[HN Gopher] Launch HN: Demigod (YC S19) - Build compounding habi...
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Launch HN: Demigod (YC S19) - Build compounding habits with a
dedicated coach
Hi Hacker News! We're Gokul, Dhanush, and Pete from Demigod
(https://apps.apple.com/us/app/demigod/id1501287553). We were
inspired by atomic habits to build a system for progressing towards
your goals. We help you be more effective with your time by adding
habits and tasks to your calendar. We pair that with data reports,
sharing with friends, and a professional coach in the loop to
review and reset goals. While working on an earlier version of our
startup with unstructured time, ambitious goals, and an uncertain
path, we realized getting started and being consistent with
creative projects is daunting. We needed a system to guarantee
consistent progress and avoid random procrastinating. We found
James Clear's Atomic Habits [1] and it just clicked. With the
pandemic and shutdown, everyone's regular routines were thrown off.
We were forced to think about what we had been doing and if it
resonated with our real goals versus what addiction engineering [2]
was prescribing. We took the chance to rebuild our system with
intention. We're starting with the Calendar (a first order
approximation of how you spend your time). We're adding levers to
make it easy to be intentional with your time and hit goals. We
begin by prompting you to plan your day. We add weekly data
summaries with habit progress data to help visualize progress. We
also include friend challenges and completion wagers for
accountability. Finally, we offer a weekly call with a coach to
review your data and plan your next week.
(https://youtu.be/qKqGLhOZmfE) Setting goals, seeing progress, and
making material changes to your external reality are crucial for
your wellbeing. This is how we've designed the experience: Step 1:
Describe your objectives - Set up comfortable daily flow
(personalized onboarding call available) Step 2: Add your calendar
- Link all of your calendar account and swipe through your day with
the slick controls Step 3: Add habits you want to cultivate - for
example: sleep schedule, reading, meditation, deep work/emails,
exercise, planning sessions, or just having free time. Step 4: Make
them easy - Start with the smallest unit of progress for each habit
you create. Shape your environment, stack habits, and reward
completions. Step 5: Set up your system - Add you friends for
accountability to build durable streaks. Weekly check-ins to
increment, decrement, remove, or create habits. Easy resets for
when you fall off. Our first engineering challenge was adding
complex metrics for goal tracking into a functional calendar. Our
vision for the future is that everyone will have a context aware
conversational assistant that is proactive rather than reactive. We
think that the rapid advances in generative language models like
GPT-3 will power a new way of interacting with our data and
devices. We're excited to share what we've been building with you!
We want to hear about the systems you use to get organized and stay
productive. Let us know any other thoughts or ideas, and we'll be
active in the comments today. [1]
https://expertprogrammanagement.com/2018/11/book-summary-ato...
[2] https://twitter.com/naval/status/1084739181593559040?s=20
Author : gokulprabh
Score : 46 points
Date : 2021-12-03 15:24 UTC (7 hours ago)
| andreyk wrote:
| Hmm, I've been a user of this kind of thing for a long time and
| there's quite a few 'habit-tracking' apps out there (my personal
| choice being Loop Habit Tracker, I dig its minimalism). Is your
| key differentiator the accountability check in idea? $15 per
| month seems quite steep for that, that's like 1/4th of a weekly
| session with a personal trainer.
| dhanush_rad wrote:
| Totally understand that $15 per month seems like a hefty price
| tag for a new product, but it's the lowest we could go since we
| pay human coaches for check-in calls with users.
|
| The average personal trainer charges $30-39 per session
| depending on whose data you check. Assuming 1 session per week,
| the price of a personal trainer is $120-156 per month and our
| combined software and 1:1 human solution is <1/10th of the
| price.
| jahearn wrote:
| My cofounder had been using Demigod for awhile (I was excited to
| try it out, but I'm an Android user). So I've been able to see
| him work through habits vicariously with his coach.
|
| Seems like a great idea!
| kunalgupta wrote:
| Can confirm. Am cofounder. I used Demigod to get everything in
| my habits really tight so that I could find 4 hours EXTRA every
| week in my life to learn to paint. I did it, it worked, and
| after about 3 months I made a pretty good painting as a gift
| for my friend. <3 to Demigod
| gokulprabh wrote:
| Much love
| leetrout wrote:
| Your signup flow is repetitive.
|
| I "signed up" with Apple Login and then it asks for all the info
| again.
| gokulprabh wrote:
| Sign in with apple has an option to obfuscate the data being
| shared with the devs, so we get this random relay like
| 89yzx94n77@privaterelay.appleid.com. We ask for name and email
| again in case
| vincentmarle wrote:
| Then you've missed the point of Apple Sign In
| kingbirdy wrote:
| The point of enabling that option is that users want you to
| use the relay so they don't have to give you their real email
| address. If you're just trying to send an email, why isn't
| the relay acceptable?
| anpat wrote:
| But as icloud user that's my #1 reason to use apple signin.
|
| Why isn't that information enough?
| zaksingh wrote:
| Asking for email after sign-in with Apple is against their
| TOS. At some point when you release an update they'll notice
| and require you to change this. (It happened to me ~6mo after
| we launched!)
