Okay, so this is the first time I can post an article on my live platform, after a few attempts prototyping it, and working really hard over the past 4 years... 

I am over the moon, so happy and proud that we have finally achieved the first Simplo.me MVP (Minimum Viable Product).  It certainly hasn't been easy; many times I have doubted myself, my vision, and even my capability to accomplish such a venture.

I've worked in technology for over 20 years now, and I have been aware of the dangers and damage social media platforms can cause to societies for a long time, not from the instant connectivity they allowed us, but from their business model; their targeted, intrusive, and invasive advertisement model that the world got used to.

I then had my own family, if you are a parent you'll know that this experience changes you.  I started to see with different eyes which type of world we are living in, and with the knowledge I have, I couldn't ignore that things could be different, if we just made them different...

So, I set to architect my ideas and take steps to achieve the choice I felt my children deserved, and people like-minded would enjoy to have.

The first completed architecture came in 2016; after a couple of years, in 2018, we had the first prototype, which taught us a lot; and yesterday we finally completed our Simplo.me Beta version.

There were many times I thought my original idea was huge, how could a two people team complete such a massive project and without investment...? 
I was crazy! 

But things like the Cambridge Analytica scandal came by; Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google executives testifying at the House Hearing happened; the incredible censorship we are witnessing by these mayor tech players; the Never Is Now 2019 | ADL International Leadership Award's beautiful opening speech by Sacha Baron Cohen... All these things clarified and motivated me to continue creating that choice I was hungry for.

Reading many critics, studies on fake news, books on direct democracy and business, was also a good incentive; but hearing friends or even total strangers' complaints on the state of affairs when it comes to technology, was probably one of the best inspirations.  So, to all those individuals, thank you so much, even when you might be totally unaware that you were doing me a great favour, thank you for those discussions, comments and complaints you shared!

My vision is huge, not sure how I will get there, but if we got here, we can continue taking steps towards it... As we say in our home when a task seems to be too large or even overwhelming...

"Little by little we eat the elephant!"

Carola