Please let us know who you are and what Sunsama is.
My name is Ashutosh, and I'm one of the founders of Sunsama. I've been working on it for almost nine years, building a product that helps us be a better version of ourselves. Specifically, I'm interested in how to work thoughtfully, calmly, and effectively, and translating that into software is an enjoyable task for me.
You put over six years into building the product.
In the first five or five and a half years of our company's history, we created and shut down six or seven failed products before we developed our successful daily planner, Sensama. During this time, my co-founder Travis and I were learning how to build software and refining our ideas about working well. We also studied how early users used our products and gained insights into what makes for a productive workday. We incorporated all these learnings into Sensama, which we use today.
Before using Sunsama, I used Google Calendar, Trello, Notion, and many other productivity tools. Now, Sunsama is one of my ultimate tools.
Many people look for one tool to solve all their problems, but we believe in focusing on a specific purpose. Sunsama is designed to be the best tool for planning a single workday rather than replacing all other devices. Different tools have different strengths, like JIRA for managing issues in large engineering teams or Asana for specific types of groups. Most task-tracking and project management tools are designed with a project-based approach, but work needs to be solved daily for individuals in larger organizations. Sunsama helps you create a daily plan, regardless of which tools you use for work.
What distinguishes Sunsama from other productivity apps?
Our focus at Sunsama is to guide you through a daily planning and shutdown flow. We help you be intentional about planning your day and ensure that your plan for the day is achievable. Unlike other task management tools that focus on being a database, we help you translate your backlog into tasks you'll work on today. Our three main differentiators are:
- Guided daily planning
- Focus on a calm and reasonable workload.
- Integration with various tools makes your day seamless, regardless of where your tasks live
I want to ask you how to create blog content. It would help me a lot, and maybe others as well.
The blog is a platform to share our experiences with work, finding balance, and focusing. With Sunsama, we aim to build a company and product for thousands of users while maintaining balance and harmony in our lives. We learned that working too much is not sustainable and that finding balance is crucial. Our experiences have influenced the product, which includes features to help users perform better. As parents, we value stopping working and spending time with our children. The blog and product reflect our aspirations to work better and live good lives.
What experiences led you to choose to be an entrepreneur? And what are the attractions?
For us, the attraction of creating this product was that it didn't exist, and we wanted to see it in the world. So, we became entrepreneurs and built it. We prioritize the product over gaining millions of customers, which may make us bad entrepreneurs. However, making things people use brings us joy and fulfillment, and making a living is secondary. I don't see myself as an entrepreneur but rather as someone who wants to create valuable things.
Sunsama is a small team making a significant impact. Is there any reason to maintain a small group?
Currently, our team has eight people, including myself. We have customers who use our product every day and pay for it. Although we want thousands more users, we do not want to risk what we have built. We are content with having a small, profitable, and sustainable team. We may not be able to grow as fast as other companies, but we want to ensure that our product continues to improve and be available for our users in the long run. We prioritize our commitment to our users over wanting to make money or grow fast. As a small team, we enjoy building the product and talking to users to understand their problems and improve things. If we were to raise a lot of money and hire more people, I would spend my whole day managing instead of doing what I enjoy most.
In your answers, I just took note of the words. For example, you mentioned it's working fast, similar to working a lot.
Many people believe that being productive means doing more things in less time. However, actual productivity is about doing valuable items in a way that enriches our lives. It's like if you're a machine: How fast can you create things? But for a person, it's not just about work. If you work too much, you're tired, your health suffers, and you have no time for your family. Is that being productive? You've focused too much on work and not enough on the rest of your life. When you have constraints, like a small team or limited time, you must be thoughtful and diligent about what is valuable. There will always be more things to do than you can ever actually do. So, the question becomes how much time and effort do you want to put in each day or week? And how can you ensure that you're doing important and meaningful things that enrich your life during that time?
I agree with you. As humans, we need to recharge our energy. That means setting aside some offline time, and I signed up for an evening yoga class. What do you consider to be your standard for taking time off?
