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Launch HN: Inflow (YC S21) – Self-help app for people with ADHD

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41–50 of 337 posts

Re: Launch HN: Inflow (YC S21) – Self-help app for people with ADHD

#41

I wish you luck! I have the opposite issue. I'm ... what do you call it? neurodiverse (at one time, I was an "aspie"), and I can actually get locked into a fugue, so strong, that hours go by like minutes. In the aggregate, it has worked out OK. I'm a damn good programmer (but a total nerd). I do have family that have suffered from ADHD, and hope that your app may be helpful.

To echo the other comments here, you are describing ADHD, not its opposite. ADHD doesn’t mean you can’t hyperfocus, far from it. It means you find it much harder than a normal person to directly control, through pure will, what to focus on and how widely/narrowly. So at times you’re highly distractible and struggle to focus on things (sometimes even when you know they’re vitally important, like listening to the questions in a job interview), and at other times you struggle to tear yourself away from a task you’re engrossed in (even when you know there’s something urgent you should be doing) - the fugue state you describe. It’s a lack of ‘executive function’, and you can actually see this on an MRI scan - ADHD brains apparently tend to show much less of this type of activity.

As a rough analogy, ADHD is to focus as bipolar disorder is to mood.

Re: Launch HN: Inflow (YC S21) – Self-help app for people with ADHD

#42

I wish you luck! I have the opposite issue. I'm ... what do you call it? neurodiverse (at one time, I was an "aspie"), and I can actually get locked into a fugue, so strong, that hours go by like minutes. In the aggregate, it has worked out OK. I'm a damn good programmer (but a total nerd). I do have family that have suffered from ADHD, and hope that your app may be helpful.

As others have mentioned, "Hyperfocus". is one of the symptoms of ADHD. ADHD is really a misnomer, it should be called Attention control disorder. The famous hyperactivity part that annoys parents and teachers is really just a way to self treat. Exercise in general helps, and one of the hypotheses I have heard is that the ADHD brain evolved to be constantly moving, and is only a problem with our modern stoic lifestyle.

Though back to hyper focus, it is a curse and a blessing. Without it, I would never get anything done personally or professionally. Though I will also ignore family, friends, and work for entire days on things that are meaningless and I don't enjoy.

Which really brings me to the core of ADHD. What you focus on has nothing to do with what you want, or what you enjoy. It is, to various degrees, out of your control.

That said, I'm going to give the app a try, I have had some ideas for an app myself, but haven't found the focus to work on it.

Re: Launch HN: Inflow (YC S21) – Self-help app for people with ADHD

#43

Many of the reviews of the Android app are quite critical of the trial and payment model, for example: > CAUTION: After the free trial period (7 days), they will charge for an annual subscription ($102.95 US). This is OPT OUT, not opt in. In other reviews they say they will offer a refund (I will update when/if I get one) but for an app for people with executive function issues, an opt out format seems shady. Either…

This is so shady and I "could" understand it coming from a random startup... but by a startup backed by YC? And that it gets it own Launch HN thread (while others startups had to do it in the batch posts?). This is no the first time in the last months that something like this happened, unfortunately.

Re: Launch HN: Inflow (YC S21) – Self-help app for people with ADHD

#45

Many of the reviews of the Android app are quite critical of the trial and payment model, for example: > CAUTION: After the free trial period (7 days), they will charge for an annual subscription ($102.95 US). This is OPT OUT, not opt in. In other reviews they say they will offer a refund (I will update when/if I get one) but for an app for people with executive function issues, an opt out format seems shady. Either…

I mean, reading the description, it's hard not to get a little concerned: "a start up that's going to try to make money off of folks with ADHD" isn't a great starting place. I think this is sort of a broader start-up problem. Some things shouldn't be monetized (period, but for the sake of the audience, I'll add: at least not as aggressively as is required for a start-up).

It’s shameful for YC to invest in this and blast it onto the front page of HN. Unethical and gross. I wish this site was community driven and not used as an avenue for YC to promote their awful investments.

