa. How are you going today?

Larissa: I am going great. I just flew in, had a great flight this morning. Got some books at the airport and I'm ready to go. How are you?

Maddy: That sounds like a good morning. I am doing okay. Having a bit of a pain day today, but I am very excited to be here chatting with some very exciting people.

Larissa: It's always good to have a little distraction. Hopefully, from the pain.

Maddy: Always. I love a distraction.

Larissa: Have you got a recommendation for me today?

Maddy: I do have a recommendation for you today. It's a book. Surprise, surprise. It's called Late Bloomer by Clem Bastow and it's a warm and witty coming-of-age memoir about the author's experiences of growing up as an undiagnosed Autistic child and young adult. I just loved it. It was so honest and just such a journey to go on from a child to an adolescent to where they are now. And yeah, can't recommend it enough.

Larissa: That sounds super interesting and as someone who was late diagnosed as Autistic, yeah, would love to check that book out. And I know there's so many people in our community as well who'd probably love that recommendation too, so thank you very much.

Maddy: Yeah. Oh, my pleasure. What about you? Do you have recommendation for today?

Larissa: I do and I'm up to my usual habits with with a podcast recommendation.

Maddy: Oh, I love that.

Larissa: So I have got a podcast episode with The Imperfects. It's called Autistic in a Non-Autistic World and it's got Fern Brady on it. So she is an Autistic comedian, I believe she is Scottish and she's so hilarious as a comedian, but she also shares her experience as an Autistic person. And yeah, I love listening to Fern. It was just a really great episode. She did a really good job of describing to non-Autistic people just like what life can be like and like the overwhelming things, like lighting or sound or just those little things that can add up and sometimes just really mess with your day a bit. But yeah, definitely recommend checking that one out.

Maddy: Yeah. That sounds fantastic. Thank you so much. From what I've seen of Fern Brady, what a superstar, so very excited to listen.

Larissa: She is great. Fern, if you're listening, please come to Australia. I'm very excited today, because we are going to be chatting with the brilliant brain behind Spoony. We've got our founder and CEO Nicholas Carlton in here today, known to us as Nick. And we want to chat with him and do a deep dive into his personal journey, his professional journey, and just chat all things Spoony.

Maddy: Welcome, Nick.

Nick: Super excited to be here, long-time listener, first time caller, big fan.

Larissa: Love that. Well, thank you. We've got a long wait list to come on the show-

Maddy: Thank you.

Larissa: ... so we were able to slot you in today-

Nick: Love that. Love that.

Larissa: For anyone who doesn't know you... I mean, we obviously work with you every day and know you quite well. For anyone who's listening for the first time, doesn't know the story behind Spoony, who are you?

Nick: Who am I?

Larissa: Who's Nick?

Nick: That's a good question. I'll let you know when I find out. It's definitely been quite the journey to get to this point. And starting Spoony and working with you guys, it's definitely not where I expected to be. I guess it starts from way back when I was a kid, I was writing software. I was programming as a kid. I was always like that nerdy kid that was into computers and into making movies, that kind of thing. I mean, I never took the coding very far, so I definitely... I should qualify that and say that I was never a software engineer or an amazing coder or anything like that. I was just basically... I used to write prank apps. So I used to write software that would move the Start button on my sister's computers or like keylogger software that would-

Larissa: That's so good.

Nick: Yeah. That-

Maddy: You sound like a terror.

Nick: Just to annoy my sisters. I have three sisters growing up. But yeah, I eventually went into the arts and went into filmmaking and ended up working in advertising. And then, found my way working in the social impact space, doing creative and advertising for political parties and for NGOs. And then, I like suddenly at the age of 32, I became really unwell. Just pretty much overnight developed a chronic illness and it completely changed everything for me overnight.

Like I went from living a really busy life that any young 30-something year old lives, travelling around a lot for work, riding a bicycle, swimming. But suddenly, I wasn't able to get out of bed and I was eventually, essentially bedbound, for a couple of years, had to stop working. My whole world shrunk and I got to experience the really profound social isolation that people with chronic illness and disability sadly grapple with every day.

