A transition for Screenable
Four years ago, we (Stevie and Tom – the brothers) decided to make another run at a startup together.
We wanted to help parents (like ourselves) raise kids with good relationships to technology. Screens, social media, AI – the complex and fast-changing landscape is hard for anyone to navigate well, much less time-strapped parents.
After a few pivots, we built a great product we’re proud of, tested it with almost 100 Beta families (for whom we’re forever grateful), brought it to market, and kicked off a fundraise to give us a true shot at bringing the vision to life.
But, we couldn’t raise the capital we needed to keep investing in it – or to maintain the product at a level that honors the time and energy families are putting into it.
So we’re throwing in the towel – at least on the commercial product. 😢
To our users, here’s what you need to know:
Firstly, THANK YOU for your support and engagement! We couldn’t have made it this far without you.
Subscriptions are now fully turned off. You don’t need to do anything – you will not be charged again.
The app will switch to a free utility that I (Tom) will maintain as a side project for personal use within my family.
Dumb phone mode will remain available, but starting roughly mid-year I will have to start deprecating features that are costly to run or maintain, like push notifications and probably also time-tracking (TBD).
So how are we feeling about this? Sad, of course. It was our dream that our startup would provide enough for our families to become a lasting career. And while we have some pride about being men in the arena – actually risking, actually daring greatly – it still feels like a loss.
With that said, and having sat with this reality for a while, we’re also ready to move on to the next thing. We’ve both already started the transition to new professional chapters, which are genuinely exciting for us. Please keep in touch to stay updated on what’s next! We’d love to hear from you.
Finally, a heartfelt thank you our investors, our partners, and most of all, our parents – not our literal parents (though them too!) but our parent users. You trusted us with your family’s digital wellbeing, and that is a responsibility we never took lightly.
We’ll see you in the next chapter.
Tom & Stevie