I’ve been reflecting on what it has meant to be in this journey to help build Lovely from being a simple idea, to a true app used by couples. As one of the first hires and one of the first people to begin turning an idea into something real alongside our team, I’ve learned that building a company is about much more than writing code or shipping features. It is about trust.
At Lovely, we are not industry veterans with decades of experience, nor are we founders who have already built successful companies before. We are students first — a little naive, maybe, but naive enough to believe we can make a real, positive impact on the world. We are designers, developers, marketers, and dreamers who decided to create something that we hope will genuinely improve people’s lives. Along the way, we have made mistakes, learned difficult lessons, and discovered that transparency and honesty are truly essential.
That is why we choose to build in public.
In an industry that can often feel distant or impersonal, we believe there is value in showing people who we really are. We want to put faces to the name “Lovely.” We want our users to know that behind every update, every feature, and every late night spent working, there is a team of ordinary people, with only a dream and dealing with much uncertainty, doing their best to build something meaningful.
Building in public is our way of demonstrating that we are not above anyone. We are learning as we go, just like everyone else. We celebrate our successes, acknowledge our failures, and remain honest about the challenges that come with creating something new. We believe that vulnerability and transparency are strengths, not weaknesses.
Most importantly, we do not want Lovely to be built solely by an internal team. We want to build it alongside the people who use it. The feedback, ideas, and stories shared by our community will shape what Lovely becomes and, ultimately, what makes it unforgettable.
As our journey continues, we hope that our openness helps people understand our intentions: not simply to create another app, but to foster a culture rooted in trust, humility, and collaboration.
We are still students. We are still learning. We are still human.
And that is precisely why we build in public.
— Daniel Acosta, Founding Engineer