And it always stuck with me as a problem that urgently needed solving. I think it's a problem that if we can solve it, can really transform the lives of millions, maybe billions of people around the world. And yeah, fast-forward a couple years and I had the idea for Spoony and I really wanted to do something that would help people like me. This is a platform that I would've really loved to have had when I first started out on my health journey and it's been a wild ride as you guys know.

Larissa: Thanks for sharing that. It sounds like-

Maddy: Yeah. Thank you for sharing.

Larissa: ... too like it's... Obviously, we have spoken before about your health journey and everything before. But like if I think of people that... My friends are 30, 31, 32, it's like a really busy time of your life. And it's just like from a lot of people, it's like all systems go. And for that to then just come to a grinding halt, did it feel like the world just kept going and you were just kind of like-

Nick: Yeah. Totally.

Larissa: ... stuck?

Nick: Yeah. And it's just not like... I'd never really thought about my health until that point, like you don't really... I think for a lot of people, you don't think that disability or chronic health conditions have anything to do with you and you're just going about living your life, which is great. I don't necessarily think that you need to be walking around thinking that like, "Oh, I could become disabled at any moment," but it was so unexpected.

Like I just randomly developed this weird stomach bug basically out of nowhere and it wasn't even like a really serious illness. It's something that I got over... Well, not got over. But that acute period, it sort of passed within three days. But my body just never recovered from the trauma of that stomach bug and I still don't really know what happened.

And the doctors can't really tell me, but there's obviously something bigger that happened in my body. But yeah, it completely just knocked me over and it was a really big shock to suddenly-

Larissa: Massive.

Nick: ... not to... Essentially, not be functional as a young adult. Like I would be trying to do the laundry or trying to go and do grocery shopping and I would just be absolutely exhausted and completely flawed like I had run a marathon. And that's a complete shock. And I think unless you experience that, you really don't understand just how disorienting that can be.

Larissa: Yeah. It's just such a jarring experience, especially for it to happen so quickly.

Nick: Yeah. It's like the complete total failure of your body to function. Yeah.

Maddy: Yeah. And particularly being bedbound too. That is such a different space to be in than what you had been used to. I know that for a lot of people that is one of the loneliest times, because who can understand what that is like except, well, for other people who go through it? But yeah, you didn't have access to that. So that's incredible-

Nick: Yeah. And like that it comes with this whole... As you know, it comes with this whole emotional journey of you suddenly have to readjust to the new normal and you go through this period of mourning. You mourn the life that you had, like I was in a full-time job, would go out on weekends socialising. Even just being able to ride a bike and go for swimming. I used to be a competition swimmer in high school as well.

And suddenly to not be able to do those things, it actually took me years to really accept that. And one of the big things for me was accepting that... Like I was so career-oriented and always had really big ambitions for what I wanted to do with my career. I was working in politics, but I also was a filmmaker. I'd worked on TV shows, like some big TV shows like Wentworth, and I was on track to be directing TV drama, which is a really, really physical job-

Larissa: Mm-hmm.

Maddy: And a very competitive space, so like-

Nick: Super competitive.

Maddy: ... to be on track for that is huge.

Nick: Yeah. And I had a successful career directing TV commercials. And to suddenly realise that's not something that I'm going to be able to do-

Larissa: That would've been devastating.

Nick: Yeah. It's completely devastating, because it was... These were goals that I've been working on since I was a kid or like working on movies and working in filmmaking and creative projects. And yeah, so to suddenly have to accept that maybe I was never going to achieve those goals and maybe that was no longer a career path for me. Like I honestly think it took a few years for me to really come to terms with that and it's still something that I wake up and I'm like, "Oh yeah, I'm not doing that thing that I thought I was going to be doing."

Larissa: Yeah.

Maddy: Yeah. It's big change.

Nick: Yeah.

Larissa: How did you go about... It sounds like potentially, for you, like your career was such a big part of your life. And like I'm guilty of this too, like you tie it into your identity and you love what you do and it becomes a big part of you. What was it like communicating an illness that you didn't quite understand to your colleagues and your managers or your boss or... Like that would've been pretty isolating as well, I imagine?

