Different by Design
When our family moved to the Boston area, my brother and I were among a handful of minorities at our elementary school. We heard our fair share of racist jokes like “where’s your Kwik-E-Mart?” Being brown immigrants made it a challenge to fit in. But that wasn’t the first time that being different was a problem. In India, before moving to the U.S., I learned to write with my right hand even though I was born left-handed. Like other places around the world, using your left hand was seen as a curse.
People may accept our differences at times but rarely appreciates them. So we can feel the pressure to mold ourselves to be like everyone around us. But throughout life, I’ve also seen how our differences can be our greatest assets. I’ve been a part of two start-ups. Start-ups don’t try to fit a mold. From the messaging to the products themselves, young companies are determined to differentiate their brand. It’s hard to get someone’s attention if your company looks like every other one. The same goes for the individuals within the companies. When a company starts with only a few people, as is the case with most start-ups, diversity is more useful than homogeneity. If everyone brings the same perspectives and skills to the table, a company is likely not going to get far. But when people with different gifts come together, you get the sense that they can accomplish anything.
The biggest question that we get about Pacify Snow is, “how’s your app different?” As our trademarked “innovate simplicity” slogan would suggest, we create apps to make your life a little easier. Snow is fun when you’re young. But as you get older and life gets busier, snow removal can become stressful. Our goal with Pacify Snow is to make snow removal as simple as possible. So we’ve added features to the app that we don’t think can be found anywhere else. For example, we don’t ask users to tell us the size of their sidewalks, walkways, and driveways. Instead, Pacify Snow analyzes images of properties with the help of artificial intelligence to try to learn those details. We also don’t ask users to describe the locations to shovel. Instead, we provide a 3D model of properties so users can select the areas within the app. Pacify Snow is different by design, and that’s why we’re excited to share it!