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

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

#291

Post by JohnBooty »

what_is_orcas wrote: post #234
JohnBooty wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the folks on this thread seem to be objecting to the opt-out nature of their subscription service. I agree with them. On the other hand, you seem to be objecting to the very nature of money being charged for this app or any other healthcare service? It's gross, and I do not love this aspect of capitalism. I agree with you to that extent. But -- again, without ditching capitalism entirely -- what's the alterna…

You're right, I take a more aggressive stance on this sort of thing than others might. I'm also known to say "if you can't afford to pay your workers a living wage you can't afford to do business" of many retail/service environments. "But I need to make money, too" isn't an excuse. It wants to be, but it is not. I would agree that the biggest offender is the predatory model, but I would say that the way to do this _c…

    I'm also known to say "if you can't afford to pay 
    your workers a living wage you can't afford to 
    do business" of many retail/service environments.
Also, how the heck do you reconcile this with your stance that people shouldn't try and make money from their apps?

I would say, "if you can't afford to pay your developers and other employees a living wage, then you can't afford to make an app or launch a product"

I don't think you've thought any of this through, man. You have some excellent ideals and I agree with them but you need to think through the practical ramifications.

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

#292

Post by dumbfoundded »

Please shut this down or pivot. This isn't a mindfulness or meditation app. It's a serious medical issue to which you're presenting an untested solution. If I created a new pill and said it helps ADHD, I would be shutdown. You're doing this with an app. You hope it will work but really you don't know. I started and sold a CBD business and the entire time, we made sure to never claim that it cures or helps any medical condition despite it having FDA approval for some specific medical conditions & 100,000s of customers saying it did. We refused to work with any company that did and cheered when the FDA sent them letters. You on the other hand, have a top nav page labeled: "Science" & you're laundering the reputation of a single doctor and some "advisors" to bypass the actual process.

As you read the other criticisms about your predatory business model, you should understand that this isn't just some pricing thing you can change, it's the fundamental misalignment between you and your customers. For example, you claim that the average cost of ADHD CBT is $200-$300. WebMD (1) & Consumer Reports (2), and every other result on the first page of google says it's more like $100 to $200. In your marketing, you're now spreading likely false information to make your app seem like a better solution, potentially turning people away from therapy by exaggerating the costs.

Look at your app marketing vs Charlotte's Web (3). Notice the difference? Charlotte's Web doesn't push BS science to sell their products. They don't feature doctors on their page or have a "Science" page in the top nav. They actually started to help a single little girl specifically and once it did, they fought to make their solution available to give people the chance to try it. You on the other hand, took a treatment clinic and thought, "Hey, if I turn this into an app, I could make a lot of money".

Because you position yourself as a medical treatment, your team won't care if it actually works, only if they can sell it. You will continue to spread false information that puts your app in the most favorable light. You will continue to creatively cheat your customers out of money with subscriptions and add-ons they don't need. This path you have set yourselves on inevitably pits you against your customers the same way Purdue pharma did with Oxy. You could pivot to a "Focus" app or something that doesn't position itself as a snake oil treatment to ADHD.

Honestly, I think you will probably continue on your path and just label me a hater. 3 years from now, maybe you've made a lot of money or not. I don't know. Lots of snake oil salesmen make it. But you certainly won't help people in any significant way. If you actually care about that, you should really reconsider.

(1) https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/costs-of-adhd

(2) https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2013/01/how-much-does-it...

(3) https://www.charlottesweb.com/

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

#293

Post by bin_bash »

yololol wrote: post #211
yummypaint wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can assure you that absolutely no-one "likes" being charged a full years subscription in advance. We're working on extending the free trial / moving to a freemium model. Please. You aren't spaceX "working on" your next engine, or AMD "working on" the next processor architecture. All you have to do to end the unethical behavior is flip a few bits in a database. Don't pretend it's some kind of grand technical challen…

While criticism can be good when constructive, I think these comments are a bit dramatic and make way too many assumptions. I would expect that it's more financially lucrative to have a happy userbase, which translates to a good reputation and thus larger user-base, rather rip-off a few who will eventually give bad reviews and create a bad reputation. To me the current pricing model sounds more like a bad decision ra…

it might sound really strange, but remembering to cancel something like this is incredibly hard for me as someone with ADHD. I pay for so many things, sometimes multiple times before I can work up the energy (and memory) to take care of something like this.