Nick: Yeah. It was hard. Like as with a lot of these chronic illnesses, part of you is like, "Oh, is it in my head? Am I really unwell?" But then, the proof is really in your day-to-day experience and I was literally unable to do a certain amount of things. And yeah, so I had to... Eventually, I had to resign from work and I had to tell my boss that I wasn't able to keep doing my job. I think I took six months of sick leave. I, basically, exhausted all my sick leave and then exhausted all my annual leave. I may have gone down to halftime and then completely on sick leave. And then, yeah, it was clear that I wasn't going to be able to come back. But I think for a lot of my friends and for a lot of my work colleagues, I think I essentially just disappeared and they sort of disappeared for me as well.

Like suddenly, I didn't see them every day. You make a lot of friends at work and like suddenly, I wasn't there anymore. And that sort of day-to-day social contact and interactions suddenly was completely missing in my life. And it was not something that... It wasn't something that I immediately texted everybody going, "Hey, you guys won't see me for a while." I didn't really know what was going on. I didn't know, "Was it going to get better in a month, in six months? What's the recovery period?" I don't really know because no one really knows what this condition is.

So the prognosis was super unclear and my future was super unclear. And just living with that uncertainty was one of the big things that I had to learn to accept and just accepting that I don't really know what this thing is. I don't really know if I'm ever going to recover. And yeah, I think, as you said, like it's, for so many people, like work and what you do with eight hours of your day forms so much of your identity. And to suddenly lose that means I had to really almost go searching for a new identity.

And that journey, basically, has led me to creating Spoony, which has been the silver lining in all of this. So it is nice that something good has come out of this. And now, Spoony has become my life's work and it's become my mission and the reason that I get out of bed or hypothetically get out of bed every day.

Larissa: When you were quite unwell and bedbound for a while, how long did you think about Spoony for? Was it like an overnight, like came to you in a dream or you were pondering on the idea or were you a part of existing online communities and wanted to make make your own one or-

Nick: Yeah. That's a good question.

Maddy: Yeah. That is a good question. Yeah.

Larissa: Sorry-

Maddy: No. Not that I'm surprised. But I was like, "No. Yeah. I had not made that connection even though it was staring at me in the face." Yeah.

Nick: I think I joined a few Facebook groups. I joined some Reddits. When you're suddenly thrown into that position, into this really confusing situation where the doctors can't give you clear answers, so you're just looking for any tidbits of information online-

Maddy: Scavenging.

Nick: Yeah. You're scavenging, right? For clues. You're almost like a detective trying to solve your own health mystery-

Larissa: 100%.

Nick: So yeah, I joined a bunch of groups and Reddit and there is a lot of misinformation out there. Yeah. Some of these groups are less helpful than others. The idea for Spoony didn't really come to me until a few years later. In those really hard years, my only focus was really my health and-

Larissa: Yeah.

Maddy: Yeah. Had to be.

Nick: Yeah. Like I definitely wasn't thinking, "Oh, one day I'm going to be able-

Maddy: Big scale, world domination.

Nick: Yeah. One day you're going to start a startup-

Larissa: Just build a startup.

Nick: I probably didn't even think that I could have done that, at that point.

Larissa: Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised though if you did.

Nick: And it was only after a few years of focusing on my health and trying to recover a little bit and claw back a little bit of capacity that I felt like I had gotten to a place where I definitely had overall diminished capacity and that seemed to be permanent. But I was in a spot where like... I call it a sweet spot where I figured out if I stay at home and limit my physical activity and take a lot of rest and pace, that I was able to start to do some things and... Yeah. It is mainly at home. I can go to the coffee shop that's close to my house. I still find it really hard on days where I have to go out for a long period of time. And yeah, then, I started to think about, "What am I going to do with my life or what am I going to do-"

Larissa: Staring down the barrel?

Nick: Yeah. I had to figure out like, "What am I going to do now that I..." Like I can't go back to directing. I can't go back to TV directing. TV directing is 12-hour days, Monday to Friday, on your feet the entire time. That's what directing-

Maddy: And overtime.

