Sidekick

A new hardware device to connect remote teams

4 followers

A new hardware device to connect remote teams

4 followers

Sidekick (YC S20) is a new device that lets teammates work side by side during set coworking sessions. Teams at Coinbase, Brex, and Eventbrite use Sidekick to build strong team relationships while remote.

Launch tags:Productivity•Hardware•Streaming Services

Launch Team

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Brevy Beta

I've been working remotely with my team for several months now and the biggest annoyance I've experienced is frantically trying to find the Facebook Messenger tab when a coworker calls me. I always end up having dozens of tabs. Having a dedicated device for this definitely seems like a no-brainer. What's the audio quality like? It would great if there was some kind of directional mic to block out background noise without needing a headset.

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5yr ago

Sidekick

Maker

@mohamed_abedelmalik glad the idea resonates. We've done a lot of work on the software side to suppress background noise using RNNs while keeping human voices in the foreground - some of our early users work in noisy NYC apartment buildings and they've told us that almost none of it gets through to their teammates.

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5yr ago

Sidekick

Maker

Hi PH! We are Andy, Howard, Greg and Arthur, founders of Sidekick! Like many of you all, we were recently forced to start working remotely because of COVID. We quickly realized that starting a company while remote was brutal: - 🧠 No spontaneous brainstorming - All of the best features we ever built were born out of unplanned conversations at our desks. - 🗣 Increased miscommunication - Being able to quickly ask teammates clarification questions is key to making sure everything is staying on track. - 🎭 Lack of team culture - True connections are forged in random 1-off conversations, not during scheduled meetings. We use Sidekick every day because it's the closest thing to sitting in the same room. Sidekick is a video device that sits on each of your team members desks. On Sidekick, you schedule coworking sessions to simulate working side by side for a few hours a week. 🤔 Who's it for? Sidekick is great for remote cofounders and other fast-paced teams that care about building a strong team bond. We're working with 20 Y Combinator companies along with teams at Bloomberg and Spotify. We understand that Sidekick isn't for everyone! If you don't particularly want to talk to your team during the day, Sidekick probably isn't a great fit. Until August 1st new teams get a discounted price of $25/user/month (normally it's $50/user/month). The hardware comes for free with the subscription and we cover the shipping. We'd love to hear your feedback. If you have any thoughts or questions, please email me at andy@realismlabs.com.

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5yr ago

Q&A for Web Developers

I'm an early tester of this product -- and will be the first to admit that I was pretty skeptical, both about always-on video as well as the need for a dedicated device. I'm a believer now, here's why: - As a founder in a fully remote team, I need to stay constantly connected to my co-founder. Organic, easy information flow is a huge need in remote work. I can see if my co-founder is intensely focused and can drop in to ask questions or float new ideas if he's not. - The sensation of actually working alongside someone in peripheral vision has actually made me *more* productive - like having a study buddy. - Having touchpoints like waving to someone when you get to work, seeing what they're grabbing for lunch, etc. sound sort of ridiculous, but having that social foundation back really brings back the sense that you're working *with* someone and you're not just an isolated worker bee. I'm an advocate of every product that makes pandemic work life better. ;) Really excited to see where they go with this!

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5yr ago

Sidekick

Maker

@jexe Thanks for the awesome feedback and being a great power user!

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5yr ago

We've been using sidekick for over a month now and its been essential for keeping our team of 4 feel connected despite being in 3 different countries!

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5yr ago

Sidekick

Maker

@roheet_shah thanks for being an awesome power user!

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5yr ago

I'm the top user and first customer according to Andy, but maybe that's what he says to everyone ;). I use it every waking hour, i take it on walks, I use it as a coaster for my coffee, and I also A/B test it against zoom on ipad every month to decide if we should keep paying the license. Here's some thoughts: - if you have the privilege of having a fairly affluent, all north america/europe team, lucky you. iPad is not plug-and-play in some parts of the world - my 2013 mbp fan can't handle my dev environment and zoom. i can't even have more than a few chrome tabs open. - i don't want to ruin my ipad or its battery keeping it on a video constantly (not sure if real concern) ...a lot more stuff too, feel free to ask me long story short: paying for licenses is about delegating problems. last thing i want to deal with (again) is shipping an ipad and getting it confiscated at customs or "lost" by an employee i'm not in the same city as. i pay to delegate all these problems to Andy (and maybe you should too)

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5yr ago

Sidekick

Maker

@jamding Thanks James! Happy we could help you out, and yes you were definitely the first customer and one of our best power users!

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5yr ago

Merida for Remote Workers

Hunter

Seems like this could be the missing link in remote work for some people. Having this on a second screen vs a Zoom call makes sense, as it's out of the way. It will be interesting to see how people will use this.

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5yr ago

Sidekick

Maker

@leandro8209 Thanks for hunting us!

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5yr ago

Merida for Remote Workers

Hunter

@achen187 You're welcome, all the best with your business 🙌🏾

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5yr ago

So essentially it's an expensive video call. I'll stick to Google Meets or WhereBy on an iPad / Tablet if I needed a work buddy, cheaper too

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5yr ago

@mykro Yes. They've found a way to charge $600 for a $200 Samsung Tablet by using some hyped up language to suggest that they're doing something innovate. That's putting aside the fact that this is such an egregious breach of privacy the NSA would be proud. You're basically creating a tool for the kind of micro managers no one wants to work for.

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5yr ago

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