On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on a TechTO stage in 2018. Every TechTO talk is searchable — ask the archive about Alanna ↗
In their words
This is a rite of passage when you're starting a company, or you're taking the plunge from a comfortable cushy salary. You need to be comfortable with not spending a lot of money.
When you stop learning, you stop growing. So you should always be learning and trying to find people who can help you grow.
We use technology to nudge people away from spending too much time on technology, so that they can be happier, healthier, more present, more productive, and focus on the things that really matter to them.
Quick answers
What does Alanna Harvey do now?
She works at Braavo Capital in Toronto, which lends non-dilutive growth capital to mobile subscription app companies. She joined as Braavo's first Founder in Residence, a program it launched to bring founders in-house to work with portfolio companies, and is listed more recently as Head of Partner Experience for Braavo Growth Ventures. She no longer runs Flipd.
What was Flipd, and what was her role?
Flipd is a digital wellness app that helps people — mainly students — put their phones down and focus. Alanna co-founded it in Toronto with Cristian Villamarin and was co-founder and CMO for roughly seven years. On stage in 2018 she said the idea came from watching Villamarin's much younger brother change after getting his first smartphone.
How did she fund Flipd in the early days?
Bootstrapping first, then angels. Asked at TechTO in May 2018 whether she had raised, she said Flipd had raised from angels so far and credited Toronto's angel groups. Almost everything in her talk — eating canned tuna, working out at a schoolyard playground because she couldn't afford a gym — came from the bootstrapping period before that money arrived.