Nick: And overtime. Yeah. And location moves. And I couldn't go back to politics, because politics involved flying to Canberra 26 weeks of the year. Yeah. So I think the idea came to me that I could do something in technology-

Larissa: More than just infiltrating your sister's laptops.

Nick: Yeah. That was more than just pranking them, like I was able to draw on my love for computers and for the internet and tech stuff. Because I'd always been that geeky kid, like that geeky kid was still there. And I started to really think about like, "What are the problems that I could solve that I've had personal experience with and that a tech solution could work to try and solve these problems?" Spoony wasn't the first idea I had. It was probably idea number 3 or 4, but it's definitely the first one that got traction.

Larissa: I really love how you... Instead of just thinking, "I'm going to make this product," or, "Make this bit of technology and just push it on people," I love how you actually thought about solving a problem first and building something that people want. And also, solving a problem that you've also experienced. I think that's like why Spoony is such a thriving, amazing community as well.

Nick: Yeah. I think for startup founders, I think you really have to be passionate about the person or the people that you want to solve a problem for and I... It wasn't just that I wanted to solve any problem. Like I wanted to solve a problem for people like me with chronic health conditions and disability. I wanted to do something with my time and my life and the capacity that I had that helped this community. And I think I even literally just wrote a list of like, "What are all the problems that people with chronic health conditions and disability have to deal with?" And that's how the idea for Spoony came about.

Maddy: I love that so much. Yeah. Such an organic idea coming from your own experiences and being able to really look at this big problem from the perspective of someone who's actually gone through it, rather than just trying to tackle a mountain you don't even know anything about.

Larissa: What I wanted to say too is like bouncing off what Maddy said about it being really organic. Everything that happened after that with building the Spoony community, it's all been really organic as well. Do you want to talk us through after you had the idea, what the next steps were and how we started building the Spoony community or building the product as well?

Nick: Yeah. Definitely. I started with a hunch, right? Like, "I have a hunch that this is a problem." It was certainly a problem for me, like I had experienced the social isolation. Like I had a feeling based on being in those Facebook groups and being on Reddit, that the social isolation, that was a problem that was shared by a lot of people in this community. But then, I had to go out and try and validate that this... Yeah. Like people did experience this problem and that also that people would be receptive to some sort of solution-

Larissa: It's the scary part.

Nick: Yes, the scary part. And my experience in comms and marketing, I knew that... I didn't have the resources all the time, at that point, to actually build an app or build anything really. But I knew that we could just... I could definitely knock up a website that was super quick, pretty basic, but still looked good. Like essentially, all smoke and mirrors. But I could put a waitlist form on there and that would be a really cheap, low lift way of validating the problem and gauging the interest-

Larissa: I love that.

Nick: ... in the market. And so that's what I did. Spoony's first website literally took me 15 minutes to build.

Maddy: Wow.

Nick: I think I just smashed out the logo in Photoshop or Canva, put the waitlist up in Typeform. Yeah. It wasn't super complicated, had some mock ups that were purely hypothetical, but they were suggestive of what the app could eventually be. And then, once the website was up, then I had to get in front of people. And I knew that TikTok was big in this community, like I had read a lot of articles at the time about how people were discovering that they have ADHD or Autism on TikTok. So I had a hunch that TikTok would be the natural place to test the concept. So that's when you and I connected because I was looking for a younger person than myself who's not that old still, but like-

Larissa: On the cusp of Gen Z.

Nick: Jesus.

Larissa: Not coping with getting older.

Nick: Yes. Yeah.

Larissa: Yeah.

Nick: Yeah. Exactly. Sorry.

Maddy: Yeah. I knew I didn't see you doing any TikTok dances lately.

Nick: Yeah, yeah. Admittedly, I hadn't actually spent much time on TikTok at that point. So yeah, I wanted to find someone that knew TikTok a little bit better than I did, that was younger than me. And yeah, we started working together. I remember you put out some TikToks or maybe it was just one TikTok at that point. What was it?

Larissa: I think we started doing... I remember the very first one we posted flopped and then-

Nick: Yes, because it was-

Larissa: Then, that's just one-

Maddy: Just an honest moment here on the podcast. We're being honest. We're always honest, but this is very real.

