Launch HN: Dex (YC S19) – personal CRM that reminds you to keep in touch
I’m Kevin, founder of Dex (https://getdex.com/). Dex is a personal CRM that reminds you to keep in touch with people you might otherwise forget.
I started working on Dex because I felt like I was falling out-of-touch with people I cared about. I wanted to be aware of “how long it had been” and more proactive about maintaining my relationships.
Looking to solve this problem, I tried data tools like Airtable, Notion, and Google Sheets. It was easy to setup a sheet to track relationships, but I eventually found these tools difficult to keep up with. I’d end up procrastinating on updating my records and would rarely find the time to revisit them.
Dex is a personal CRM that aims to be simple, intuitive, and accessible. To get started, users sign up for a web application that connects with their Google contacts and calendar (and optionally Facebook and LinkedIn data). With this information, Dex suggests people to contact every day. Over time, these suggestions become better as users customize how frequently they’d like to reach out.
Dex includes the functionality you might include from a CRM: logging notes, setting reminders, and organizing contacts. A feature which makes Dex unique is a Chrome extension, which allows you to view relationship history and add people without leaving social networking sites like LinkedIn, Messenger, Twitter, and Facebook.
Most people realize the value and fulfillment that come from maintaining relationships, but occasionally still fall out of touch due to forgetfulness. Dex helps these people with a system of regular reminders to keep in touch. I’ve noticed many people already have their own ‘system’ for managing relationships, and I’m always interested in hearing about different people think about dealing with staying on top of relationships.
I’d also welcome any other feedback about Dex! Feel free to also email me directly at kevin [at] getdex [dot] com. Thanks for your attention! :)
146 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 167 ms ] threadFor other channels like Messenger and Whatsapp, a big constraint is no API for messages. Making an integration for these channels the 'right way' is a challenge we're still working on -- we could ask for user credentials but that doesn't seem like a great long-term solution.
We're definitely solving a similar problem, and in the past I was a user of Monica until I found it too much work to keep up with. Monica notably does have more fields and performs functions (like journaling) that Dex does not.
Properly answering the question you asked is a whole can of worms, much like asking "vim or emacs" or "macOS or Windows or Linux" or maybe even "python or ruby or rust / go?".
>> It can:
>> Read and change all your data on the websites you visit
No thanks
Edit: Looked at the extension and maybe it could limit itself to social network domains though.
https://developer.chrome.com/apps/declare_permissions (see reference to "match pattern")
This then in turn populates the list of sites in the extension settings where you can choose to deny access to the aforementioned websites listed in the manifest
What extension did you make? I made [1] an extension a while ago, and spent more time than I'd care to admit. Now that I think about it, I used "host": " * " too! (even though it's necessary for that particular extension)...
[1] https://newsit.benwinding.com/
My extension wasn't published, it was targeted to a specific site (so could narrow the scope of the permissions) and was just set up to allow downloading of images individually (via an overlayed button) and an album as a zip. Pretty legal grey area hence me not publishing it.
* (2018) "Monica – Personal CRM, Remember everything about friends and family" -> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18318547
* (2017) "Show HN: Monica, an open-source CRM to manage friends and family" -> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14497295
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
Right now everything seems to be free. I'm asking because I hate to be surprised after investing time to curate a CRM.
If I see an app ask for my contact data without good reason, I'm immediately out in most cases. But they've got a good reason: it's what the app is supposed to do...
I've been thinking about a way to solve the exact same problem on and off for a long time (I'm terrible at proactively keeping in touch with friends).
My original solution was the same as yours, but it quickly broke down for me because I just couldn't get all of the data (in particular when I last talked to someone) into the app. I imagine you'll face the same challenge.
Two approaches have worked well for me though...
1. a dumb version of Dex. Basically just a list of friends/acquaintances and a periodic reminder (weekly, monthly, quarterly) to make sure I'd been in touch
2. a weekly prompt to reach out to anyone who fits a certain set of criteria. For example, "send a message to the last person you met at a networking event" or "reach out to the contact you'd be most likely to recommend for a marketing role"
Weirdly, the latter version has been way better for me at maintaining and growing relationships outside of my closest circle of friends. Especially on the professional side of things.
If you want to chat more about my experience or the problem in general, my email is in my profile and I find this super interesting :)
Good luck!
I actually was just thinking about this type of product just yesterday while walking around a part of the city I've never been to -- how cool would it be to proactively shoot folks a text whenever I'm in their part of town (determined by GPS)? I end up doing this manually and I always forget folks until it's too late.
I'll add you can add your iCloud contacts into Dex if you're an iPhone user!
I'm a bit frustrated by the lack of features in Monica.
What I want is this, reminders to stay in contact with someone. I want a notification to appear on my phone saying something like, "hey you told us to stay in touch with Bob every month, click to open WhatsApp and message them." Or slack, text, email, etc.
I also want a central location for all my contacts and info about this. Notes, when we last got in touch and how we communicate (messenger, slack, email, LinkedIn, etc.) I really want it to stay synced with iCloud, Google, Next loud, etc.
I want as much automation as possible.
Every CRM I've looked into seems to revolve around a lot of manual work.
I'll have to give getdex a try.
We've built the Chrome extension as a temporary substitute, but full automation is definitely the eventual vision. Unfortunately the more interesting channels (Messenger / Facebook) don't have accessible APIs so integrating with them has been an ongoing challenge. Would appreciate any automation suggestions as you try it out!
