When we launched Space in 2017, it created a public reaction that we weren’t ready for. It brought “60 Minutes” and Time magazine to our office, helped us raise our early V.C. rounds, and made us leaders in behavior tech.
It also caught the attention of Arianna Huffington. On the heels of launching Thrive Global, she invited us over to her house for a conversation about where technology was going and what could be done to harness the powerful effects of interactive technology to create human thriving.
In the era of “Black Mirror” and Tristan Harris, it was cool to be anti-tech. Even leaders in the tech community had a resigned attitude to the social power of technology, believing that, “Yes, maybe it’s addicting people and taking their jobs, but I need to get paid.”
In that climate, talking to Arianna was a breath of fresh air. It was great to talk with another entrepreneur who was unapologetically enthusiastic about the role technology can play in our lives.
In the two and a half years since then, we’ve been growing our enterprise behavior change platform and watching Thrive as they grow theirs.
This summer both Boundless and Thrive were out fundraising. There are only so many funds that specialize in enterprise software and behavior change and looking back, it’s clear that we were talking to the same people.
An early investor in Thrive Global, Lerer Hippeau, convinced me that I should be talking to Thrive Global more. Exactly 99 days ago today he introduced me to their head of corporate development, and now I have to privilege of being the first to tell you that Boundless Mind and Thrive Global are joining forces.
Arianna shares our focus on what matters, and our conviction on how to solve it. Those commonalities made this an easy call. But it’s our differences that made this the right call. Thrive knows how to use media and narrative to inspire change; we know how to use neuroscience and machine learning to sustain it. We can use technology with neuroscience to find what’s in a user’s mind; Thrive knows how to use technology with storytelling to move their hearts.
Thrive Global has proven a business model that we know how to drive. Individual users have a hard time noticing and valuing their own habits, but employers have a vested interest in employee productivity, satisfaction, and retention. By bringing on Thrive Global to bring out the best of their employees, companies are able to see the upside of healthier, happier, and more productive people. We’re going to help them drive and measure that value more effectively.
The data and user relationships at Thrive are also going to accelerate our ability to develop powerful A.I. systems. Previously, we’ve had to understand users at an arm’s length. By having a more direct relationship with users, we’re going to be able to build a more powerful and tailored behavior change toolkit that, combined with Thrive’s Microsteps, will help us realize our mission of creating a world where hyper-personalized technology helps humans thrive.
Boundless is excited to be carrying our movement in to Thrive Global and accelerating it there. I hope that you join us by staying up to date, bringing your career to Thrive Global with us, and writing about your journey for the Thrive Global media platform that reaches over 35 million people.
Thrive on,
Dalton + The Boundless Team
Dalton Combs is the CEO and co-founder of Boundless Mind, and now Thrive’s Head of Behavioral Science.
Originally published at boundless.ai.
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