Larissa: The first one was the more scripted one.

Nick: Yeah. That was my idea. That was a bad idea.

Larissa: And then, the second one-

Nick: The horse?

Larissa: Yeah. I was actually staying in an Airbnb with a little Shetland pony like mini horse and it was just unscripted and just... It was pretty casual. And that one, I think we started getting a lot of waitlist signups from that.

Nick: Yeah. I remember we had the Slack integration with the waitlist. And the moment we started to like we ran that TikTok as an ad. Suddenly, the Slack started to ping on my phone. I don't know if it was the same for you.

Larissa: Yeah. It was the same for me.

Nick: It just started like... And it was like one every second.

Larissa: Yeah. It was a lot. I didn't know what was going on. I thought I'd broken it. Yeah. I didn't know. I was learning all the tech tools and everything and I was like, "What is this?"

Nick: Yeah. I've never seen anything like it-

Larissa: Every second.

Nick: And still have never seen anything like it, like-

Maddy: That's amazing.

Larissa: Yeah. That's your validation right there.

Nick: Yeah.

Maddy: Yeah.

Nick: It was incredible. Like an incredible moment, right?

Larissa: Yeah. It was really exciting.

Nick: It was really exciting and I think it was clear from that point that we're onto something. But then, then was the hard part. But then, I had to figure out like, "How do we put a team together? How do we actually build this app and deliver on this promise that we had made to people that this would exist?" But it was an amazing journey because over the course of 2024, we built out the waitlist to 42,000 people.

Maddy: Wow.

Nick: And the incredible thing about having such a big waitlist was just really like the beginnings of the community that we started to build in February of 2024, was that we were able to really draw on the community to really deepen our understanding of the problem. We were able to test concepts around the app and test different ideas and we basically ended up, like I would say, that we were co-designing the app with the community-

Larissa: Definitely.

Nick: ... which was super exciting.

Larissa: Yeah. It was so cool to have the community, like that waitlist that we built and all those names that we had on there. They essentially became the north star of what the app was going to be like and like asking people what features they wanted and the branding. I can't even imagine if we didn't have all that feedback from the start, like we might have a totally different product that people might not have liked or something. I just think, yeah, it was so smart that you brought the community along for that journey as well and just really helped and they still co-build-

Nick: Well, we did it. It was a team effort.

Larissa: Thank you. I think they love being a part of it too. Still, to this day, everyone's so active with our surveys and giving us feedback. It's amazing.

Nick: It meant that people were really invested in what we were building and really invested in the outcome. And by the time we actually launched the app, the iOS in September and then Android in October of 2024, we hit the Top 15 charts of social apps of. I think purely because we had built all this hype, we'd built all this demand that we knew was right there. And then, we were able to leverage that as soon as we launched.

I think what we learned over the course of 2024 was how powerful listening to the community can be and the power of community. And I really see Spoony as not just an app building company, like we're a community building company. An app just happens to be the most efficient way to build a global community in 2025. Maybe it will be different in 10 years time, like maybe we won't be building an app anymore. I don't know. I mean, I think technology will always play a role. But we are really a community building company first. That's what you guys do so beautifully every day is build the community. Yeah. And so, I think it's been incredible to watch.

Larissa: Yeah. I really feel like the app is the hub where all of our Spoonys hang out. And yeah, I really agree with what you said, the community is just the north star and the community is what we are at Spoony. I imagine in 10 years, we'll all be wearing VR goggles, hanging out. Like everyone's in their beds with the goggles on, hanging out or something. That could be the new version of an app.

Maddy: That's so cute.

Larissa: It'd be really fun. No flare-ups after.

Nick: I mean, you never know. Like 10 years ago, social networks were webpages, that you-

Larissa: Yeah. Forums.

Nick: Yeah. Used the log on a computer and that's how most people interacted with the social network. And then, it became mobile apps. It's entirely possible that in 10 years, we'll be talking about something else.

Larissa: Yeah.

Nick: And that's why I think community is central to everything and we really see ourselves as a community building company.

Larissa: Definitely. What's your favourite part about the Spoony community?

