(Happy Thanksgiving!!!)
My goal in writing this series about the inception of StockX was probably to publish the fact that I had my hat in the ring, even if only for a line or two of code. Grasping at straws, sure, but it’s not every day you meet someone that wrote a single line of code for a company that turned out to be a multi-billion dollar game changer. I was struggling with my own concept of my contribution, and…I don’t know…somehow felt like I hadn’t contributed enough? I’m not sure. But…it’s a position I’m not sure many people get to see: Imagine you’re into something *so* much, that you simply being interested in it suddenly lands you in places and conversations and rooms that eventually alter the course of said something in ways that nobody could have imagined. That’s what I set out to claim. So... What started as a blog post to try and claim my place, morphed into this world where being a fan of sneakers on the internet begat a virtual pseudo-friendship, which begat an app, which begat a multi-billion dollar internet business that is, quite literally - shifting financial markets and feeding families across the globe…where do you find the connection after that?
Thing #3: October 25, 2025. ComplexCon. Las Vegas. I wasn’t really expecting this to end up where it ended, but…I walk through the front door with my ‘early’ pass and one of the first things I see is a ‘Ghostwrite’ booth. There’s a couple of people there, but no Josh. I don’t really expect Josh to be here (dude is probably landing billion dollar licensing agreements all over the world), but I look at one of the guys and I think - ‘hey, I recognize that face’ - it’s Josh’s brother, Matt.
(That is NOT Matt ^^)
I walk right up and I say ‘hey man, I recognize you, but I’m not so sure you’d recognize me - we met on Skype probably like 10 years ago working on Campless. I’m JT, The Sneaker Savant.’ Matt’s all smiles and we kinda pass the baton back and forth…talking about the days on Skype before Zoom and before the wild ride him and Josh had been on (from what I understand, Matt was Josh’s number 2/3 employee at StockX throughout his tenure). After a few minutes of back and forth, he opens up a little pouch around his neck and says ‘hey man, I’ve got something for you if you want it’ and he hands me a Ghostwrite figure of Kevin Durant. I don’t think it’s much to him, but it’s kinda symbolic to me - the first time I met Josh on that Skype meeting - the password he made for me in the system was ‘SplashBros’ - because he knew I was a lifelong Warriors fan…and…KD was a warrior right around the same time. As I’m leaving, Matt says to me ‘hey, Josh is around here somewhere - if you want to come back later I’m sure he’d be happy to meet you.’ I leave with the thought: ‘hell nah I’m not standing in line to meet Josh.’
I spend the rest of the day walking around the event with my friends. It’s massive, and my feet are killing me (WHY DID I WEAR AIR MAX 1’S KNOWING I’D BE WALKING AROUND ALL DAY LONG?’)
Around 6 pm my buddy drags me into that No Limit vs. Cash Money Verzuz thing, and, yeah, it’s cool to be there, but also, the audio sucks and I’m tired as all hell. I sit down in the corner trying to make sense of the audio - I don’t even recognize half of these songs and I’m hungry so wtf am I doing here I need to leave. I get up, walk out halfway through the set, look around and it’s pretty empty…’maybe I’ll see if Josh is at the booth.’
The best part of the Verzuz was that everyone that was in the exhibit hall thought it was more important to go to the Verzuz than putter around the booths, so I walk over to the booths and Josh is just chillin’, pretty much alone.
I walk right up and I say ‘I bet you don’t remember me.’
He looks sticks out his hand and says ‘I don’t, but you definitely look familiar.’
I say ‘JT. Sneaker Savant. We did a little bit of work on Campless back in the day. We’ve never actually met in person but we’ve had quite a few conversations on Skype.’
A look of recognition slides across his face and we begin talking…I won’t say it was like a crazy conversation or anything, but it was a nice conversation and we talked about everything from Campless, to StockX, to the Sneaker Savant, to Ghostwrite and even Ramin. I got to drop a bit of great advice I’ve heard Josh give over the years right back to him - two of my favorites that have always knocked me in the head: ‘ideas are shit, execution is everything’ and the other one ‘licensing is what makes things like this collectible’. I own up to my shortcomings, my frustrations and…I wouldn’t say I’m gushing…but I’m definitely respectful about his accomplishments, and him towards the things I’ve managed to create. Just thinking…for better or for worse…it’s absolutely fascinating what he’s managed to build. I hand him my latest card packs, he hands me a Jae Tips x Ghostwrite figure (that I paid for, of course). Funny enough, after a decade of digitally transacting, the first real one between us was literal — hand to hand, with no middleman.…
At the end of our conversation, I think I said something to Josh like ‘I’m proud to have been a part of it, no matter how insignificant my role actually was’ and Josh comes back with a banger: ‘no. you’re in the book.’ I said ‘what?’ He says ‘yeah, man, I’m writing the book on StockX, and you’re in it. All the early Campless guys are in it.’ Mind blown.
On my way back to the hotel that night, I kept thinking about that line — “you’re in the book.”
For years I’ve been chasing proof that I mattered to something bigger than me. Maybe that’s what keeps me busy in this space — the feeling that I haven’t done enough yet, or that my part wasn’t clear enough to be seen.
Hearing it out loud didn’t fix that. It didn’t feel like closure. It just made me realize that maybe there isn’t any. Maybe all of us — collectors, builders, dreamers — are just trying to find a place in a story that’s still being written.
I don’t know if I’m actually going to be in the book - that remains to be seen. But I know I was there. And maybe, for now, that’s going to have to be enough.
