Instagram story viewer> @timfalls> Posts

tsf

@timfalls

903

followers

2250

following

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

Next month I’m coming home to Bloomington, IN, to gather startup founders for an afternoon of learning and building.

I grew up in Indiana, did undergrad at @iubloomington (and competed for @indianawr), and still have family roots there. Since moving away 18 years ago, I’ve kept ties through my work in the startup ecosystem. The last time I helped bring an event like this to Bloomington was API Hack Day, well over a decade ago. It’s been too long!

@mlhacks is partnering with @amplifybloomington and @paragraphventures to host MLH Accelerate: a 4-hour, in-person build sprint designed to help founders keep pace and provide a space for happy collisions to happen.

🗓️ When: Thu, Oct 8, 1-5 PM ET
📍 Where: The Mill in Bloomington, IN
👥 Who: Startup founders and their teams — bring your team for focused coworking (each teammate RSVP), or come solo and meet potential collaborators.
💻 What: 1) Welcoming remarks from mentors. 2) Time to build (choose your own adventure). 3) Demos. (No judging, competition, or prizes).
🎟️ Cost: Free, lunch included.

@jessissocial, co-founder of @thepracticaldev and Founder in Residence at MLH, will be there providing expert mentorship. I’ll be facilitating and making sure founders have a fun and valuable experience.

Whether you’re in Bloomington, Indy, West Lafayette, Evansville, or anywhere beyond or in between: if you’re building a startup, we hope you can be there.

🔗 Links in bio to RSVP and get more info about MLH Accelerate

Special and sincere thanks to the community leaders in Bloomington for hosting and helping make this happen: @tobey.wyatt and the team at Amplify and The Mill, @trotzke and the folks at Paragraph. taken in Bloomington, Indiana by @timfalls

15

2

20 days ago

In my last post I offered a preview of a talk I was preparing for @devrelcon in Brooklyn. I’m happy to say it went well — that is, it felt good to me, and a bunch of people approached me after to tell me they loved it.

For the curious, I wrote a full summary on my blog (link in bio), including slides and links to the primary call to action — an exercise everyone’s invited to join on their own.

I’m proud of the message I shared, because I believe it’s vitally important to us, individually and collectively.

And thanks to a heartfelt DM from a fellow speaker after the show, I’m also proud of *how* I shared it. In that note, they explained their spiritual and work lives feel bifurcated (a feeling I relate to). They then acknowledged that my talk — both the message and its delivery — felt like a merging of those worlds, a collapsing of that bifurcation, noting that’s not all too common in tech (or business in general).

That nudge helped me see it, too. Bringing my homemade hand drum on stage and playing us in and out with the rhythm of our heartbeat was an especially visible example of me integrating parts of myself that my colleagues may experience in all our interactions, but rarely see so explicitly.

📣 Shout out to @mlhacks for sharing the stage.
💗 Thx to the DevRelCon community for receiving with open hearts.
🙏🏼 Prayers up to my teachers, relatives, ancestors for showing the way.

[photos by MLH | video by @accordionguy] Same speaker holds a large round hand drum with tan/beige coloring, smiling at the podium. A projection screen behind him shows an abstract colorful waveform visualization in pink, purple, and blue. The screen displays “timfalls.net/soul-md” and DevRelCon branding. taken in Industry City by @timfalls

33

4

2 months ago

Hey 👋🏼 I’ll be in NYC again next week, getting on a stage for the first time in a few years to give a little (7-min) talk at @devrelcon in Brooklyn.

It’s called “SOUL.md: The Root Configuration File for DevRel.”
Sounds techy and geeky, because it’s for a room full of tech geeks. It’s actually all about getting clear on our values and what we need to thrive, and then aligning our work accordingly — packaged intentionally to be especially supportive and relatable for folks working in DevRel.

The idea was inspired by a conversation with my friend @theycallmeswift. We started working together in this field 15 years ago, and we were reflecting on how the craft has evolved over those years.

I’m not leading a DevRel team right now, but if I was, this is the kinda stuff I’d be leading with.

If you’ll be at the conference, I hope you’ll join at 9am on Thursday. If you can’t make it, I’ll post an in depth version of the talk on my website.

Thanks to @mlhacks for the opportunity.
Very excited to see everyone there. taken in Brooklyn, New York by @timfalls

35

3

3 months ago

Many of y’all know, I grew up in Indiana. If you’re familiar with the 1986 film, Hoosiers, you understand that basketball is life there. As a country kid, our basketball hoop was hung on an old historic shed (much lower than the regulation height of 10ft, which was fine by me as a lil’ shorty), and our “court” was an uneven surface of dusty coal cinders and loose gravel. I spent countless hours, often well past sundown, reenacting Michael Jordan game-winners and sweating out intense games of 1:1 and H-O-R-S-E with my big brother.

Wrestling eventually took over (turns out, I was more of a grappler than a hooper) and consumed my attention through (and a few years beyond) college. Then career happened. Amidst all that, basketball drifted away for a few decades.