At the end of the day, I finish my work and usually take a walk with my baby to the beach. This is my evening activity. When we return, I help cook dinner, give my child a bath, and spend time with him. Spending time with my son is how I know it's time. Last week, I had to work a little bit longer due to some of my colleagues being on vacation, and I spent less time with my son. This made me feel sad. Spending time with my son is a good motivation for me.
You're working in Hawaii now! Is it true that you have a free location and working hours?
I think you're asking about working remotely and making sure people get things done. The honest answer is that we focus on finding people who want to work asynchronously for the right reasons, like spending time with their family, uninterrupted coding time, avoiding commutes, and focusing on one thing. We don't micromanage people's work hours or activities. Instead, we trust our team to deliver projects in a reasonable amount of time. We know people may work less or more on any given day, which is okay. Trust is fundamental to our approach. When people have the freedom to structure their workday, they feel motivated to succeed. This may be different from other cultures, which emphasize strict adherence to timelines from elementary school to high school.
What is the most exciting thing these days in your general life?
I believe the most exciting thing for me is having a baby. My baby is six months old, small, cute, and fun. It's also interesting to figure out how to balance work and taking care of the child. I realized I needed to work less to make time for my child. So, I work an hour or less per day now. It was hard at first, but when I realized how important spending time with my child is to me, it became an easy decision. I only have 24 hours a day and choose to spend my time with my child.
With Sunsama, I can move, reorganize, and interact with my schedule. What does time mean to you?
I believe we could have a deeper conversation about what you said. You mentioned something that's really important to me and to us. You feel like you can touch time with Sunsama. We care a lot about making time more tangible and interactive. Many people feel stressed out because they want to do many things, but they don't have a way to visualize them. Once you can see and interact with it, you can say, "I'm full today; I need to move some things to tomorrow." Making time tangible is valuable because most people find it hard to estimate how long things take. It's like money in your bank account that you can't put your finger on. With Sunsama, we make it more obvious how much time each task takes and how much time you have in a day. This way, you can plan your day better and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
How does your morning go every day?
I usually wake up around sunrise without an alarm. I sleep until I feel rested because getting enough sleep is important to me. Then, I make a cup of coffee and read a book while I drink it. Afterward, I get dressed and ready for the day and plan my schedule in an app called Sunsama before starting work. That's what my morning looks like. It's simple and not too exciting, but it works for me.
Lately, I think sleeping more is a better way to work efficiently.
I like how some people try to get more out of each day by sleeping less. But if I don't sleep enough, everything I do that day is like 80% worse than if I slept well. I'd rather spend less time doing things and feeling good and energized than doing lots of things and feeling like a zombie. So, I sleep until I'm done. When I started, I slept a lot more, but now I sleep like an average person. It was hard at first, but now I would never go back to not sleeping enough.
What is your ultimate goal in life?
That's a good question. For me, it's about finding fulfillment and calm every day. In Sunsama, I hope to create fulfillment and calm instead of adding more stress to our work lives, which is often the norm.
I think your point of view is straightforward and simple.
I'm not usually serious, but sometimes people are surprised by that. Some people are really organized and like to schedule everything down to the minute, but I prefer to be more casual and take things easy unless it's necessary to be serious. However, I still try hard because it brings me joy. It's like playing sports - it's hard work, but you want to try hard to the point where it's enjoyable and fulfilling without hurting yourself. Finding that balance is the art of most things, and finding it for yourself is important.
What is your favorite brand?
What's my favorite brand? Let me think for a moment. I had one before. I can't remember anything right now, but I'll tell you a funny one. There's a fast-food restaurant in the United States called Arby's. They specialize in sandwiches, but I've never eaten there since I'm a vegetarian. However, I love their ads because they're straightforward. They say, "We have the meat," and show the sandwich and the meat without any tricks. Unlike other advertisements that manipulate people emotionally, I appreciate honesty. That's why I love that brand. They're simple, honest, and not playing games. They don't make false promises or try to manipulate my emotions. That's my answer.
