I'm supporting them with their growth in the States.
I've tested the product with a grandma from my wife (87y old with light dementia) and she is having daily calls with InTouch, mostly sharing her stories from times when she was a primary school teacher.
The founder is French, based in Prague and he was looking for a solution for his own mum. And the outcome is inTouch.
I've tested the beta version and I liked their product.
It's a side gig for me, as a fractional growth manager. I'm helping them with early user acquisition in the States. So I'm just replicating my old Uber & Airbnb acq playbooks. :)
You make a really good point about companies transforming their social products into consumption-obsessed platforms. One that I've heard about is bubble — a paid messaging service where fans can message their favorite celebrities in a personal chat (which is actually a group chat behind the scenes). These kinds of companies are definitely capitalizing on parasocial relationships and loneliness. Pretty manipulative!
Super cool that you see lots of potential for this market! I feel like it's pretty easy for social products to be tar pit ideas — what are your thoughts on this tar pit tendency versus the opportunities in the friend-tech problem space?
Yeah, I imagine many of these ideas around friend-tech are generally tar pit ideas. We're already seeing headlines IRT AI companions that are pretty sinister. That said, I do think there are certain situations or needs that people have that are unmet where products can fit a clear gap.
The notion of “friend-shaped” products is so spot on! I do wonder if these types of solutions inadvertently exacerbate the underlying issues though - it’s probably too early for data but tackling the symptoms (craving intimacy) may ultimately just paper over the root causes (social isolation)
This recent panel of founders appears relevant (didn’t expect a beverage company in there!):
I feel like group texting (on Messages or WhatsApp) has come to dominate this space. A group of 10 of my friends from college have a main group text and a number of interest-based subgroups as well. There’s a huge family texting group that is very high traffic in my family as well — I’m not on it but my wife updates me on the goings on. I think the it’s going to be hard for apps to beat out texting because people are already in their texting app all day anyway and Messages/WhatsApp are steadily incorporating more social features.
Hi Nickey,
I'm currently helping these folks: https://www.intouch.family/en
I'm supporting them with their growth in the States.
I've tested the product with a grandma from my wife (87y old with light dementia) and she is having daily calls with InTouch, mostly sharing her stories from times when she was a primary school teacher.
Any feedback will be approached!
VACLAV 👋🏻
This is so interesting! Did you build this or just using it?
The founder is French, based in Prague and he was looking for a solution for his own mum. And the outcome is inTouch.
I've tested the beta version and I liked their product.
It's a side gig for me, as a fractional growth manager. I'm helping them with early user acquisition in the States. So I'm just replicating my old Uber & Airbnb acq playbooks. :)
I really liked your blog post today!
You make a really good point about companies transforming their social products into consumption-obsessed platforms. One that I've heard about is bubble — a paid messaging service where fans can message their favorite celebrities in a personal chat (which is actually a group chat behind the scenes). These kinds of companies are definitely capitalizing on parasocial relationships and loneliness. Pretty manipulative!
Super cool that you see lots of potential for this market! I feel like it's pretty easy for social products to be tar pit ideas — what are your thoughts on this tar pit tendency versus the opportunities in the friend-tech problem space?
Yeah, I imagine many of these ideas around friend-tech are generally tar pit ideas. We're already seeing headlines IRT AI companions that are pretty sinister. That said, I do think there are certain situations or needs that people have that are unmet where products can fit a clear gap.
Will be interesting to watch this all play out! 🍿
The notion of “friend-shaped” products is so spot on! I do wonder if these types of solutions inadvertently exacerbate the underlying issues though - it’s probably too early for data but tackling the symptoms (craving intimacy) may ultimately just paper over the root causes (social isolation)
This recent panel of founders appears relevant (didn’t expect a beverage company in there!):
https://www.fastcompany.com/91292213/suffering-from-loneliness-these-businesses-may-have-a-cure
I feel like group texting (on Messages or WhatsApp) has come to dominate this space. A group of 10 of my friends from college have a main group text and a number of interest-based subgroups as well. There’s a huge family texting group that is very high traffic in my family as well — I’m not on it but my wife updates me on the goings on. I think the it’s going to be hard for apps to beat out texting because people are already in their texting app all day anyway and Messages/WhatsApp are steadily incorporating more social features.