Flashback to Day One
Hey 👋
Ax here, I’m the CEO and Co-founder of 3rd Brain. I wanted to share a some behind the scenes look at what Day One at 3rd Brain looked like, as we embarked on our journey to challenge the status quo of household dynamics.
This journey has been exhilarating, and it all began on July 23, 2023. Here’s a detailed look at that day:
Early Morning Grind: Big Vision and Visual Thinking
We kicked off the day bright and early at 6:18 AM. I remember opening my notes app on my iPad and thinking. This experience has got to be better. I wrote down:
3rd Brain | Social productivity app
Manage your time knowledge, and tasks with others
We're social people and our tribe to survive.
I went on to lay out our CORE foundations: Capture, Organize "store", Retrieve "relay", and Edit or Engage.
Then I posed the question, How might we solve the problem when one person does one of these things without the other knowing.
And noted that at the core of any technology , our interaction remains the same. We provide input, the system performs a process, and responds with an output.
Bo has come A LONG way since these humble beginnings.
After this philosophical early morning brain dump, and being the designer that I am, we transitioned into some visual thinking. With coffee in hand and our minds brimming with ideas, we set out to create the foundation of our design system. We came up with Bo the Brain! This was the birth of our visual identity!
Midday Fuel: Chinese Food Break
By midday, the hunger pangs hit, and we took a well-deserved break with some delicious Chinese food. Because, let’s be real, are you even a startup if you don’t fuel your creativity with some good eats? 🍜
Afternoon Workshop: Ideating and Sketching
Post-lunch, we ran an intense 6-hour workshop focused on identifying pain points, needs, and conceptualizing features for our app. We crafted “How Might We” statements and ideated features, sketching rough screens around three central themes:
Onboarding to a shared tool
Usability of shared task management
Eliminating awkwardness and fostering healthy vibes
We repeated this process three times, refining our ideas and ensuring we covered every angle. You can get a glimpse of our brainstorming in action on our Figma board!
Evening Hustle: Business Models and Beyond
We wrapped up the day discussing potential business models. Starting with SaaS, we toyed with the idea of becoming a “template” marketplace or exploring transaction-based charges. Spoiler alert: not likely! To round off our discussion, we soaked in wisdom from Aaron Epstein’s Startup School podcast. 🎧 Startup Business Models and Pricing
Every startup has its humble beginnings, and ours was no different. Packed with creativity, collaboration, and a dash of fun, this day laid the groundwork for what 3rd Brain would become. Here’s to many more productive and delicious days ahead! 🚀✨
Stay curious, stay creative, and remember—everything is designed!
Until next time,
Ax
