[HN Gopher] Show HN: A "CRM" for personal relationships
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Show HN: A "CRM" for personal relationships
Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spreadvk.e...
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-new-elim/id6463781107 We
know life can be busy. And we often struggle to make time for the
people that matter most to us. According to a Harvard study from
2021, "36% of all Americans [...] feel "serious loneliness."" [1]
We created an app to help people focus on their most personal
relationships and guide them through forming more meaningful
connections with them, in the hopes to combat the "Loneliness
Epidemic". We just launched the first iteration - call it an MVP
if you like - something to validate our ideas and get the
conversation started. We are looking for people to try out what we
have built and share their thoughts. The functionality is very
basic for now, but we are planning to expand based on our users'
feedback. Here is what you can do today: * Tell us who the people
are that matter most to you * Get daily reminders to reach out to
them * Send them virtual postcards with over 50 handcrafted
designs [1] https://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/reports/loneliness-in-
america
Author : Ritepaw
Score : 46 points
Date : 2023-09-23 17:21 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.elim.app)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.elim.app)
| falqun wrote:
| So how do you plan to make money? Do you want to move to a
| subscription based model, do you show in app ads, do you sell
| data? I cannot find a reference for such information on your
| website besides maybe your privacy policy.
| Ritepaw wrote:
| We haven't quite figured it out yet. We are a business after
| all and need to make money at some point. Here is what we
| decided to _not_ do:
|
| * Show ads
|
| * Sell data
|
| In the end it will probably come down to a premium
| subscription, we have to hash out the details and do some
| research around it. Would also love to connect with someone in
| the industry who has experience in creating fair subscription
| options!
| sneak wrote:
| Thank you for not including telemetry or other surveillance in
| your app. It's rare these days and appreciated.
| Ritepaw wrote:
| Tbh we were initially looking for a GDPR-compliant telemetry
| solution cause we thought we need to track _something_ to gauge
| engagement and retention. I was surprised to see that Google
| Play Console and App Store Connect give these insights already
| for free (if the user opts-in).
| kstrauser wrote:
| I like this! One request: if you ever go for pay, please don't
| get greedy. I don't mind paying for things, but take Dex for
| example. I like it, but I'm _not_ paying $145-$240 per year for
| something I can reimplement badly with Reminders. I just want
| something to say "hey, don't forget to say hi to your friend
| every once in a while" without paying an arm and a leg.
|
| For contrast, 6 years ago I paid $80 for Things 3 across all my
| devices, and it's still being developed and updated. I'd have a
| hell of a time paying twice that _per year_ for a vastly simpler
| app.
| Ritepaw wrote:
| The core product will remain free. And we will never take
| anything away that is already out there.
| [deleted]
| stenius wrote:
| Congrats on the launch!
|
| What features are on your roadmap to make it more CRM than
| personalized greeting cards?
|
| There's also https://www.monicahq.com/, an open source personal
| CRM that doesn't allow you to directly engage with people like
| elim allows.
| Ritepaw wrote:
| A shortlist from the top of my mind:
|
| * Individualised settings per contact
|
| * Who is this person to you?
|
| * How often do you want to engage with this contact?
|
| * What kind of ambitions do you have with this contact?
|
| * More refined suggestions based on the above
|
| * Training module to improve your social skills
|
| * Knowledge base
|
| * Regular blogs/videos/podcasts about the loneliness topic
|
| * Seasonal events and designs
| HenryBemis wrote:
| > * How often do you want to engage with this contact? and
| perhaps have a reminder "you usually call X person every
| Friday around 6pm, it is now 6pm"
|
| > * What kind of ambitions do you have with this contact? pop
| a reminder/message: "did you manage to establish phase 5-
| "ask Mary out for a date"?"
|
| > * Knowledge base a la IMDB on the bio: spouse, siblings,
| birthday, etc.
| kilroy123 wrote:
| Congrats on the launch! I love the focus on local data only.
|
| I've tried several different CRMs to help remind me to keep track
| of friends, family, and acquaintances. The problem I have is I
| have thousands of contacts from tons of different sources and
| from over the years.
|
| From Google, old phones, LinkedIn, Apple, and people in emails
| who aren't contacts. I would love an app that could consolidate
| all my contacts into one place as seamlessly as possible.
|
| Then help remind me to get in touch.
| Ritepaw wrote:
| You sound like a great person to do a user interview with :)
| Would you be willing to answer some questions in a private chat
| or call?
| esafak wrote:
| My use case is keeping tracking of business contacts, but not as
| a salesperson, which is who business CRMs target. I have not seen
| many CRMs address this application, and I don't know if you care
| to. Here are some features I'd like:
|
| * Make it easy to keep track of what I've been discussing with a
| person, and the last time we communicated. Set reminders for
| following up.
