Momenta. The Beginning.

From idea to concept to product.

Momenta
Momenta
Jul 21, 2017 · 2 min read

Technology always arrives with a slew of promises. “It’ll help you get information faster! It will help you keep up with your friends! It will make your life easier and better!”

The Internet did just that in 1995, when the last commericial restrictions on internet use were lifted and unfettered access to the world wide web became available. Portals to new worlds were opened and those promises of better information were delivered. Those early days were a free for all and information flowed in unreliable but exciting ways.

Twenty years of Internet use by Frank, Joe, and Betty has given rise to sub-scaffolds inside the web to access, upload, and share content. Capitalism is unmerciful and the strong survive, leaving us only a few dominant tools to consume and share information. It has worked wonders — nobody can question the value of a Facebook share of that recently engaged couple or the sheer power of a simple Google search. But there was something that bothered us about this framework, something that didn’t seem quite right.

The more we talked with others, the more we realized that technology doesn’t mirror how we live our lives. In life, your circle of friends and family is fluid and constantly changing. We connect with others through memories made in the physical world, but those memories often translate in a clunky way to the virtual world. Default settings are almost always wired for us to share more of our lives with others, whether we want to or not. It is also expected that ads choke our access portals, yelling for our attention admist our search for those relevant bits of information from our friends.

We began to wonder — is there a way that we can make a different user experience possible? One where the user has total control over their memories? One where the user is not fed a steady stream of ads? One where physically valuable objects connect us in the virtual world as well?

A concept led to an idea that led to a system. A system where physical valuable items give users the ability to create and enjoy moments with only that those they choose. A system where user ownership and privacy controls is paramount.

It is easy to look back at the past and connect the dots. That’s how one takes a story full of winds and turns and boils it into a few succinct paragraphs. The reality is more complex. Over the next four weeks, we will be delving deep into how Momenta came to be. It is a story whose roots reach back to December of 2014.

Part 1 of 6— An Old Mentor Comes Knocking

Part 2 of 6— Eating Glass, Staring into the Abyss

Part 3 of 6— You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Part 4 of 6 — A Product Emerges

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Thanks to Mark Lancaster

Momenta
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