We need human connection now more than ever. As we spend increasing amounts of time on our devices—whether scrolling social media, streaming shows, using AI, or working—we lose touch with the people in our lives. What if we could turn it around and use those same technologies to bring us closer together rather than further apart? That’s exactly what BetterTogether is designed to do.
Years ago I co-founded Otelic, a company who’s mission was “Happiness at work”. My co-founders and I had all experienced less than ideal company cultures and wondered if there was anything we could do. We wanted to help companies develop and nurture a healthy culture. It turned out to be a hard problem. So hard that we ultimately decided to focus on helping companies with great cultures show them off. We created “Instagram for work”, and it worked for a few companies, but in the end life took the team in different directions, yet the problem space stuck with me.
There is no one great company culture. People are different and value different things. Values also change over time. Some start out wanting to win at any cost and then switch to live/work balance once they have a family. Some want to work remote. Others in an office. Some value security. Others value risk and reward. Regardless of where anyone stands it feels obvious that when we know each other better, we work better together.
With that in mind I explored many ideas over the years. BetterTogether was initially conceived as a personal relationship app. You use a dating app to find someone and BetterTogether to have a healthy relationship with them. That dream still lives on but the start needed to be simpler. That simpler place turned out to be a BetterTogether for teams with Q&A as the focus. If knowing each other better helps us work better together, how do we get to know each other better? The same way we get to know anything— by asking questions and paying attention to the answers.
I think you’ll be surprised how effective BetterTogether’s Q&A is. You can skip questions you don’t want to answer and add questions you do want to answer. It’s simple, effective, and fun. I hope it exceeds your expectations and that you’ll let me know either way.
Thank you,
Sean