Nick: Good question. I think I love how diverse the community is. Like I didn't fully appreciate until we started building Spoony, like the breadth of the diversity, and that's in everything, right? There's so many different disabilities and health conditions that people live with. Like I was the one that personally put together the health database that you see in the app and there are thousands of different conditions in that database, things that I'd never heard of.

And we had a discussion about whether or not the list was too big and like, "Do we need to just narrow it down?" And we didn't end up calling it really. We just put the whole database up and just being able... Like learning about all the different things that people live with has been incredible.

Yeah. The breadth of conditions. But also, beyond that, like everyone's coming from different walks of life and there's different gender identities, different sexualities. It's such a diverse and colourful and vibrant community. I love how proud everyone is on Spoony to embrace the parts of themselves that make them different. I think it's amazing that our platform is empowering people to do that and to really just celebrate all of the wonderful things that make them them. Yeah. It's such a diverse community, but we're all united by generosity towards each other and empathy and compassion which I love as well.

Maddy: There's so much kindness on Spoony. It's-

Nick: Yeah. There's so much kindness.

Maddy: It's just like, you really feel it.

Nick: Yeah. And I think we've developed like the... I shouldn't say we. It's the community. The community has really developed this amazing culture that's so positive and nurturing and supportive. And seeing people leave those amazing reviews and writing feedback to us is the best feeling because that's why we're doing this.

Larissa: I love what you said about the health database as well and how many conditions we have on there and I do remember a conversation that everyone had about that as a team and whether it was too many. But Maddy and I have seen so many people who joined Spoony who might have lesser known health conditions. And when they join Spoony and see that their conditions are on Spoony, they immediately feel so seen and welcomed. And I think no matter what condition people have, they don't have to have the same diagnosis. But I've noticed a lot of people in our community, they've been able to bond over that shared experience with social isolation due to their illness or disability or neurodivergence. I think that's really beautiful.

Nick: I think that's one of the unique insights that we had with Spoony. There might be thousands of conditions. But yeah, you're right. We're all united by these shared experiences of life. Like as an example, I was in the Fibromyalgia Facebook groups, but I would never meet someone that was in the Endometriosis Facebook group. But we both live with daily pain, recurrent pain, and we both probably have a lot in common.

Before Spoony, there was no place where people from these... I call them micro communities. Like people that were in these micro communities would never really get a chance to come together and you wouldn't... There was no place where this critical mass of people that were neurodivergent, chronically ill, and disabled could actually gather. And that's... Yeah. I think that's the beautiful thing about Spoony is that we've brought all these people that are so different. But yeah, but are united by some common experiences.

Larissa: Mm-hmm. So special.

Maddy: We're going to just take a quick break and then we'll be back to talk more things Spoony.

Larissa: Hey, Maddy, do you want to know what one of my favourite profile features is on Spoony?

Maddy: That you can use it to post more photos of your dog?

Larissa: I'll take any opportunity I can to post dog pics, but no. Did you know that Spoony allows you to share your support needs on your profile so that your new friends can understand you a bit better? On mine, I've got routines, quiet spaces, energy conservation, and visual schedules, because we all know how much I love mind maps and naps.

Maddy: That's so cool. Can I put energy conservation there? I have to pace my energy or else I get really exhausted.

Larissa: You absolutely can. There's so many cool profile features that make Spoony unique to any other social platform. You can also display your conditions or illnesses, share your interests, and let people know how your energy levels are tracking by using our Signature Spoon status. I'd really encourage people to check it out for themselves. You can sign up for free using the link in this podcast or you can find us in the App Store or Google Play.

Maddy: What would your advice be to people who've newly discovered that they're chronically ill, neurodivergent, or disabled?

Nick: The first thing I would say would be to take care of yourself. It can be a really confusing and difficult time, so the first thing you want to do is just make sure you're getting what you need. I would say when you're at the start of your health journey, it can be a really confusing time. There can be a lot of noise. Everyone's got an opinion, your mum's got an opinion, your friends have an opinion, your boss has an opinion.