What exactly is a "personal" CRM that doesn't focus on selling? A curated address book?
>> Most people realize the value and fulfillment that come from maintaining relationships, but occasionally still fall out of touch due to forgetfulness
I think these is the fundamental premise that I don't personally agree with; the value of the relationship is what keeps you engaged. It's not simple forgetfulness that causes you to lose touch - you are prioritizing other activities over the relationship.
This doesn't seem right or make me feel good though; it makes me seem like a self-centered jerk, so can't be true - I must be lacking (yet more) networking applications that "promote keeping in touch".
I think there is opportunity for very specific purpose networking tools, like linkedin before they decided to be a general-purpose social network or centered around communities and activities. I don't think "relationships" is specific enough, unless you're focusing on physical relationships like dating or hookups.
Also, the amount of private information you're asking to expose right out the gate is a non-starter for me. If it's curated (and thus meaningful) make your on-boarding & setup reflect this. I realize it's largely due to eas-of-use, but to me the process is a giant data vacuum.
Over the past year I've met plenty of contacts/got cards etc. I have not felt the need to contact any of the people I've met, so I honestly don't know what it would be like if I did. I don't have any needs/problems that aren't already solved by the people who are in my life now, and if someone was really important I'd put them in my phone contacts, which also, is at about 5% utilization, compared to the total number of people in there, and all those people I at least had some good reason to contact at some point.
I think true meaningful networks cannot be built by exchanging a card on a one-off meeting.
Am I wrong?
Dex as a 'personal CRM' does intend to provide professional utility as a tool that helps you keep in touch. People who depend on relationships for their work, but might not already have a CRM with their company, are part of Dex's core target audience.
Thanks for your point on private information: we know that our onboarding experience isn't perfect and it's something we're working on.
Yes. Keep going ! It's a good idea.
1. Tiny bit confused over whether I was signing up or logging in.
2. I can't read their names on my phone (portrait mode). Landscape is ok. Maybe reduce the font size or something
3. What's the algorithm for displaying the recommend "get in touch"? Some people are friends I have a beer with some Inhomestly can not recognise
My idea was to only recommend people whom I had replied to on email - the presumption being I must have wanted something
So perhaps in the info field show me their last email or two so I can work out who they are
Keep up the good work !
The algorithm is primarily focused on your calendar data and when you've last had an event (if you don't use your calendar, these recommendations might not be great but will get better as you snooze/check off people)
I like your idea on emails that you've actually replied too - will consider that for a future release!
1. You recommend I get in touch with me ... and I am only third on the list :-)
2. I generally don't book events / calendar things. It's one of the reasons i think focusing on emails is so useful - I do those all the time and there is digital footprint that can be used to help me (as opposed to sell me ads)
3. Maybe I missed something but I tried to click on the arrow and then the mail icon, but no mail popped up - I would like to send a mail right there and then as a minimum "get in touch"
Don't mind me. I'm just having fun projecting meaning onto things.
Perhaps they are using a MetaPhysics engine to help me find myself?
If I feel connected I will tell you :-)
I am sorry, I can't do that. I don't know anything about your offer, how you will be using my data. Will it be resold later? In your privacy policy, there is an option of using my data (my contacts network) to run targeted advertising, etc.
While I need something like this, I'll now have to search for more privacy-conscious alternatives.
The key for me -- other than privacy etc -- is that it be automated. It should take the info from my email, Facebook and maybe messenger/text and figure out who my friends are and who I have not been in touch with.
How does this decide whom to recommend to reach out to?
One of the biggest challenges is the interesting integrations (Facebook/SMS/etc) aren't super easy to do (unless we straight up ask for credentials!). It's an area we're still working on, as more automation is the most requested direction of features.
My own mind has proven itself incompetent at this task, so I'm good with a little assistance.
I was actually planning on re-reviewing Monica soon, so I'll add this to compare against. For me my goal is just about tracking what people enjoy or don't, what we last did, important developments in their lives, whether I've updated them on my own important developments, etc...
Just offloading all the things my brain has repeatedly failed at in favor of garbage like song lyrics or API documentation.
From the website it seems that your MVP is a Chrome extension. A lot of time I remember to keep in touch with my friends are when I'm outside, away from my keyboard. When using computer my mind is habituated for works and leisures. Do you have any plan to build apps for mobile?
Also, I used to use Contactually for this a few years ago, was great with email integration and FB before they killed the API. Good luck!
It's great that you support all the social sites - it was enough work for me just to integrate private notes and tags into Facebook. If only I had put in more time into Backstory to turn it from a side project into a full-fledged product like yours!
One thing I don't like is how intrusive the sidebar integrations are. They take up so much space that I can no longer see the other content in the sidebar at first glance. The Messenger integration also doesn't seem to be working for me.
Congrats on launch! I'm going to start using Dex, hope it helps me keep up with friends in the next few weeks! :)
I've been wanting something like this for a while but the privacy policy is pretty vague and far too broad for me to trust a service like this:
https://getdex.com/privacypolicy
I'd be much more excited about this product if it used zero-knowledge encryption for my data. Yes you can't data-mine it (and if I lose my password I'm hosed), but I'd prefer having the only copy of the decryption key.
In my opinion, CRM data entry should always be incremental/progressive, very granular, allowing processes to flow without frustrating users. That is key to user adoption and to any project success. Just my 2cents on this.