Beyond Heroku to Muse

The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source

This week we’re back for part 2 with Adam Wiggins — going beyond Heroku and the story of Muse (listen to part 1). After a six-year adrenaline high on Heroku, Adam needed time to recover and refill the creative well. So, he moved to Berlin, did some gig work with companies…dabbled in investing and advising. But he wasn’t satisfied. Adam likes to build things.

Ultimately, he was just waiting for the right time to reconnect with James Lindenbaum and Orion Henry — the same fellas he created Heroku with. Eventually they founded Ink & Switch, an independent research lab which led to innovations that made Muse possible. Muse is a tool for deep work and thinking on iPad and Mac. Today’s show is all about that journey and the details in-between.

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Sponsors:

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Featuring:

• Adam Wiggins – Twitter, GitHub, LinkedIn, Website
• Adam Stacoviak – Mastodon, Twitter, GitHub, LinkedIn, Website
• Jerod Santo – Mastodon, Twitter, GitHub, LinkedIn

Show Notes:

• (Part 1) The Changelog #513: The story of Heroku with Adam Wiggins
• My journey into the Berlin startup scene
• Making computers better
• Museapp.com
• Ink & Switch
• Adam’s Heroku values.md
• Muse principles

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!

Timestamps:

(00:00) - This week on The Changelog
(01:13) - Sponsor: Sentry
(01:54) - Start the show!
(03:04) - Where do we begin?
(05:58) - Who's idea was Ink & Switch?
(11:14) - Who's the "We" of Ink & Switch?
(16:11) - There is no cloud
(18:19) - From research to Muse
(23:40) - Shipping Muse and the App Store
(32:02) - Getting to deep thought is a struggle
(34:26) - Sponsor: FireHydrant
(35:44) - Why is this your focus?
(38:37) - Is this your Sophmore album?
(43:01) - What is success for Muse?
(46:30) - Is Muse collaborative?
(48:02) - Tools for thought
(52:24) - The big ideas of Muse
(1:02:51) - When tools get in your way
(1:08:13) - The struggle of multi-platform
(1:14:58) - The end game for Muse
(1:18:33) - Do all roads lead to the Metaverse?
(1:21:15) - Values & principles
(1:25:36) - Sponsor: Retool
(1:26:19) - The state of the business of Muse
(1:29:44) - Muse might be perfect for Adam
(1:32:43) - Are you writing any code?
(1:36:13) - Adam's web stack
(1:40:09) - Ride or die on Muse?
(1:43:03) - Curiosity + uncharted territory
(1:46:05) - Try Muse ~> museapp.com
(1:47:55) - Closing out the show
(1:48:54) - Outro