Please let us know who you are and what Sunsama is.
My name is Ashutosh, and I'm one of the founders of Sunsama. I've been working on it for almost nine years, building a product that helps us be a better version of ourselves. Specifically, I'm interested in how to work thoughtfully, calmly, and effectively, and translating that into software is an enjoyable task for me.
You put over six years into building the product.
In the first five or five and a half years of our company's history, we created and shut down six or seven failed products before we developed our successful daily planner, Sensama. During this time, my co-founder Travis and I were learning how to build software and refining our ideas about working well. We also studied how early users used our products and gained insights into what makes for a productive workday. We incorporated all these learnings into Sensama, which we use today.
Before using Sunsama, I used Google Calendar, Trello, Notion, and many other productivity tools. Now, Sunsama is one of my ultimate tools.
Many people look for one tool to solve all their problems, but we believe in focusing on a specific purpose. Sunsama is designed to be the best tool for planning a single workday rather than replacing all other devices. Different tools have different strengths, like JIRA for managing issues in large engineering teams or Asana for specific types of groups. Most task-tracking and project management tools are designed with a project-based approach, but work needs to be solved daily for individuals in larger organizations. Sunsama helps you create a daily plan, regardless of which tools you use for work.
What distinguishes Sunsama from other productivity apps?
Our focus at Sunsama is to guide you through a daily planning and shutdown flow. We help you be intentional about planning your day and ensure that your plan for the day is achievable. Unlike other task management tools that focus on being a database, we help you translate your backlog into tasks you'll work on today. Our three main differentiators are:
I want to ask you how to create blog content. It would help me a lot, and maybe others as well.
The blog is a platform to share our experiences with work, finding balance, and focusing. With Sunsama, we aim to build a company and product for thousands of users while maintaining balance and harmony in our lives. We learned that working too much is not sustainable and that finding balance is crucial. Our experiences have influenced the product, which includes features to help users perform better. As parents, we value stopping working and spending time with our children. The blog and product reflect our aspirations to work better and live good lives.
What experiences led you to choose to be an entrepreneur? And what are the attractions?
For us, the attraction of creating this product was that it didn't exist, and we wanted to see it in the world. So, we became entrepreneurs and built it. We prioritize the product over gaining millions of customers, which may make us bad entrepreneurs. However, making things people use brings us joy and fulfillment, and making a living is secondary. I don't see myself as an entrepreneur but rather as someone who wants to create valuable things.
Sunsama is a small team making a significant impact. Is there any reason to maintain a small group?
Currently, our team has eight people, including myself. We have customers who use our product every day and pay for it. Although we want thousands more users, we do not want to risk what we have built. We are content with having a small, profitable, and sustainable team. We may not be able to grow as fast as other companies, but we want to ensure that our product continues to improve and be available for our users in the long run. We prioritize our commitment to our users over wanting to make money or grow fast. As a small team, we enjoy building the product and talking to users to understand their problems and improve things. If we were to raise a lot of money and hire more people, I would spend my whole day managing instead of doing what I enjoy most.
In your answers, I just took note of the words. For example, you mentioned it's working fast, similar to working a lot.
Many people believe that being productive means doing more things in less time. However, actual productivity is about doing valuable items in a way that enriches our lives. It's like if you're a machine: How fast can you create things? But for a person, it's not just about work. If you work too much, you're tired, your health suffers, and you have no time for your family. Is that being productive? You've focused too much on work and not enough on the rest of your life. When you have constraints, like a small team or limited time, you must be thoughtful and diligent about what is valuable. There will always be more things to do than you can ever actually do. So, the question becomes how much time and effort do you want to put in each day or week? And how can you ensure that you're doing important and meaningful things that enrich your life during that time?
I agree with you. As humans, we need to recharge our energy. That means setting aside some offline time, and I signed up for an evening yoga class. What do you consider to be your standard for taking time off?