|
| * Allow me to enrich information -- people, events -- with
| metadata such as tags, and query them with a conversational
| interface.
|
| * Integrate with all my communication tools. Maybe create a plug-
| in system so users can help out.
| Ritepaw wrote:
| Thanks a lot for the input! I've noted it down (and already saw
| some overlap with what we have in the pipeline) :)
| binkHN wrote:
| Pretty app! I created something related, but more utilitarian.
| It's called CommuniqAI and may be found at
| https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dev.mtc.ga.
| Ritepaw wrote:
| This looks great! Sadly I can't check it out right now, as I
| don't have my Android phone with me. Do you happen to have an
| iOS version as well?
| edoardo-schnell wrote:
| Ok but why call it "eliminate"? Sry the bluntness
| [deleted]
| TeMPOraL wrote:
| I read it as Elim, as in Elim Garak, a famous tailor from a
| relatively well-known sci-fi show.
|
| That isn't really any better in terms of connotations, though.
| Ritepaw wrote:
| Everyone's favourite station tailor has no part in this
| (sadly) ;-)
|
| I have to ask my cofounder about this, as she came up with
| the name. I remember it meaning something like "an oasis in
| the desert" which is quite fitting to the whole loneliness
| problem.
| smallpipe wrote:
| I wanted something similar so I made myself a list in the
| Reminders app. I recommend doing it, it's made keeping up with
| friends who moved to another country easier.
| Ritepaw wrote:
| I commend you for making this effort! It is such an easy thing
| to do and so worth it. Is there any specific schema or method
| behind it?
| aeturnum wrote:
| I've been looking for automated help with the kinds of problems
| this app claims to solve for some time. I've done the usual
| HackerNews thing of finding imperfect solutions (currently a
| series of overlapping periodic tasks in todoist) and considering
| making my own service.
|
| I understand this is very early, but right now this feature set
| feels like an anti-product. The idea that I would get "daily
| reminders" of every relationship I am tracking (At least twenty
| people, but perhaps as much as hundreds depending on how widely
| you cast your net) is less of a promise and more of a threat.
|
| > * something to validate our ideas and get the conversation
| started.*
|
| This potential user would like to hear your ideas for how to deal
| with this "at scale." The high points you describe here seem out
| of sync with even mildly busy adult lives.
| Ritepaw wrote:
| The only thing I can say right now is: you are absolutely
| correct. This is something we need to address asap (and will!)
| aeturnum wrote:
| I'll watch your efforts with enthusiasm! I think it's hard
| and I think commercializing it is particularly hard. I also
| think your framing is exactly correct - the shape of our
| social relationships is transforming quickly, but our social
| habits aren't transforming as quickly (as least mine aren't).
| I hope you succeed!
| pedalpete wrote:
| Great looking app. Though I'm curious of the origins of the name
| Elim. It feels like eliminate, but you don't want to eliminate
| people. So maybe you had a different meaning in mind.
|
| Beautiful looking app. I'll download it when I get a chance.
|
| I'll be launching an MVP app in the mental health/anxiety space
| next week (currently in TestFlight), so I'd like to connect and
| find out a bit about how your experience with your launch, and
| distribution plans if you're up for it (my linkedin is in my
| profile).
| Ritepaw wrote:
| Copy & paste from the other comment: I have to ask my cofounder
| about this, as she came up with the name. I remember it meaning
| something like "an oasis in the desert" which is quite fitting
| to the whole loneliness problem.
|
| I'll send you an invite!
| [deleted]
| Ritepaw wrote:
| Some implementation details:
|
| The whole app is built in Flutter. It was a first time experience
| for us. Everything went pretty fast and smooth and the Flutter
| documentation is amazing! There are tons of resources out there
| that helped us solving our problems. We just needed to be a bit
| careful about the plugins. Some were pretty outdated or even
| unmaintained. But we made sure we encapsulated _every_ plugin so
| we can easily replace if necessary.
|
| Dart is a language we felt immediately comfortable with. It
| didn't feel too dissimilar from Java.
|
| For now, our app is client-side only. There is no server. Which
| is nice. Cause it removes complexity _and_ we can leave all the
| data on our users ' phones. Nothing is sent to us, or any other
| 3rd part. This is something we are pretty proud of and hope we
| can keep up for a long time.
| ano-ther wrote:
| > Nothing is sent to us, or any other 3rd part.
|
| Thank you. Good design choice. The privacy policy was the first
| I scrolled to in the AppStore.
| Ritepaw wrote:
| I am paranoid about these things myself, and one of the few
| people in my circle who actually _like_ being GDPR-compliant.
| So this was a no-brainer to me.
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(page generated 2023-09-23 23:00 UTC)