Work

Projects

What I have been building since leaving Descript in September 2026. The cards are work I can talk about without inventing a product: the side apps I am most excited to build, next to shipped work like Hair 7.

They live under github.com/chen101385. Most repos are still private, so the project name 404s until it is ready to share. The username link works today.

• about-me

  Live

  github.com/chen101385/about-me

  Personal site so LinkedIn is not the only public version of Chris Chen.

  Home, Experience, Projects, and Journal, with gated resumes. Recruiters can skim the commercial path, friends can skip the quota stories, and he can write when something is worth writing. This site is already public; the other project cards are the work he can talk about without inventing a product.

• Meet the Guests

  In progressPrivate repo

  github.com/chen101385/warm-intros-only · currently private

  A phone-friendly companion page beside an invitation, so people actually talk at the gathering.

  Guests open a link, browse short introductions — faces, a few interests, and an easy “come say hi if…” — and can leave their own in a couple of minutes. There is no RSVP, messaging, or attendance list; anyone with the link can view the intros, emails stay private, and the page is meant to feel like a mutual friend making introductions.

• Hair 7

  ShippedPrivate repo

  github.com/chen101385/hair-seven · currently private

  Marketing and booking site for Kim’s single-owner salon in Mountain View, built to be the salon’s real web presence instead of a Yelp listing.

  One scrolling page covers services, hours, and about; appointment and question forms text Kim directly so she can call or text back herself. It is the shipped, local proof of the same instinct as the other projects: make it easier for people to show up in person.

• habit-for-habit

  In progressPrivate repo

  github.com/chen101385/habit-for-habit · currently private

  A mobile app that turns overuse of apps you cannot put down into a debt you pay in positive habits.

  For iOS and Android. Social media, news, and anything else that runs past the time you meant to spend. Excess usage becomes a debt paid in exercise, meditation, going to bed on time, and similar. Soft mode lets you keep using the target app but accrues that debt; hard mode can cap or block it. The idea is treating a bad habit for a good one, not another streak counter.

• local-event-finder

  ExperimentPrivate repo

  github.com/chen101385/local-event-finder · currently private

  A small city search for events — type a place, see what’s on (date, venue, tickets).

  An early, lightweight finder, not a social product and not the center of the portfolio. Useful as a simple “what’s happening near you” experiment next to the gathering and talent ideas.

• How to X

  In progressPrivate repo

  github.com/chen101385/howtox · currently private

  A seminar and six-to-eight-week program for middle schoolers around self-reliance, resiliency, and grit.

  Each student sets a goal from a real passion or interest; mentorship, expectation-setting, and progress tracking carry it through the weeks, including not hitting the goal. Failure is designed to be safe, low-risk, and low-consequence, so they get a first look at how to approach goal-oriented work later as adults.

• services-website

  ScaffoldingPrivate repo

  github.com/chen101385/services-website · currently private

  Starting structure for a services marketplace in the Thumbtack mold — find and request a type of service.

  The competitive differentiator is still TBD. Treat this as scaffolding for “access services of a particular type,” not a finished positioning story.

• local-supplier-generic

  ScaffoldingPrivate repo

  github.com/chen101385/local-supplier-generic · currently private

  A reusable shell for vendor or supply listings you could re-skin by city or category.

  It has not been specified further. It sits with the other TBD scaffolding, not with the products that have a clear “why.”

• talent-on-demand

  In progressPrivate repo

  github.com/chen101385/talent-on-demand · currently private

  Book live entertainment talent — music, comedy, cooking, storytelling — the way you would book a service.

  For people with enjoyment-focused talents to put that work online, and for consumers to book it for dinner entertainment, special events, or other gatherings, remote or in person. The nuances are still being refined. Aimed at enjoyment rather than corporate staffing.

• Friends or Lovers

  In progressPrivate repo

  github.com/chen101385/friends-or-lovers · currently private

  A Q&A dating app that scores each pair twice — once as friends, once as lovers.

  Same answers, two readings of the fit, so a match can be friendship, romance, or both instead of a single swipe score.

• Taste matching (unnamed)

  TBD

  Repo name not set yet.

  An alternate matching product based on taste — movies, music, food — rather than questionnaire scores.

  Name not set. The more you match, the more of the other person’s profile you can see. Still TBD, and the sibling idea to Friends or Lovers rather than a replacement for it.