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“A HEALTHIER RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR PHONES STARTS WITH CHANGING OUR ENVIRONMENTS”
In this edition of Founders Unfiltered Nadav Jacobs, CEO and co-founder of Novi is in the hot seat. Novi is a digital wellbeing and classroom management app that blocks distracting apps, websites, and cameras on students' phones during the school day while giving teachers a monitoring dashboard.
Novi was founded at university, after Nadav and his co-founder Matt realised just how dependent they had become on their phones and technology, and how much it was affecting their attention, focus and everyday lives. They wanted to help the next generation build a healthier relationship with technology.
Q: What’s the scrappiest thing you’ve done so far to make progress?
We heard about a Bristol event where ten startups were pitching to investors, but we had neither an invitation nor a pitching slot. We emailed the organisers and people in our network, asking to attend as students interested in entrepreneurship. Once inside, we turned conversations into an opportunity to pitch Novi on stage. That pitch introduced investors who later backed us.
Q: What’s your current biggest challenge?
Getting in front of school leaders who are already stretched for time, and showing them how Novi can make phone-free policies easier to enforce while giving teachers more time to teach.
Q: In one sentence - what was your lightbulb moment for starting the business?
Realising that a healthier relationship with our phones starts with changing our environments- willpower alone isn’t enough.
Q: What mistake are you glad you made?
We initially tried to build for several industries at once, which spread our focus too thin. It taught us to choose a clear starting point, and helped us recognise schools as the place where we could make the greatest initial impact.
Q: What’s one book, podcast or article you think everyone should read?
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. It makes you question what a childhood shaped by smartphones means for young people, and what we can do differently.
Q: Finish this sentence: Success looks like…
Changing society’s relationship with mobile phones so that young people grow up with more human connection, fewer distractions and better mental health.
Q: One word you hope people use to describe you - and one word for Novi?
Me: Inspiring. Novi: Revolutionary.