We tried a lot of things out, had a popular hit with Planetary and a thoughtful flop with Biologic, and gathered data and wisdom about how the world responds to highly graphical/interactive environments for exploring everyday information. Stubbornly, of course, I still believe there's something there, but unfotunately there's not enough there to keep Bloom going today. If you're thinking about trying something similar then do drop me a line, I'd be happy to talk through what worked and what didn't.
In more upbeat news, I started a new job as a Data Visualization Engineer at Square! I'll have more to say about that as it progresses, but for now I'm content to soak it up and get to know how everything works.
As Bloom wound down I was fortunate enough to have the time to explore several different opportunities in depth and learn a lot about different approaches to building teams, companies and products. In some ways it was the first time I've ever felt part of a job market so I tried to take full advantage of that. It's a very good problem to have, but making a final choice was difficult.
It was tempting to take what I learned from Bloom and help build another company from scratch, or to return to my consulting/agency comfort zone, or to find a small company of friends where I would have immediate impact. In the end I've chosen the role where I think I have the most to learn, where I'll have a chance to apply myself differently, and get to know a kind of team, vision, scale (400+ people) and trajectory (new office, new markets) that I've never experienced before.
Onward!