When I moved back to the Bay Area in 2021, basketball recaptured my heart, thanks to Steph Curry (the most exciting player since MJ, in my opinion) and the Warriors 2022 run to the NBA championship. Being a fan again helped carry me through some tough years in my personal life.

Fast forward to 2025, when I noticed my friend and serial entrepreneur, @frankdenbow, was building his next startup: Ballers (@realballersdotcom). I observed from a distance for awhile and finally reached out, curious what exactly he was creating. I learned that basketball has been a meaningful and uplifting part of Frank’s journey, too.

Earlier this month I did something I’d hoped to do since getting into startups 17 years ago — I made my first real angel investment, in Frank and in Ballers.

Today, in a full circle moment from my childhood days in the driveway, Frank and I played 1-on-1 at a city park in SF. I can’t recall the last time I played ball with a friend. I got real winded (which felt great), and Frank was victorious; but my win was remembering how incredibly fun a little play and friendly competition can be.

Oh, and we recorded it with the Ballers app, so I finally got to see myself in the product I invested in. 🏀

There’s lots more to the story on my blog — link in bio.

Go Dubs! 🌉 Tim Falls and Frank Denbow smiling outdoors on a sunny day, Tim holding a basketball in a blue hoodie and pink beanie, Frank in a black 'Ask me about Ballers' hoodie. Lemon tree heavy with fruit in the background. taken in San Francisco, California by @timfalls

59

4

7 months ago

“How long is too long to keep trying something that isn’t working?” 🤔

For me, the answer (at least sometimes) is a whole damn year.

After 12 months of job searching — job descriptions, applications, interviews, repeat — I got a rejection (aka, redirection) email that finally motivated me to break that spirit-depleting cycle.

Instead of updating my resume for the hundredth time, I picked up my tool belt. 🛠️

Within a day, I had handyman work lined up. Within a week, I was sourcing freshly-milled Redwood planks (true 2x12’s!) from the coastal forests of West Sonoma County and building raised garden beds on a beautiful piece of land just down the road. 🌱

[Endless gratitude to the friends and neighbors who trusted me with their homes and projects. 🙏🏼]

In my latest blog post, I share more about the experience, reveal how that led me back to work in tech (part-time), and what I learned from the journey.

Link in bio 🔗 taken in Sebastopol, California by @timfalls

33

4

7 months ago

This dog - Finn, Finntastic, InFinnito Falls - has such a beautiful soul. He loves everyone (in 7 years, I’ve never seen him show anything but kindness toward another being), and everyone who meets him loves him back (some even *still* love him after he licks their face without consent).
So loved is Finn that he often gets compliments on our daily walks. Once I noticed this pattern, I started taking notes of passersby’s comments. Here are a few classics from recent months:

“I love your dog” (swooning eyes)

“The ears” (makes ‘air quotes’ motion with hands to mimic floppy, bouncing ears)

“Is that a pig?” - a toddler in the park with their dad

*Side note: comparisons to pig and cow are common, and we take them as complements, too. 🐷 🐮 🐶

Feel free to shower him with love or share a fave Finn memory in the comments. I’ll relay them to him as pets and kisses received. by @timfalls

39

4

8 months ago

“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.” - Arundhati Roy taken in Marin County by @timfalls

23

0

8 months ago

Finn reminds me (often, right when I need reminding) of the canine’s uncanny capacity for unconditional love. I’m really grateful to receive that love. And I’m really trying to follow his lead. 🐾 💞

Tell your dog I said hi 👋🏼 A dog sits on a hillside with the su. Setting behind him in the distance on the horizon by @timfalls

46

5

10 months ago

As sure as the sun sets every day, we are loved. 🧡 by @timfalls

15

3

2 years ago

Perched owl

at the edge of a Eucalyptus grove

against a setting late-summer sun.

Takes flight.

*gasp*

///

We walk slowly and lightly so that we may notice and appreciate.

👆👉
[swipe to slide 2 when the lyrics fade] by @timfalls

15

3

2 years ago

Wherever you are, be there. taken in Doran Beach by @timfalls

26

2

2 years ago

🌹 Dear Rosa Rosalita Maestra Plantita y Medicina de Corazón,

Thank you for your presence and teachings during my recent initiation with your wise, powerful, and sweet spirit.

I felt the softness of your petals and the sharpness of your thorns. Through their complementary forces, you reinforced the importance and potency of balance - in life, in relationship, and in my inner work.

With you, for you, through you I wrote my first song. We played instruments and sang together - letting creativity flow and freeing voices that want and need to be heard.

With your support I reopened my heart, found new relationships, and renewed old ones. You led me back to love and helped me remember that love melds our souls and maintains our universal interconnectedness.

I’m honored and grateful to add you to my spirit counsel and receive your guidance to walk in a good way and exist in harmony with myself and all beings. I pray my intentions and efforts toward reciprocity have been and continue to be of service to you. May you thrive and grow and blossom and shed your beauty on all.

Thank you, hermosa Rosalita, for meeting me here, communing with me, and joining me on this journey of healing and tending. 🌹

🌱 🙏🏼 ✨ by @timfalls

13

2

2 years ago