đź‘‹ Hi there!
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I'm Walter, the CEO of Together. Thanks for being here!
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I know it might be a bit strange to start by introducing myself, but I'm going to be sharing a lot of personal stuff in this post, so I figured it's best to start by breaking the ice.
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Don't worry, though – this post isn't about me. It's about Together, its history ( can we call it that even though it's only been a few months?), its philosophy, and its culture – in other words, the reason for its existence.
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So why am I sharing so much personal stuff? Well, it's because Together was born out of two of my biggest passions. Let me explain!
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Well, for starters, I've been immersed in the “self-improvement” world for several years now – it's one of my biggest passions.
It all started with a few books and some videos, but my “aha moment” came when I realized that making small changes could lead to big results (what’s up, James Clear?). Especially in managing my ADHD (which is a condition that both my son and I share).
Meanwhile, on a professional level, I found myself increasingly missing designing and building products – which is my other big passion.
This past summer, those two passions converged, and fit together perfectly – easy joke, I know!Â
I started looking at the digital self-improvement products that were already out there (mostly habit trackers).
What I found was that they were mainly designed for individuals, not for collaborative use. As a parent in a large family, my life is all about collaboration – managing routines and necessary habits with multiple people can be incredibly difficult.
On top of that, the tools for managing those routines and habits are scattered all over the place – calendars, task lists, and group chats. One person uses one, the other another… In the end, you end up creating a WhatsApp group with yourself to dump everything that comes to your mind, and it ends up being a messy drawer.
I started digging and asking around, and quickly realized that these issues were common among cohabitants. Moreover, the idea was very well accepted!
Encouraged by the positive feedback, I jumped right in and created the initial designs of the product. I even decided to apply to YCombinator and started building a team.Â
And now, after a few weeks of hard work, I’m super proud to say that we have a super team and the product is taking really good shape.
Fun fact: just a few years ago, I told a friend in the VC world that I could never see myself being a CEO again. Never say never!
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Getting started with the designs was easy for me since I had a clear idea in mind.
However, it wasn't just about creating a design, it was also about shaping the idea, purpose, mission, and the intangible elements that make up the culture and direction of the company.
Thinking big, I came up with two major objectives:
1. We only have one life, and we want to help people make the most of it
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Unfortunately, this concept doesn't have a name and isn't taught in schools, even though it should be one of the most important lessons. Being able to invest quality time in activities that bring you joy and benefit you makes all the difference.
2. Promote collaboration through the use of technology
We believe in collaboration as a tool for social evolution, supported by technology to enhance it, but not as the ultimate goal.
Our technological approach is focused on helping people make the most of one of our most precious resources, time.
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To give shape to the intangible, we defined our values as a team, which are a “work in progress” as we continue to grow and evolve.‍
At Together, we don't differentiate between “personal life” and “work life” because we believe there's only one timeline and one balance possible in life – even though it's complex.‍
The term “productivity” does not suit us. We focus on helping you live more and spend quality time on what you want, rather than being a productivity app that helps you produce more in terms of work.
As we said, technology is a mean, not an end. We believe in using it to free your brain from storing things like ideas, errands, and your friends’ birthdays. That's why we're building an inbox to help you store these things.
All these values directly translate to the way we're building and designing Together.
We're putting a lot of effort and care into simplifying the use of our product, following our mantra – “complex product, simple user experience”.
After all, if we want to help you improve your day-to-day life, it doesn't make sense for you to waste time figuring out how we work, right?
These past few months have been a rollercoaster of learning and emotions! If you're interested in following our journey after reading this post, there are different ways to get involved:
Thanks a lot for reading me!
