Opportunity Knocks
This week I have taken on a new role at Cross Forward — the makers of Widgetsmith, Pedometer++, and other fine apps. I’m sure you all know this means I am working with Underscore David Smith and Stephen Hackett.
Stephen has been working with Underscore for quite some time now, assisting him with various projects to move his business forward, and recently we got talking about their desire to adapt and expand their marketing efforts. After discussing some ideas, they asked if I wanted to help them grow this side of the business, and I excitedly agreed.
I’ve spent many years on the other side of sponsorship, convincing companies to pay me to share their messaging on my shows. I feel like I’ve built up a skill set for creating engaging messaging and working with brands to help them find a good fit for their product.
With Cortex Brand, I’ve started participating more in paid advertising, and I can see how my experience on the content side can assist me on the brand side.
Working on something like this with Cross Forward feels like a natural extension of the skills I’ve been building over the last decade, while adapting them to serve a significantly larger potential customer base than anything I’ve worked on before.
From a personal perspective, I’m thrilled to work on a new project with two of my absolute best friends in the world, and people I know I will collaborate well with. I don’t think I’ll ever have a better collaborator than Stephen, so I’m confident we can achieve great things for Cross Forward.
It’s also really interesting — and somewhat refreshing — to be part of this business but not running it. I’m looking forward to reporting to Stephen and seeking his guidance on how he’d like me to progress with my work, seeing how it impacts the overall business.
This role will take up a portion of my time; but it’s not replacing anything. Everything I’m currently doing will continue, and I’m able to maintain things as before. If anything, this role provides an additional perspective, giving me a closer look at how iOS development businesses operate. Additionally, I will continue to speak freely about my opinions on Apple and developer relations issues as I always have.
When thinking about this decision through the lens of my Yearly Theme: The Year of Fatherhood, having the opportunity to pick up some new work that excites me while diversifying my income feels like a good move. This role also allows me to focus on a specific area without me needing to be focused on running the business itself. This should really help with my work/life balance. I feel very fortunate to have more flexibility than many of the dads around me in London. I'm better able to be present in Sophia's life, and I consider that a great gift.
I’m genuinely excited to start this new chapter and am very thankful to David and Stephen for the opportunity. My initial tasks will involve researching influencer marketing, developing a social strategy, highlighting some interesting agencies to partner with, and work on creating good marketing content. This is exactly the kind of work I love.
