Built a parenting App for My Daughter - We Need Help/ Advice/ Feedback
First off, if you read this whole thing, thank you.
I started this business because for the last decade I’ve been through the grinder of family court. I’m still in it now, actually. Court again next week.
I’ve lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, countless months of time with my child, and been forced through a level of hell I would not wish on anyone.
But after living inside this system for that long, you start to see the pattern pretty clearly: family court is overwhelmed, parents are their own worst enemy, kids get stuck in the middle, and the courts don't stand a chance to help.
A couple years ago, a judge ordered us to use a co-parenting app. We have to pay for it for the next 10 years.
That’s when it really clicked for me.
The incumbent apps are mostly built around recording evidence for court.
Our app, Calmr, is built around trying to keep parents from having to go back to court in the first place.
It moderates conversations, coaches parents toward better communication, helps enforce custody rules, and we have a patent pending on a dispute resolution module that works somewhat like a family court judge would for certain parenting disputes.
The bigger vision is a judicial/professional platform that can sit alongside courts and professionals and give them insight/ data/ transparency in a way never done before
The app is live and we have about 40 downloads.
We also just got a legal nonprofit partnership moving so they can start onboarding real clients. They are not paying yet, but they are real users.
We also have a city-funded court pilot in motion, though that has been delayed because of unrelated local political drama.
For all of you marketing geniuses:
How would you approach getting the first 100 real users right now?
Why might downloads not be converting?
What should I be spending the majority of my day on?
And if anyone is willing to give blunt feedback on the app, website, or positioning, I’d genuinely appreciate it.
Right now I’m spending a lot of time reaching out to family law attorneys and family therapists. They feel like a great unlock, but they are extremely hard to get in front of at scale, especially remotely.
Appreciate any advice.