Get Detach

One of the biggest lessons we've learned while building Detach is that people rarely ask about features first.

They ask one simple question:

"Will this actually help me stop wasting time on my phone?"

That changed how we think about building.

Instead of adding more settings and options, we started focusing on one outcome: helping people become more intentional with their phone.

Every new feature now has to answer one question:

Does it help someone change their daily habits?

If the answer is no, it doesn't make the product.

It's a simple filter, but it has saved us countless hours and made the product much better.

Has there been one question from users that completely changed how you build your product?

For weeks, we kept polishing the product before showing it to anyone.

Every new feature felt important.

Every tiny improvement seemed like the thing that would make people love it.

Then we finally started talking about what we were building.

The feedback surprised us.

People didn't care about most of the features we spent time on.

They cared about one problem we were solving really well.

That changed how we build.

Now we share ideas earlier, listen more, and spend less time chasing perfection.

Shipping imperfectly has taught us more than months of building in private ever did.

Has anyone else had a moment where real user feedback completely changed the direction of your product?

For a long time, the only question on my mind was:

"How do I get more users?"

But the more I built, the more I realized I was asking the wrong question.

A better question was:

"Why would someone tell a friend about this?"

That completely changed how I think about building.

Instead of adding features, I started focusing on creating something people would genuinely remember and talk about.

Growth isn't just about marketing.

It's about building a product that's different enough to earn conversations.

I'm still learning every day, but changing that one question has changed how I build.

What mindset shift has had the biggest impact on your startup?

When we started building Detach, we thought success would come from adding more features.

More settings.

More customization.

More control.

But the biggest breakthrough came from doing the opposite.

We realized people didn't need another complicated productivity app. They needed something simple that interrupted an automatic habit.

That changed how we built everything.

Instead of asking, "What else can we add?" we started asking, "What can we remove?"

The result was a product that's easier to use and much harder to ignore.

It's a reminder that sometimes the best feature isn't another button or setting. It's solving one real problem exceptionally well.

What's one feature you removed that actually made your product better?

When I started working on Detach, I thought I needed to build the "perfect" app blocker.

More features.

More settings.

More customization.

The more I built, the more I realized I was solving the wrong problem.

People don't need another app with 100 features.

They need something they'll actually stick with.

That completely changed how I approached the product.

Instead of adding more, I started removing. Simpler onboarding. Fewer decisions. One intentional action before opening distracting apps.

It reminded me that building isn't about shipping more features—it's about solving one problem really well.

What's one feature you removed that made your product better?

For years, I thought I had a discipline problem.

Every time I caught myself scrolling, I'd promise to do better tomorrow.

Tomorrow never came.

The more I studied my own habits, the more I realized something:

Most people don't have a willpower problem.

They have an environmental problem.

When distracting apps are always one tap away, even the most motivated person eventually gives in.

That's why I've become obsessed with one idea while building Detach:

Instead of trying to strengthen willpower, what if we simply made distractions harder to access?

A tiny amount of friction can change behavior more than endless motivation.

Curious if others have found the same thing.

Has changing your environment ever worked better than relying on self-discipline?

Most app blockers don't fail because they're bad products.

They fail because they're too easy to ignore.

You hit "Skip."

You disable the restriction.

You uninstall the app.

Five minutes later, you're back on Instagram.

While building Detach, I realized the problem wasn't a lack of features—it was a lack of friction.

The easier it is to bypass a blocker, the less effective it becomes.

That's what led me to experiment with a physical NFC card that requires an intentional action before accessing distracting apps.

I'm curious: what's the biggest reason app blockers haven't worked for you?

I tried deleting social media 7 different times.

Every time, I came back.

Not because I lacked discipline. Because reinstalling the apps took less than 10 seconds.

That's when I realized the problem wasn't motivation—it was friction.

Our phones make distraction effortless—open an app. Scroll. Repeat.

So instead of building another productivity app, I started building a physical app blocker that adds a small pause before opening distracting apps.

That one small pause changes more than you'd think.

What's the most effective thing you've done to reduce your screen time?