Rowan Doutré Jones

“So we went to Guru’s…”

Never mind. That’s a dumb inside joke that my two cofounders and I default to in conversation when we don’t know what to say (like right now, just in written form). It references a restaurant named Guru’s where one of us (Spencer) went on a first date. With a girl. It was pretty awesome. Ok, I guess I’ll start with the story of how we know each other.

It started with three of us: Spencer (see above), Rowan, and Alex (that’s me). Spencer is from the SF Bay Area. Rowan was born there too, met Spencer a few days after birth, and they’ve been friends ever since. Rowan moved to San Diego when he was 12, where we met and became friends.

Spencer basically lived at Rowan’s house every summer and the three of us bonded over the same stupid shenanigans that you and your best friends probably do. That is, if you and your best friends are three teenage pyros with a penchant for homemade lightsabers, caffeine and toilet papering the houses of girls you like. 

Right before we turned 13, Rowan was diagnosed with bone cancer, Ewing’s Sarcoma. That was really scary at first, but to be honest none of us really grasped the gravity of the situation at the time. Rowan went bald. We shaved our heads with him and adjusted to a new lifestyle the way kids do. That lifestyle consisted of playing copious amounts of Madden 2004 on PS2 with Rowan in the hospital and making up funny stories to tell the kids at our middle school about why Rowan had left. Sometimes, I’d kind of forget that he had cancer until he would leave his hospital bed to go throw up in the bathroom (#ChemoSideEffects).

After 15 rounds of intense chemotherapy and a few surgeries (which left Rowan without a fibula in his right leg), he was cancer free.

But it didn’t last long. About a year and half later (now 15 years old) Rowan’s cancer metastasized to his lungs, and his diagnosis got much more daunting. Now older, we actually understood the severity of the situation. It was serious. But we did our best to be as jovial as possible (it’s a natural talent). We made jokes. We teased Rowan for being bald and for getting fat because of his steroid meds. We ate lots of food and played more video games. After more chemo and more surgeries, Rowan underwent a radical stem-cell transplant therapy that only nine other people in the world had undergone up to that point.

Thankfully… it all worked.

Fast forward nine years and Rowan’s healthy, alive, and cancer free at age 24. We joke a lot, but are truly grateful for that. We know that many aren’t as fortunate.

Rowan’s cancer experience provided the spark for the idea that eventually became Cancer Spot, a mobile app that connects everyone in the world affected by cancer. It gives cancer fighters, survivors, and supporters the ability to connect and talk with others who best understand their unique circumstances (I’ll let him write his own post about that later). 

So Spencer, Rowan, and I (Alex) formed Spot Tech, a startup dedicated to building communities around chronic illnesses. Given our backgrounds in design, development, business, and cancer, this project was a no-brainer for us. We dropped out of college and began building and working full-time six months ago. Since then, two talented engineers (and good friends) have turned down higher-paying jobs to join us on our mission to connect those who need it most. Tyler and Jacob couldn’t be a more perfect fit, from both a talent and personality perspective. We are all getting pumped to release the Cancer Spot beta in a few weeks.

Also, we got accepted into the Tech Stars London 2015 cohort!!! We’ve been in London for a week and are loving every minute (except for the minutes spent on a crowded subway, pressed up against large, sweaty European men). We’re the youngest, most inexperienced team of the eleven teams here, but it’s inspiring to work alongside a diverse group of the world’s best and brightest entrepreneurs and mentors.