What I saw in China and Bali
In China I never downloaded anything. In Bali, businesses ran on text messages alone. Both felt better than most software at home.
Earlier this year I was in China for a research study. Most people there run their day through one app, WeChat. Food, messages, taxis, all of it. Every shop and service opened inside it in seconds, and I never downloaded anything.
On the way home I stopped in Bali, and saw something else. Local businesses ran on WhatsApp, with nothing but text messages. They booked me and answered my questions over text. Most of them didn't even have a website.
Nobody asked me to download their app or make an account. Basically, the tech got out the way.
These were some of the best experiences I've had with technology in a long time. This was technology that connected me to other people, and that made my life easier and simpler at a time when I was so far away from the comfort of home.
Back home, it's the opposite
Here, people have to become website builders, or download a new app for every little thing. One more app, one more account.
In Bali, owners ran their businesses by texting. In China, I never had to download anything. So I kept asking the same question. Why is it that people had to become website builders, or I had to download a million apps, just to solve a problem I have? Why can't we have both here?
Most software is built for people at desks
About 80% of the world's workers don't sit at one. They cut hair, cook on food trucks, clean pools, fix roofs and run the shop. Less than 1% of venture investment goes to companies building for them. Both figures come from Emergence Capital's research on what it calls the deskless workforce.
The people who keep the world running have had the least software built for them.
Not everyone is an app builder, but everyone is a problem solver
A barber knows exactly how his bookings should work. A food truck owner knows what sells out by noon. They don't need to learn how to make software. They need it made, and kept working, while they do their jobs.
I've been doing that by hand. My co-founders, Curtis and Jcari, are senior engineers with years at Nike and LinkedIn, and the three of us run a consultancy that builds apps for small businesses. Every app took us months, and only a few businesses could afford one. We watched what those apps did for the owners who had them, and we kept thinking about everyone who didn't.
What we're building
Vivify is how we reach them. You text Vivi what you need, she builds your app, and she keeps it up to date every time you text her. There's no code, no designer, and no developer to wait on.
What we're trying to do is democratize technology. We want to help the people on their feet who keep the world running.