Re: Launch HN: Inflow (YC S21) – Self-help app for people with ADHD

#46

Many of the reviews of the Android app are quite critical of the trial and payment model, for example: > CAUTION: After the free trial period (7 days), they will charge for an annual subscription ($102.95 US). This is OPT OUT, not opt in. In other reviews they say they will offer a refund (I will update when/if I get one) but for an app for people with executive function issues, an opt out format seems shady. Either…

It's fair to criticize this, but it's worth noting that this is how subscriptions work in Google / Apple app stores. You really can't do anything else.

Re: Launch HN: Inflow (YC S21) – Self-help app for people with ADHD

#47

Many of the reviews of the Android app are quite critical of the trial and payment model, for example: > CAUTION: After the free trial period (7 days), they will charge for an annual subscription ($102.95 US). This is OPT OUT, not opt in. In other reviews they say they will offer a refund (I will update when/if I get one) but for an app for people with executive function issues, an opt out format seems shady. Either…

This is totally wrong. The economics of monthly billing are awful, and completely unworkable for a new startup. You have to do annual.

Cost of Install: $7.00, for something this specific Trial Start Rate: 20%, if paywalled like this app is Cost Per Trial: $35 Conversion to Trial: 40% Cost Per Subscriber: $87.50

If they charge you $10/month, they can't get into the black on a new customer for 9 months. They have to eat support costs that whole time. It just doesn't work, when you're starting out. You must charge annual.

Medical licensing cartels charge $500-800 PER MONTH. These guys are trying to charge $100 PER YEAR.

This is an order of magnitude more effective.

Said another way: if someone is too poor for this, they're fucked. They're definitely too poor for any other treatment option. On the other hand, this will open up treatment to people who can't pay the medical cartels.

That's amazing, iterative progress.

Let's give props to these guys for making epic iterative progress, not shit on them because they're not working for free.

Re: Launch HN: Inflow (YC S21) – Self-help app for people with ADHD

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone with ADHD, I can confirm this model is super predatory. I cancel all my credit cards every year just to get rid of all opt-in charges on regular basis

Billing an entire annual subscription up front, as opposed to monthly, seems especially questionable. What if the therapy doesn't work? What if it's so badly implemented that it can't work? You're still out a hundred bucks just the same, and that's just in the first year. edit: There is also a monthly subscription option, in the Apple app store at least. It's $22 a month - so over twice as much as the annual. This do…

I just downloaded the Android app to check, and it's a similar ratio as you describe for the Apple app store: £19.99 per month if paid monthly, but £7.17 per month (as £85.99 per year) if paid annually.

And on my phone at least, the monthly payment option is also hidden behind a scroll down action: https://i.imgur.com/rV0bMTH.jpg, with the yearly subscription already selected by default.

It would seem they're pushing quite strongly this annual payment option.

Re: Launch HN: Inflow (YC S21) – Self-help app for people with ADHD

#49

I wish you luck! I have the opposite issue. I'm ... what do you call it? neurodiverse (at one time, I was an "aspie"), and I can actually get locked into a fugue, so strong, that hours go by like minutes. In the aggregate, it has worked out OK. I'm a damn good programmer (but a total nerd). I do have family that have suffered from ADHD, and hope that your app may be helpful.

> and I can actually get locked into a fugue, so strong, that hours go by like minutes. Is this not a normal occurrence? I thought this is just how it is for everyone when they encounter a problem that captivates them.

Yes. Pretty much all the symptoms of ADHD are things that everyone experiences from time to time. People with ADHD just experience them far, far more often, in a way that often negatively impacts their career and relationships. And their lives tend to get better after being diagnosed, as they can start using meds and learning ADHD-specific organisation strategies.

Re: Launch HN: Inflow (YC S21) – Self-help app for people with ADHD

#50

Many of the reviews of the Android app are quite critical of the trial and payment model, for example: > CAUTION: After the free trial period (7 days), they will charge for an annual subscription ($102.95 US). This is OPT OUT, not opt in. In other reviews they say they will offer a refund (I will update when/if I get one) but for an app for people with executive function issues, an opt out format seems shady. Either…

This is totally wrong. The economics of monthly billing are awful, and completely unworkable for a new startup. You have to do annual. Cost of Install: $7.00, for something this specific Trial Start Rate: 20%, if paywalled like this app is Cost Per Trial: $35 Conversion to Trial: 40% Cost Per Subscriber: $87.50 If they charge you $10/month, they can't get into the black on a new customer for 9 months. They have to ea…

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