At the end of the day, I finish my work and usually take a walk with my baby to the beach. This is my evening activity. When we return, I help cook dinner, give my child a bath, and spend time with him. Spending time with my son is how I know it's time. Last week, I had to work a little bit longer due to some of my colleagues being on vacation, and I spent less time with my son. This made me feel sad. Spending time with my son is a good motivation for me.
You're working in Hawaii now! Is it true that you have a free location and working hours?
I think you're asking about working remotely and making sure people get things done. The honest answer is that we focus on finding people who want to work asynchronously for the right reasons, like spending time with their family, uninterrupted coding time, avoiding commutes, and focusing on one thing. We don't micromanage people's work hours or activities. Instead, we trust our team to deliver projects in a reasonable amount of time. We know people may work less or more on any given day, which is okay. Trust is fundamental to our approach. When people have the freedom to structure their workday, they feel motivated to succeed. This may be different from other cultures, which emphasize strict adherence to timelines from elementary school to high school.
What is the most exciting thing these days in your general life?
I believe the most exciting thing for me is having a baby. My baby is six months old, small, cute, and fun. It's also interesting to figure out how to balance work and taking care of the child. I realized I needed to work less to make time for my child. So, I work an hour or less per day now. It was hard at first, but when I realized how important spending time with my child is to me, it became an easy decision. I only have 24 hours a day and choose to spend my time with my child.
With Sunsama, I can move, reorganize, and interact with my schedule. What does time mean to you?
I believe we could have a deeper conversation about what you said. You mentioned something that's really important to me and to us. You feel like you can touch time with Sunsama. We care a lot about making time more tangible and interactive. Many people feel stressed out because they want to do many things, but they don't have a way to visualize them. Once you can see and interact with it, you can say, "I'm full today; I need to move some things to tomorrow." Making time tangible is valuable because most people find it hard to estimate how long things take. It's like money in your bank account that you can't put your finger on. With Sunsama, we make it more obvious how much time each task takes and how much time you have in a day. This way, you can plan your day better and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
How does your morning go every day?
I usually wake up around sunrise without an alarm. I sleep until I feel rested because getting enough sleep is important to me. Then, I make a cup of coffee and read a book while I drink it. Afterward, I get dressed and ready for the day and plan my schedule in an app called Sunsama before starting work. That's what my morning looks like. It's simple and not too exciting, but it works for me.
Lately, I think sleeping more is a better way to work efficiently.
I like how some people try to get more out of each day by sleeping less. But if I don't sleep enough, everything I do that day is like 80% worse than if I slept well. I'd rather spend less time doing things and feeling good and energized than doing lots of things and feeling like a zombie. So, I sleep until I'm done. When I started, I slept a lot more, but now I sleep like an average person. It was hard at first, but now I would never go back to not sleeping enough.
What is your ultimate goal in life?
That's a good question. For me, it's about finding fulfillment and calm every day. In Sunsama, I hope to create fulfillment and calm instead of adding more stress to our work lives, which is often the norm.
I think your point of view is straightforward and simple.
I'm not usually serious, but sometimes people are surprised by that. Some people are really organized and like to schedule everything down to the minute, but I prefer to be more casual and take things easy unless it's necessary to be serious. However, I still try hard because it brings me joy. It's like playing sports - it's hard work, but you want to try hard to the point where it's enjoyable and fulfilling without hurting yourself. Finding that balance is the art of most things, and finding it for yourself is important.
What is your favorite brand?
What's my favorite brand? Let me think for a moment. I had one before. I can't remember anything right now, but I'll tell you a funny one. There's a fast-food restaurant in the United States called Arby's. They specialize in sandwiches, but I've never eaten there since I'm a vegetarian. However, I love their ads because they're straightforward. They say, "We have the meat," and show the sandwich and the meat without any tricks. Unlike other advertisements that manipulate people emotionally, I appreciate honesty. That's why I love that brand. They're simple, honest, and not playing games. They don't make false promises or try to manipulate my emotions. That's my answer.
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