12/1/24

Howdy,

Wow, November was a big month!

First, and most importantly, Olivia gave birth to our baby daughter, Sabina, on the 17th. It’s been an incredible experience, and I was surprised at how quickly I attached to her.

On top of that, I released Epiphany, the voice workflow app I’ve been working on for a while, to the Apple App Store. (Thought and link below)

Photo:

New family member. Say hi to Sabina!

Idea:

Home-From-Hospital Toolkit Planner

Despite the polyphasic sleep torture, I still have ideas…

During this whole post-delivery phase, I kept thinking it would have been nice to have a website form or AI interview that asks a series of questions based on your preferences, tendencies, and budget, and then gives you a recommended toolkit to help with the baby once you get home.

Having Olivia’s mom stay with us for the first two weeks has been an unanticipated lifesaver. She’s done so much more than we expected, but even just helping with one diaper change, burping, or settling during the night makes a meaningful difference in my sleep—and, in turn, my mood and ability to handle everything during the day. Beyond that, her presence has been a tremendous comfort to Olivia.

We’ve also—though I know we’re incredibly fortunate living in Portugal—started having a chef come to the house twice a week to prepare meals. She makes a breakfast, lunch, and dinner that last us 2+ days, and the positive impact of eating delicious, healthy home-cooked meals is undeniable.

Friends have mentioned other options too, like having a day nanny come by a few times a week, even for just a few hours. Then there are night nurses and all the possibilities they bring.

So, back to the idea: where was the playbook quiz three months ago that Olivia and I could have taken together to produce a tailored plan for post-birth success?

Another thing to consider is the overwhelming amount of potential baby gear.

I impulse-bought an Owlet sock at 3 a.m. a few nights in because none of us could get back to sleep quickly after feedings. Olivia made fun of me at the time (fair), but she’s since admitted that it’s helped her go back to sleep more easily between feedings.

We opted for a Nanit flex stand for convenience while traveling, which, in hindsight, was a mistake because it doesn’t provide any insights unless you buy the more expensive floor stand or wall mount. That said, the Owlet has been working fine at night, and we’ll likely use the Nanit later for monitoring—or maybe we’ll get a dedicated monitor screen to help keep us off our phones.

We’ve skipped the Snoo for now. Actually, that's not true. I just checked online for shipping options in Europe, and they have 30% off. I've just ordered it with a 30-day trial.

I think one big takeaway from all this is how many variables there are at every step.

You have the birth process itself and how smoothly it goes—Olivia’s labor went super smoothly. You have the health of the baby—so far, Sabina is doing great. And then you have all the personalities involved, including the baby’s. What if it had been a super arduous labor? Would there have been something else we needed?

I know it’s impossible to get everything perfect, but I still think there’s a massive opportunity here.

Or maybe all of this is covered in one of the four baby books I haven’t finished yet? 🤣

p.s. if you can build this, I will help.

Thought:

Becoming Voice First

I believe we’re transitioning from an era of typing to an era of speaking. Think back to the hype around Alexa and Google Home a few years ago—people loved the idea of speaking commands, but the technology wasn’t quite there yet.

Now, it is.

We can speak and transcribe with near-perfect accuracy, and even refine, format, and adjust the tone of our spoken words into polished text.

This shift is unlocking a new way of getting things done. Speaking is inherently more fluid and conversational than typing. When we type, we’re already editing—translating the thoughts in our heads into words on a screen. It’s slower, less natural.

That’s part of what drives the mission of Epiphany. It’s about capturing and acting on thoughts directly from your head, seamlessly integrating them into the tools and systems you already use. It makes getting things done easier and faster.

I truly believe we are idea machines, constantly generating thoughts. But without the right tools, most of those ideas fall off the conveyor belt, never shipped, never delivered. I believe that’s a problem worth solving.

See ya next month!

-Troy


P.S. If you want to try out Epiphany, I invite you to install from the Apple App Store. iOS only for now. We’re still very early days and constantly iterating, so if you try it and think of something that would make it more valuable, reach out!