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

#294

Post by vm »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #169

> The average cost of an in-person ADHD CBT session in the US is $200-300 ($10k-$16k/year). This is not true at all. If anyone is considering ADHD therapy, please do not let such misleading figures dissuade you. For anyone with insurance, the average cost of a therapy session is often as little as a $15-25 copay. You could get 4-6 in-person, personalized therapy sessions with an experienced provider for the same pric…

That implies that it is easy to find a therapist who will accept insurance, which is not at all the case for many people.

Finding therapists who accept insurance is such a large problem in so many US cities that there are entire startups working to fix that (one example: https://headway.co/). $200-300/session is a low estimate for people in those markets.

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

#295

Post by bserge »

what_is_orcas wrote: post #207
bserge wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it actually works, an app like this could be worth 10x the price. Getting rid of all the time waste, all the stress of AD is worth a lot.

Sure, but then isn't this just a "disability tax"? (I'm aware that the word disability is antiquated and not perfect here, but for the sake of being concise, this is what I wrote). The need for this app is a problem. Insurance should cover the cost of treatment (and insurance should be affordable and available; for transparency: I'm pro medicare for all, here in the US). Start ups have a bad habit of taking a systemi…

This is a solution to the main problem, which is healthcare being a steaming puddle of diarrhea and medication being gatekept by the industry and the government... for your own safety, of course.

A poor solution imo (at least for any serious cases), but at least someone is trying something.

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

#297

Post by rvanlaar »

To others here, please avoid this app, there are too many red flags about it.

The testimonials on the site [1] are superficial. I only saw short term ones. Most people with ADHD have a track record of starting new things, being extremely enthusiastic only for it to fizzle out in a few weeks.

Case in point Adam says: "I'm recently diagnosed so it's really exiting..."

This is on the science page [2]: "Studies have shown that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is effective in helping to treat those with ADHD." It's the only actual science quote on there. It's a platitude if I've ever seen one. CBT does work. However how is this app comparable to CBT? It's not and it doesn't explain any of it.

The whole site is also extremely vague and light on detail. No mention on the kind of exercises, why they work and how they work. The screenshots on the playstore page [3] had more info than the site.

As other mentioned the opt-out is indeed predatory given the target audience.

Lastly, there are many great resources online for ADHD: A community for ADHD go to: https://forums.howtoadhd.com/ podcasts: https://drhallowell.com/listen/podcast/ https://www.fasterthannormal.com/

All in all, I'll avoid this app till I hear favorable things from the community.

[1] https://www.getinflow.io [2] https://www.getinflow.io/science [3] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=inflow.adhd.pr...

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

#298

Post by SyzygistSix »

djbusby wrote: post #246
SyzygistSix wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"but for an app for people with executive function issues, an opt out format seems shady" is so dead on. What an enormous red flag. Might as well come right out and say that they understand ADHD and plan to use its drawbacks to make money from people. Considering how desperate a lot of people are for treatment, this sounds like a great monetary investment for people with no conscience. This may be a bit harsh. I'm a…

Argg! I also have a thing I forgot to cancel last month! Did you get your Prime one done? I'm doing mine right now. Edit: done! Thanks.

I did it right away, half asleep. The post absolutely reminded me to. The app worked! lol

Plus my dislike of Amazon is rather motivating.

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

#299

Post by rvanlaar »

danShumway wrote: post #121

As someone with ADHD, this sets off some (okay, many) red flags for me. Some thoughts: - Patient intake for ADHD is genuinely awful, you're right about that. The diagnostic/treatment process for ADHD often feels like it's designed to make people with ADHD struggle. - CBT is generally helpful, therapy is an important part of treatment. I've seen good results from it. - in-person sessions are expensive (although if you…

Hear hear. Thank you for your write up.

Just wishing YC was more discriminatory in who they allow into the program. This shouldn't have passed the smell test.

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

#300

Post by chrsig »

msluyter wrote: post #65
mysterydip wrote: post #3

One thing I've wanted in an app is some kind of organized quick way to do "where did i put that?" and "did I try this food option before and did I like it or not?" My main concern with any app is remembering to use it. I have a dozen or so alarms, and todo lists, and I still forget to check them. Beyond some push notification, what ways can your app help me remember to use it to make it a habit?

Re: "where did I put that" -- I got a set of Apple airtags recently and they've been a godsend. I also have an apple watch, so via the watch I can find my phone, and via the phone I can find my wallet/keys/etc... They're awesome. Re: reminders, one thing I've noticed with any sort of reminder system based on alerts/notifications, is that while they work for a while, eventually my brain just starts ignoring the alerts…

try finding a positive association to attach to the alarm -- some form of dopamine hit or something so you can start to look forward to the alarm

(then you get the self control issue of not going for that dopamine hit every time it pops into your head!)

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