I think you've got to figure out who you want to listen to. You got to listen to yourself as well. But I think most importantly, you need to find your people. You need to find the community, find other people that have been through a similar thing that share your lived experience. Because they're the people that are going to have the best insights and the best knowledge, the best tips, and they're the people that are going to be able to support you in the ways that you need, that are going to have the right amount of empathy and compassion. And that's what you need at this point, like you need compassion and empathy and kindness. Yeah. So my biggest tip would be to find your people, find community, and you can do that at Spoony.app.

Larissa: iOS and Android.

Nick: Yeah.

Larissa: I love that answer-

Nick: Download now.

Maddy: That's such a great answer. Yeah. So important to just be gentle with yourself during that time and to really figure out who you want to listen to, because there's so many people that have opinions. Like yeah, it's hard to know exactly who to listen to. But most of all, listen to yourself.

Nick: Yeah. Totally.

Larissa: Yeah. That's really great advice. Next question for you. Can you give the Spoony community a little sneak peek on the roadmap for this year?

Nick: Yeah. The roadmap, the ever-evolving roadmap. I was looking at the roadmap with the team yesterday and I think we've got two years of features planned out already.

Maddy: Wow.

Nick: There's so much that we want to do. We've already had a really exciting start to the year with the launch of Match, which was definitely like, by far and away, the most requested feature. I think at a high-level, my vision for Spoony is that we try and solve as many problems for this community as possible. Like we're starting with a social isolation, but there's so many different ways that we can provide support for neurodivergent and chronically ill and disabled people.

We are looking at the different ways that we can connect Spoonys with the different healthcare services that they need to live a good life. So that could be psychologists, disability support workers, occupational therapists. There's so many different services and care and support that people need as they go through their health journey.

And beyond that, we are thinking about all the different ways that we can empower people to manage their health. So last year, we shipped a Spoony Journal which allows people to track and log their symptoms. I think there's so much more we can do with that, like we might be able to unlock different insights. Potentially powered by AI. Yeah. We've got so many different ideas that we're exploring. I think we're going to work with the community to figure out what we deliver next and what the focus should be on. But yeah, it's super exciting. I think we've got lots of exciting surprises that are ahead.

Larissa: So many great ideas too. Like every submission or idea we get from our community, we document all of it and discuss all of them and then work out which direction to go in. I think we haven't had a bad idea from our community. They've all been amazing.

Nick: No.

Maddy: No. They always have such a good point behind them. And like yeah, there's something... It's just so amazing to have all these wonderful people feel like they are part of this journey, because they are. And they're bringing the different pieces together of what Spoony eventually will look like.

Nick: Yeah. Absolutely. We love receiving feedback. We genuinely read everything. We discuss it. We talk about it. Good and bad, like please, if you are listening to this and you have ideas or you have feedback for us, please email us, feedback@spoony.app. I was reading this blog post yesterday and it was saying, "Bad feedback is better than no feedback. No feedback means that nobody cares. Bad feedback..." And we do get some bad feedback. We know that there's things we need to improve. But it's actually great, it means that the community cares. And that's the most amazing thing is that people really care about Spoony and we know that because they send so much feedback to us. It's actually incredible.

Larissa: That's so true. And even the bad feedback, it gives us a chance to make it better and know where to put our energy and resources to improving things.

Nick: Yeah. Exactly.

Larissa: So if you want to send good feedback or bad feedback or any feedback, send it through.

Nick: Yeah. Send the bad feedback to larissa@spoony.app And the good feedback to Nick.

Larissa: Send it through. Let's go.

Nick: Yeah.

Larissa: Good character building. Well, Nick, it's been so good chatting with you today. Thanks for coming in and hanging out with us. We know you've got a very busy schedule, so we appreciate you coming in. And yeah, I think the community will really love to hear more of your story and all about your journey with Spoony.

Nick: Yeah. Thanks for having me. Yeah. Really appreciate all the work that you both do. I think you're both doing an incredible job-

Maddy: Thank you.

Nick: ... building and nurturing this community. I'm so excited to see where we go next.

Larissa: Oh, thank you. You too.

Maddy: Nick, thank you so much. Thank you so much for joining us.

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