Focusmate snapshot:
Deal highlights:
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Problem
Every day, more and more of us are faced with the challenging reality of working in isolation—remote workers, freelancers, entrepreneurs, students, side hustlers.
Meanwhile distractions are at an all-time high, with procrastination and adult ADHD now at record rates, and still rising.
And yet, with technology automating more of what we do, the ability to do focused, creative work has never been more valuable.
A slew of solutions have proven ineffective at addressing procrastination—from task managers and site blockers, which skirt the problem, to pills and coaching, which are both expensive and inadequate.
Meanwhile, isolated workers attempt to stimulate social accountability by resorting to coffee shops, coworking spaces, and online chat-rooms, which often prove counterproductive.
Solution
Our starting point is a virtual coworking product that induces what psychologists call flow: long stretches of intense focus.
Two users, anywhere in the world, act as accountability partners, sitting side-by-side while doing their work, during a 50-minute video interaction.
These sessions use an evidence-based format designed to optimize productivity.
How It Works
Science
Workplace research has proven that the most effective behavioral triggers are human ones, rooted in millennia of tribal evolution.
Because human development occurred in tribal societies where survival was dependent on those around us, humans are hardwired to respond to social triggers in ways that are almost impossible to resist.
Focusmate Behavioral Triggers
This human model has been applied successfully in the fitness industry by Peloton, a Series F startup with a $4Bn valuation. Peloton offers group fitness classes that participants join remotely, to boost their motivation and accountability.
Focusmate is applying this powerful and proven model to productivity.
Pilot Results
Daily Active Users Growing 20% Per Month
Monthly Active Users Growing 17% Per Month
Monthly Bookings Growing 17% Per Month
Opportunity
Our pilot focused on the $1T freelancer economy, forecast to include 50% of the U.S. workforce by 2020. But that's just the beginning.
Freelancers. Forecast to include 50% of the U.S. workforce by 2020, freelance workers suffer from a lack of accountability and heightened at-home distractions, driving procrastination and income insecurity.
Remote workers. With 3 in 4 computer workers already working remotely at least 1 day per week, enterprise companies will use Focusmate's planned private channels to keep employees connected and productive while working from home.
We're preparing for an enterprise pilot with a global consulting firm in early 2019.
Online education. Online universities, MOOC providers and independent educators face a dire course completion rate of just 5-7%. These institutions will turn to Focusmate to help adult learners succeed through private study groups and office hours.
We're in talks with a leading publisher and a top expert on "learning to learn" to do education pilots in 2019.
Corporate training. As companies look for ways to engage employees and stay competitive, spending on corporate training is rising fast. Focusmate will help transform isolating online training into a "online study hall" with their colleagues.
Our strong word-of-mouth creates a path to growth with low acquisition costs.
Our marketing strategy focuses on 5 pillars:
Focusmate is pre-revenue, and will monetize in 2019 through a freemium subscription model. Here is an illustrative set of user plans:
Team
After I left my corporate job, I spent several years struggling to build a life that allowed me the creative freedom to realize my potential, while still paying my bills.
I worked as a freelance writer and tutor, started a business, and pursued numerous side hustles before eventually establishing myself as a professional coach for entrepreneurs, growth company executives, and Fortune 100 managers.
Along the way, I tried everything I could find that promised to boost my productivity, and to stop myself from procrastinating and wasting time.
I found productivity apps that helped me organize my to-do list, stay off social media, and manage my calendar.
I also developed my own systems to set long-term goals, to plan my weeks more strategically, and to stick to a strong morning routine.
After helping my coaching clients implement some of these tools, I realized that today’s digital workers need a solution for procrastination that didn’t exist:
A community to connect with like-minded individuals committed to holding each other accountable, hour by hour, for actually doing the actions contained in those todo lists, productivity tools, and goal trackers.
I created Focusmate to help independent workers break free of the shame and anxiety caused by chronic procrastination, and to enjoy the same benefits of accountability as clients paying thousands of dollars for coaching.
Praise
Nir Eyal
Author of "Hooked: How to Build
Habit-Forming Products"
Thatcher Bell
Managing Partner, CoVenture
What's Next?
This crowdfunding campaign is the final piece of a capital plan that enables us to invest in product development and business growth.
The key milestones we plan to achieve in the next 18 months include:
Join us
$5,500,000
The maximum valuation at which your investment converts
into equity shares or cash.
Learn more.
20%
If a trigger event for Focusmate occurs, the discount provision
gives investors equity shares (or equal value in cash) at a reduced price.
Learn more.
Crowd SAFE
·
Learn more
A SAFE is a Simple Agreement for Future Equity. An investor makes a cash investment in a company, but gets company stock at a later date, in connection with a specific event. The Crowd SAFE is a modified SAFE that is better suited for crowdfunding.
$25,000 – $1,070,000
Focusmate
needs to raise
$25K
before the deadline.
The maximum amount
Focusmate
is willing to raise is
$1.07M.
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Focusmate needs to reach their minimum funding goal before the deadline
().
If they don’t, all investments will be refunded.
Learn more
Form C
SEC.gov
This is an awesome idea. With the right execution this product can be a startup unicorn.
If procrastination were an Olympic sport I'd have at least 4 gold medals and probably a knighthood by now. Focusmate is the first tool I've used that actually puts my butt in the chair. It just works, and I can see it working for millions of others.
I believe in the vision of the founder and the team he has assembled. Visionary leader, market disrupting concept and immense scalability potential world-wide. Let's do this!
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