Contrarian, not evil, is more of the motto. You don't get anyone to listen if you just talk about an AI SaaS platform for long-term habit formation. It comes off as wonkish. Trust me, we tried ;)
Well first of all thank you for your reply and actually getting involved in the thread.
I have to say, I'm not convinced.
Yes of course if you say that your product is similar to a what a drug dealer would offer, then people are going to get interested because of the potential for returns on their money. You're just confirming my suspicion that branding things this way was in order to help get investment. I don't see how you are being contrarian. What is the popular opinion you are rejecting? That addiction is scary/harmful/a terrible thing to inflict on others?
You're in a tricky position now as I personally don't see how you can reverse course on presenting the company this way (after thinking about it for a couple of minutes :) )... but I hope you can figure it out!
I think that the thing we're contrarian on is "using software to design peoples behavior is bad," or "Dopamine (the molecule) is first and foremost about Addiction."
Dopamine is about learning, and learning only matter because it changes us. The same brain mechanisms and technologies that make facebook captivating and can be used to make fitness, a good diet, and spending time with people who love you engaging too. When we're done building this tech-stack, it will be possible for people to learn themselves in to whoever they want to be.
dontreact|8 years ago
I have to say, I'm not convinced.
Yes of course if you say that your product is similar to a what a drug dealer would offer, then people are going to get interested because of the potential for returns on their money. You're just confirming my suspicion that branding things this way was in order to help get investment. I don't see how you are being contrarian. What is the popular opinion you are rejecting? That addiction is scary/harmful/a terrible thing to inflict on others?
You're in a tricky position now as I personally don't see how you can reverse course on presenting the company this way (after thinking about it for a couple of minutes :) )... but I hope you can figure it out!
tdaltonc|8 years ago
Dopamine is about learning, and learning only matter because it changes us. The same brain mechanisms and technologies that make facebook captivating and can be used to make fitness, a good diet, and spending time with people who love you engaging too. When we're done building this tech-stack, it will be possible for people to learn themselves in to whoever they want to be.
Disclaimer - I'm the CEO of Dopamine
alexasmyths|8 years ago
Startups are dead -> they're all rock bands now.
VC's are record labels.