Loneliness isn't a niche problem — it's one of the most common things people deal with and almost nobody talks about it directly. Most solutions out there are either apps that simulate connection (chatbots) or communities that require you to perform for strangers before anyone actually engages with you.

I started EarShot because I wanted something simpler: you call, a real person picks up, and you talk. No script, no small talk you didn't ask for, no algorithm deciding if you're interesting enough to get a response.

A few things I learned building this that might be useful if you're thinking about a service business like this:

1. Pre-paid packs beat subscriptions for trust. People are far more willing to try something when there's no recurring commitment hanging over them. You can always upsell a bigger pack once they've had a good first call.

1. Staff quality is the entire product. There's no feature, no UI, no marketing that fixes a bad conversation. If you're building something service-based, over-invest in who's on the other end.

1. Scheduling friction kills conversion. The fewer steps between "I want to talk to someone" and "I'm on a call," the better your retention.

If you're building something people-powered rather than software-powered, the lesson is the same one every time: the thing you're actually selling is attention, and attention doesn't scale the way code does. Respect that in your pricing and in how you treat the people doing the work.