aacook

16 ms·

1. 91.▲
   by aacook 7y ago

   Awesome! My wife and her family are crazy about your app. Her mom discovered an unknown half-sister through an Ancestry.com match. They used Marco Polo to get to know each other. My wife's mom also sends monthly printed photos via Nana
2. 92.▲
   by aacook 7y ago

   Nice! Thanks so much for the supportive words. There have been a few times were I've considered "giving up" (putting this on the back-burner to take on contract work and pay the bills) but I've been fortunate with things
3. 93.▲
   by aacook 7y ago

   I like the idea of adding more goodies to the shipments! Hoping to get to that soon. That, and greeting cards. The key challenge with the experiment was a sales challenge. At the time, I didn't have too much runway. The sales cycle was
4. 94.▲
   by aacook 7y ago

   Thanks! I wrote a little bit more about the story around the name at https://nanagram.co/blog/the-grandma-test
5. 95.▲
   by aacook 7y ago

   Thanks! I had a step in the initial onboarding to let folks add their NanaGram recipient as a contact via a contact.vcf file. I user tested with 5-6 people and couldn't quite nail it. Had other priorities at the time and decided to bac
6. 96.▲
   by aacook 7y ago

   Thanks for adding your perspective. Also so sorry to hear about your mom. Music really is an amazing thing. I meant to touch on it in this post but didn't get to it. My grandma's favorite song was "papa loves mambo" whic
7. 97.▲
   by aacook 7y ago

   Thank you! I've explored other platforms. One of the reasons I've been hesitant to rely too heavily on social tools is NanaGram is often used for photos that never make their way to social. That said, Whatsapp has an API but it&#x
8. 98.▲
   by aacook 7y ago

   We're doing that right now with most international destinations. We just don't have a Canadian printer. It's likely I'll start printing them here in the Boston area for Canadian users. The US and Canada offer super fair
9. 99.▲
   by aacook 7y ago

   Thanks for these details. We take privacy extremely seriously. Most international folks use the email version of our product. In that case, they'd go from your mailbox to ours (Google Apps / Gmail) and then onto our server (Digita
10. 100.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Not yet. What would you use it for? Alternatively, drop me an email via the button on the bottom right of the home page.
11. 101.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Awesome, haven't seen this yet. Thanks. The UK seems to be leading the way in elder care. Last year, they appointed a "Ministry of Loneliness." https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/17/world/eur
12. 102.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Thank you. Really appreciate this kind of feedback as it helps me grow. Topics like these are tough to write about. I often hesitate to publish. I'm glad the post brightened your day.
13. 103.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Thank you! I can't take credit for the idea. That goes to my brother Andy. He'd originally dubbed the prototype "Instagrandpa" but we thought Facebook might get upset and went with NanaGram.
14. 104.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    I'm not raising money and this is a bootstrapped product. FWIW, those questions were things she asked me every time she saw me, not the last time she saw me.
15. 105.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    I don't really know how to respond to this. She literally asked me that nearly every time I saw her. Word for word, she said, "How's the photo business?" and/or "How many customers now?" Ask anyone in my f
16. 106.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Thanks so much! Susan Pinker gave a fantastic Ted talk about this topic: https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_pinker_the_secret_to_living_... The #1 factor to leading a long and happy life is the frequency of your social in
17. 107.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    That's pretty cool. Thanks for this. I tried to sign up but it won't let me through without a member number ( http://bit.ly/2YDIHaD ). Maybe Costco is able to do this using member fees to offset the costs. I am offe
18. 108.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Sweet! I haven't heard of Nohana yet, thanks for sharing. Japan seems like it would be a great place to expand to soon. BTW, I'm hoping to drop the price for Canada in the next couple months!
19. 109.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Thank you! I love talking to customers on the phone. I subscribe to the idea of building a product or feature for one person. You kickstarted what eventually became an international email product. Now we've got customers delivering all
20. 110.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Nice, thanks for sharing! Do you have to be a member? It's free shipping with no order minimum? NanaGram works best for people with siblings or cousins who want to send a curated pack of photos to their loved ones. The account owner ca
21. 111.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Thanks so much for all of your feedback. I won't take it lightly. Looks like HN edited the title. I edited mine too. I'll be thinking of your feedback when writing future posts.
22. 112.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    I am truly sorry to hear about your mom's dementia progression. I can only imagine. Wishing you and your family strength. A few of my customers have mentioned it's helping them. I observed first-hand that going through fresh photo
23. 113.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    So amped to have you on board.
24. 114.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Nice! Best of luck with launching.
25. 115.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Thanks so much for the kind words. I'm working on some new packaging. Nursing homes tend to be pretty sensitive about HIPAA and mail. I had a dream to get NanaGram into nursing homes as a group activity, hammered on sales a while and p
26. 116.▲
    My Product Is Unexpectedly Being Used to Help People with Dementia(nanagram.co)

    283 points by aacook 7y ago|62 comments
27. 117.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Beautiful. Best of luck. :)
28. 118.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Horray! Thanks for being a customer. <3 Reply to the latest email and I’ll mail your grandma some stickers tomorrow.
29. 119.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Thank you. :) I originally built it for my 94-year-old grandpa who thought of himself as “the luckiest guy in the world.” We were very close. On one hand, I wanted to make the product as amazing as possible. On the other, he always impresse
30. 120.▲
    by aacook 7y ago

    Go for it! I'm working on NanaGram ( https://nanagram.co ) solo and bootstrapped. Although I'm not making a full-time income yet, it's generating a profit. It's mostly automated. NanaGram is the 3rd greatest ge