Projects I stopped

What didn’t work

Not everything I built found its place. The projects I stopped belong in the story too.

01Context

Alongside the work that continued, I built two things that didn’t: an AI trading system and an insurance product. Both taught me something the successful projects couldn’t.

02The projects

  1. OTJDid not continue

    otj.app

    What it was

    An AI quantitative trading system, with a real-time investor portal where every position, trade, signal and return is visible and auditable.

    What I took from it

    Even here, the instinct was the same as everywhere else: make the record auditable, so nobody has to take the result on trust.

  2. AXK InsuranceStopped · no product–market fit
    Why it stopped

    I couldn’t find product–market fit, so I didn’t continue.

03What I learned

A trustworthy record is necessary, but it isn’t sufficient. What gets built on top of it still has to meet a need someone will act on, and pay for.

Stopping was a decision, not a default. It is how AXK got my full attention.

04Back to the question

Failure is part of the record too. Leaving these out would make the story tidier, and less true.