| gokulprabh wrote:
| Y'all are right, we're removing this now
| gcatalfamo wrote:
| What is the business model behind it?
| dhanush_rad wrote:
| It's $5 for the first month and $15 for each month after that.
| Each user gets a personalized onboarding call with a human
| coach ($5), with the option for weekly calls thereafter ($15)
| to reflect on the past week's data and plan tasks and habit
| goals for the following week.
| dive wrote:
| The project looks interesting, and I like the approach. But the
| "Claim your habit plan" paywall after a few onboarding screens
| with no option to try the application does not look right and
| feels like another "dark pattern" we are familiar with (force to
| waste some time and then block the results with a paywall).
| gokulprabh wrote:
| Thanks for the heads up - it's definitely our intention to
| demonstrate the potential value before asking for payment. We
| try to make the app as accessible as possible at $5 for the
| first month. We're offering a personalized onboarding call with
| a coach to everyone who onboards which is why we paywall
| upfront.
| ggsp wrote:
| Maybe state the cost earlier in the flow. Feels crappy to
| spend time giving you data about me and then get hit with the
| paywall, and no option to see what Demigod is even about.
| TruthWillHurt wrote:
| Is there an Index Fund for YC and their startups I can hedge?
|
| The latest crop of note taking & productivity apps is really
| disappointing.
| scott_joe wrote:
| Your most favorable review comes from an account named
| "revdemigod." No way that's you, is it? Lol
| dhanush_rad wrote:
| That's my bff from 10th grade
| AYBABTME wrote:
| Sorry this is sort of a ridiculous comment, but your company name
| is a turn off. I'd feel weird using, talking about or
| recommending it to people because of the immediate narcissism it
| invokes.
| Malp wrote:
| I'd like to second this, it was the first thought that came to
| mind when I read the headline.
| dhanush_rad wrote:
| 3 commenters provided the same feedback. We can change the
| name. What do you guys think about calen.com? I can nab it
| for $40K (pricey but seems reasonable for a .com domain)
| AmericanOP wrote:
| I wouldn't abandon the sentiment behind the name entirely,
| but 'god' is a loaded suffix. I'd explore companion spirit
| nomenclature, I'm sure there is a good one out there. Like
| the little Navi faerie from Zelda :)
| paulyacoubian wrote:
| My rules for naming:
|
| Rules for naming a startup
|
| 1. Easy to pronounce 2. Easy to spell 3. Easy to remember
| 4. As few syllables as possible 5. .com unless very good
| reason otherwise 6. Related to the product/service
|
| Calen.com would be a no go if it were me because it
| violates rules 1,2,3 and 6.
|
| I'd go with something like habitkeeper.com which is only
| $2.5k.
| nfw2 wrote:
| Calen doesn't really violate #6 (it's short for
| calendar), but definitely violates #1 and #2. I took me a
| while to see the calendar connection because it looked
| like "Kay-len" to me. Also, 40k seems a bit steep for an
| early-stage company.
|
| I would add uniqueness as a good criteria because it
| helps with SEO and branding and because unique names are
| often easier-to-remember (#3) than generic names.
|
| What I would recommend if you want to go the calendar-
| based route is start with "cal", "calen", or "calend" and
| find a random syllable to complete the word in a unique
| and phonetically-obvious way. You probably can find
| something suitable for under $10k.
| nfw2 wrote:
| Maybe you could go with "Caltic" ($8k). Then you could go
| with a Celtic theme, like use a 4-leaf-clover as the icon
| and a tagline like "Make your own luck" or something like
| that
|
| Or if you don't mind spending some money, calenda is 30k
| izonion wrote:
| A shame, I actually like Demigod.
| masterof0 wrote:
| 40K for a .com domain? do you have users? does your income
| justify dropping 40k in a domain? you can hire a couple of
| devs/designers/ux overseas for that money. Or is vc money
| you dont care to spend? Not judging (well, a little bit) ,
| I really what to understand the mindset behind "40k for a
| domain is reasonable", on an early stage startup. I wish
| you luck, im i will for sure download the app. I also think
| "demigod" gives a "fake guru grindset" vibe.
| dhanush_rad wrote:
| You sound like PG - thanks for the honesty
| adv0r wrote:
| why two years to launch?
| Kiro wrote:
| Two years? That's nothing. RescueTime took 14 years:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28683597
| Lobosque wrote:
| No Android app? Any plans?
| gokulprabh wrote:
| Not just yet but we built on React Native so it could be soon!
| logshipper wrote:
| > Easy resets for when you fall off.
|
| I like this feature.
|
| When the pandemic first hit, I realized how important routines
| and (associated) metrics would be in keeping me afloat in a
| tumultuous time. To that end, I built my own little CLI-based
| habit/checklist tracker and started analyzing trends and habits
| on a weekly and monthly basis.
|
| It worked great at first, I had a privileged insight into my week
| and could therefore fine-tune parameters to optimize for certain
| metrics. However, as the pandemic dragged on, the drudgery of
| waking up from my bed and working from my desk (which is a foot
| away [0]) eventually caught up to me and I started burning out.
