In 2007 I was a 13-year boy surfing the internet. It was the early days where we didn’t understand blogs would become digital media behemoths, and YouTubers would become our new celebrities. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I started a blog on then FreeWebs, which later became Webs. What I did know was I wanted to share my thoughts and opinions with others on the internet, but I wanted to do it on my terms and in my own space. I wanted to design and develop websites and build the perfect website for myself. While I never ended up learning to code beyond the basics, I met two amazing guys who have become close friends and business partners. These two, Kyle and Sunny, are amazingly talented at front end design and back end development, respectively. They’ve built dozens of projects and designed and coded the site you’re looking at now. They’ve stayed in contact for over a decade on the internet, and no matter what we’ve always managed to find ways to talk after dropping off for weeks or months at a time. What I’m getting at is the internet has permanently shaped my life. I’ve made lifelong friends, found jobs, and met like-minded people who love creating and talking about technology.
Now over a decade later, we’re joining efforts in building a media brand. I know you’re thinking “the media industry is the most volatile and hardest industry to break into,” which isn’t far from the truth. We’re confident we’re covering niches which aren’t served to the fullest extent. Digital Bounds is looking towards the undercovered topics on that sites like The Verge, TechnoBuffalo, and others don’t have time to cover. We’re writing about personal assistants on the Pebble, podcasts you should listen to, and recapping Product Hunt each week. We’re also working towards building a music and culture site with YoYoRamon. We haven’t focused solely on us publishing; we are creating a place where developers and designers can get feedback on projects, like a mashup between Medium and Forrst. We also have some more amazing projects in the future that would complement our sites, and extend our reach.
If you look at Digital Bounds at the beginning: I was unfocused and didn’t have a clear vision of what I wanted to do. I have only in the past year fully put together a roadmap and business plan for all our projects. While I’ve been working on Digital Bounds over the years – I never knew it could take me to work with Android Authority or The Next Web. Now, we are looking towards a more focused Digital Bounds with coverage of what happens after the Kickstarter is funded, a revisit of apps or devices after major updates, and how the internet is affecting us directly. These are topics I’m not only passionate about, but they’re the least talked about around the web. Once the press coverage jumps to the next story we forget what happens with the devices like the Pebble Smartwatch.
The total redesign takes parts and pieces from our old design, and will help make reading easier and help in finding other interesting posts on the site. We’re still squashing bugs, tweaking the design, and adding features. We’re a small three person team with the help of a 2 or 3 writers most of the time. We won’t disappoint though! We’ll have coverage from CES, SXSW, and other major conferences, trade shows, and press events.
All-in-all, we cannot do this without everyone who’s reading, sharing, and commenting/replying to the posts. You’re our biggest reason we’re working towards our dreams and passions.