We are Torch
Parents today face a very real dilemma.
On the one hand, technology is improving our lives. Access to information and the tools we use to learn and communicate are unprecedented. I’ve seen holographic meetings take place between people in different cities, radical ideas birthed for energy conservation, and a group of engineers turn a dilapidated billboard into a water filtration system.
And it’s tinkering with technology in childhood that leads to this adult innovation. So we shouldn’t unnecessarily just cut ourselves or our kids off from devices.
On the other hand, many parents will tell you that technology has created complications and disconnection in their families. There are no “rules” to the internet, so parents tend to grab one of three options: 1) an arbitrary restriction of internet use, 2) allowing unrestricted, unsupervised screen time, or 3) part-time micro-management of every child and every device. None of these approaches work well.
Most parents work hard to strike a balance, but even this is becoming a challenge most digital immigrants aren’t equipped to do. With no visibility into what kids are actually doing online and no reference point for interpreting it, parents are left making uninformed decisions about what they think is best.
Humans fear what we don’t understand. As someone who didn’t use the internet until college, I’ve been in fear of technology for far too long. Over the last four years, I finally managed to jump in the proverbial deep end of the technology pool. My best guides have been the tech geniuses I work with at tech incubator, Lamp Post Group, where I was a Founding Partner. But my favorite guides have been my own little digital natives—Eliah, Lucas, and Lennyn.
They have taught me that their imaginations cannot be contained to things that I understand and that there is a much wider world that they are interested in exploring. I just didn’t know they’d start exploring so young and so compulsively. But the more I understand about what they’re doing online, the more OK with this I feel. I only wish I had a little help for the last 10 years.
We’re building a company to do just that.
Our first product is a wifi router. We are building and designing it with the most badass utility you can imagine. Intuitive setup. Bluetooth enabled. Mesh networking. All the good stuff.
In today’s market, consumers demand these functions. The technological functions have become the commodity.
The real value we’re bringing is what I call ‘Parental Controls 2.0’—Instead of just restricting content, parents can take an active part in seeding their kids with more creative content. And when you want to have human time—for things like eating, sleeping, and being together—you’ll finally have an off switch for the internet.
Torch is more than a tech company. We are a company made up of parents and engineers, emotion and logic, design and data. This yin and yang must be what magic feels like.
We want to be a trusted tech guide helping parents lean into the technological revolution with creativity and balance. It is possible to embrace technology and preserve your family’s values at the same time.
Like most parents, I want to unleash my children on their Big Life Project—the work they’re put on this earth to do. I believe that this work will involve technology in some way, so unnecessarily limiting their exposure may only handicap them for tomorrow’s opportunities.
At the same time, I’m not willing to let technology become such an idol—for me or my children—that I neglect to parent them with the values I hold dear—empathy, physical play, human connection, social intelligence, losing yourself in nature—all things that give life wonderful meaning.
Helping families strike this creative balance is what Torch is all about.