| Looking back, a relentless pursuit to optimize for certain KPIs
| was part of the reason. Having successfully mechanized a large of
| my life with little room for error (for fear of rebuke from those
| pretty charts in Tableau), I started dreading those weekly-check
| ins with myself, eventually dropping the habit altogether. My
| tracker went _poof_ soon after that. After all, there will be no
| rebuke from a chart if there is no chart to begin with :))
|
| A couple months later, I cleared the backend database, and
| started anew. I had also come to realize over this "break" that I
| should not tie my self-worth to some graphs [1], and if I was
| getting the important stuff done, I had little to worry about. My
| "system" since then has been working fairly well, I use Trello to
| keep track of stuff, and if something super alarming pops up, I
| investigate. If not, I let things flow.
|
| I believe it would help your user retention massively if you
| could remind users you are not a drill sergeant, but are there to
| help. And part of helping them is to sometimes remind them that
| (bad) metrics are not a judgement of their character and its okay
| to let things slide. You can always start anew.
|
| Good luck to y'all, I wish you well! :)
|
| [0] - I am an undergrad living in off-campus housing. Real-estate
| is unfortunately an expensive luxury at my time in life.
|
| [1] - I recommend Jenny Odell's book "How to do Nothing" to
| anyone feeling like they are on a never-ending treadmill. There
| are parts of it that I didn't like, but all in all, it was a good
| read.
| dhanush_rad wrote:
| Really helpful tip that we should remind users we're not a
| drill sergeant and that your productivity scores don't equal
| your identity.
|
| We don't yet have a profile page in the app, but when we build
| it, we want it to represent the user's identity with a lot of
| fidelity, which will include creative, professional, or
| personal milestones alongside productivity data that the user
| wants to showcase.
|
| I.e. sometimes you will be proud of yourself for a cessation
| streak, but sometimes you will want to proudly display a new
| artwork that is difficult to map to your productivity data.
| alexose wrote:
| You articulated a real concern of mine. At the end of the day,
| literally _everything_ I set out to do seems to turn into a
| programming problem. Trying to get healthy? Better find the
| exact right diet and workout routine. Learning guitar? Better
| find the exact combination of scales and chords to practice.
|
| And like every programming problem, it's only fun until I find
| the answer. Then it becomes maintenance work, slotted alongside
| all of the five million other tasks I have to keep up with:
| Doomed to be ignored, dismissed, or otherwise forgotten about.
|
| I realize there is a serious flaw in my approach to building
| good habits. The way to circumvent it is by decoupling process
| from results, and finding joy in the mere act of doing.
|
| Still, it's so hard to do when trying to improve at something.
| The urge to optimize is pervasive.
| gokulprabh wrote:
| Definitely that's how I think about it too. I use my weekly
| check ins to revise or remove goals all the time. We're going
| for kindergarten teacher vibes over drill sergeant.
|
| Also we live in NYC and are acutely familiar with [0] LOL
| joshuawright11 wrote:
| So I've been trying out https://www.future.co (similar coaching
| concept for fitness).
|
| While I really like the concept (esp since it means I don't need
| to make my own workouts, which was often an excuse I used not to
| workout) I haven't found the accountability aspect very
| effective, I was at it for a few months and then dropped off,
| despite the daily "YOU GOT THIS!!" text from a stranger on the
| other side of the country.
|
| It's entirely plausible that at the end of the day I'm just
| lazy/not motivated enough and no amount of accountability will be
| helpful, but I wonder if there's a better form of accountability,
| particularly through likeminded social circles, you could
| integrate.
|
| Just riffing (using workout as the habit, since I will absolutely
| pay big $$ if something gets me to work out more, future is
| $150/m); 1. Social shaming a. the app
| notifies a bunch of friends every time you miss a workout.
| b. I pay for someone to blow up my phone / texts ad infinatum at
| a certain time until I'm in the gym's geofence. 2.
| Material loss a. you use Plaid to pull $XX out of my
| account and send it to my buddy every time I miss a workout.
| b. set aside some large amount of $$ like $1000 and if I don't
| get to the gym 20x in a month, confirmed by a third party, the
| money is gone forever. 3. Material gain; a.
| join a group of friends; y'all put $100 in a pot, add 1 point for
| every workout and subtract 3 points for every miss. When the
| squad hits 100 points you spend the money on a trip to Fogo de
| Chao. If you go below 0 the money is gone forever. b.
| partner with gyms & give a 40% membership discount if the person
| has a rolling 15 days / month attendance.
|
| Re: the app; love the idea, the design is gorgeous, but the name
| is not something I'd be comfortable sharing with friends :)
| vincentmarle wrote:
| > b. set aside some large amount of $$ like $1000 and if I
| don't get to the gym 20x in a month, confirmed by a third
| party, the money is gone forever.
|
| I was thinking of creating an app like this one, my major issue
| was that the app's incentives (making money) and the user's
| incentives (working out) were not aligned. I like the idea of
| giving money to your buddy (or charity) better.
| rodonn wrote:
| beeminder.com has a product that fills some of these needs.
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