Joel Always one syllable

Deciding to shut down Shubox

22 Sep 2025

Ruth, our puppy, lounging while I work on my laptop
Ruth, our puppy, keeping me company while I do some work.

For nearly nine years, Shubox has been a part of my life. It started as a passion project — a SaaS product that I dreamed might one day stand on its own. At the time, success, to me, meant autonomy. The more users, more revenue, the more viability, meant that maybe it could replace my day job. That was the vision.

(Does that story sound familiar? Work a full time job? Create a side-hustle that pops, concentrate on that full-time? Yes. It does sound familiar.)

But over time, my definition of success evolved. These days, success looks a lot more like balance: meaningful work at my full-time job, more time with my family, and projects that bring me energy rather than drain it. In that light, keeping Shubox running just didn’t fit anymore. This is why I made the decision to send an email out last week to customers, colleagues, friends, supporters, and advisors, that I would be shutting it down by the end of the year. Emails have been sent out. People have been notified. I will start the 3 month process of shutting all moving parts down.

It wasn’t a single dramatic event that led me here, but rather a quiet repetition: the voice in my head saying, “I should really work on Shubox.” I heard it one (maybe ten) too many times, often when I’d rather be fully present with my family. That’s when it clicked — instead of energizing me, Shubox had become a weight.

I’d had some conversations with friends about it (shout-out to Ben who in a catch-up conversation made me think really hard about this). Additionally, my CPA would, like clockwork, remind me every year that we could wind down all corporate considerations to make the yearly conversation reduce by one (shout-out Peter! 🐐️). The thought had been bouncing around in there for a while and when met with the experience above, I think I knew it was time.

The decision to walk away from Shubox has also changed how I think about these personal projects. What is “success”? Success isn’t just about longevity or profitability or autonomy. It’s about how well a project will fit into my life and whether it adds more than it takes. A successful side project might be small, fun, and light — not necessarily something that has to “make it big.”

I don’t think anyone would ask me for advice. But, if you’re wrestling with whether to shut down a project of your own, here’s what I’d say:

  • Listen to that inner voice; it’s usually telling you the truth.
  • Don’t measure yourself against other people’s expectations. Only you know whether a project is worth your time.
  • Letting go doesn’t mean failure. Sometimes it’s the most thoughtful, mature decision you can make.
  • You’re not giving up on creativity; you’re just making space for projects that actually fit your life.

In closing, Shubox will always mean a lot to me. It taught me about building, maintaining, and, eventually, letting go. More importantly, it taught me about myself. While Shubox is coming to an end, my creativity and my desire to build isn’t. It’s just shifting into something lighter, more sustainable, and more aligned with where I am today. I’m sure I’ll have something else to share in the not too distant future.