Eleven Years Since Instapeer: Reflecting on What Was—and What’s Still Needed

💾 ☎️ 📱 THROWBACK THURSDAY 📱 ☎️ 💾

Picture it. NYC. 2013.

Most people would have no idea that Stupid Cancer built the first-ever mobile app for cancer peer support. Before Bumble. Before Tinder. We called it Instapeer. AND IT WORKED!

You wanted to meet another 23-year-old going through testicular cancer with one ball, chemo brain and no eyebrows? The app could do that. Built to answer the call no one else would, it gave patients the thing the system too often tends to forget: each other.

Kenny Kane and the whole Stupid Cancer crew built it because, at the time, life sciences didn't really care. (One could argue they care a little more these days for reasons I explain later) Eleven years later, his nostalgic and reflective blog post strikes a chord, not just one that reminds me everything hurts.

And not because we nailed it.

But because we dared to try. We didn’t wait for permission. We launched it. It had bugs. It had flaws. Lots of flaws. And it mattered anyway.

IMO, every VC deck today sells “community.” Every nonprofit preaches “connection.” Instapeer was that, years before it was cool, before it was monetizable, and before “digital health” became a LinkedIn keyword.

But, alas, it didn’t survive. Because vision doesn’t always win. And healthcare still rewards stagnation over soul.

"If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late." — Reid Hoffman

If you remember Instapeer, you're old, and hopefully grateful to still be above the grass. Kenny’s reflection isn’t necessarily about nostalgia. It’s a reminder. If we want anything to change, we have to keep building. Keep risking.

If this hits home for the rest of you, toss it a like, a repost, comment, or tag someone you may be ambivalent about. One click makes a bigger difference than you think.

SOURCE ➡️ https://kenny-kane.com/blog/eleven-years-since-instapeer-reflecting-on-what-wasand-whats-still-needed