I wasn’t accepted for funding from Y Combinator.
But, I wasn’t hurt or surprised either. This whole experience actually left me with something even more valuable than a check: proof that I can start and finish something big.
When I set out to build Ayumio, I had no team, no funding, and very little time. Yet I ended up building the entire app — front end, back end, security, payments, admin controls, marketing website, copy, UI/UX… everything. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked. And it taught me this:
👉 If I can build something that complex from scratch, I can build other things too.
👉 I can build a bass course… (Which I just did, and plan to do a lot more of!)
👉 I can even build tools for bass players down the road… (Definitely something I’m considering!)
The Excuse I Carried for Years
For the longest time, I struggled with consistency with producing bass videos and courses. The reason? Honestly… my apartment is a disaster. And uninterrupted time is rare in my day.
That sounds ridiculous, right? But it was enough to keep me stuck. The idea of creating a video with a stack of laundry in the background would always leave me feeling a little embarrassed.
Here’s what shifted… And it wasn’t my space or my schedule — it was the way I approached action.
The Lesson of Tiny Steps
Working on Ayumio showed me something profound:
The moment you take a step (any step, even a tiny one), you’re no longer on the same trajectory.
From a high-level view, it might look like nothing has changed (Think of a tiny dot on a map).
But step after step, after step, after step, the path starts to bend or move in a direction. And before you know it, you’re in a new place entirely.
Small steps compound into a different future.
Ayumio was never about an end result or a funding round. But, for me, it was about finally moving on ideas that used to live in my notebooks and half-finished files.
And see now, I know I can do the same with bass.
A New Chapter
I’ve carried a list of things I’d love to teach on the bass for years. For too long, I told myself I’d get to them “later.”
But later never comes. It’s been more than a decade and my apartment is still a mess.
So I took the first step. I launched my first course: Learn Your Bass Fretboard Fast. It’s not the whole list. It’s not every idea I’ve come up with. But it’s one idea (just like Ayumio) that’s live, and it’s a foundation for everything that comes next.
Your Turn
I don’t know what your “fretboard course” is. Maybe it’s starting a project you’ve been putting off, learning a new skill, or just picking up your bass again after years away.
But here’s what I do know: once you take that first step, however small, your future starts bending.
And that’s how things change.
Curious about my process? See more stories In the Open.
