How Calm Created a Billion Greenback Wellness App
Apps have gone from digital oddities to big business, and the market has never been more competitive. Quiet creative director Andrew Schapiro explains to CR how great design, user feedback and a dash of whimsy are key to the company's success
There are literally millions of apps to download now. Think of any problem you have, and there is most likely an app that claims to solve it – whether it will help organize your life or keep you entertained when you are bored. Now, thanks to a rapidly growing wellness industry, they can also help us manage our mental health. Calm, an app launched in 2012, has had tremendous success in this area.
The company's mission is simply to "help you improve your health and happiness". In addition, it offers users a mix of guided meditations, music, soundscapes, and sleep stories – all to reduce people's anxiety, help them focus, and strengthen their mental wellbeing.
The idea for Calm originally came from co-founder Alex Tew's donothingfor2minutes.com website, which attracted 100,000 people to sign up
Users can fall asleep listening to Laura Dern or David Walliams read a bedtime story, or watch a LeBron James audio series that covers everything from managing emotions to creating a champion's mindset. It's a huge feat for an idea that first came up when co-founder Alex Tew built donothingfor2minutes.com – a website that asked users to sit still for two minutes and listen to the sound of waves.