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  • Did Apple copy me?

    As a non-native speaker, I relied heavily on Grammarly for years. I couldn’t write a simple text without its proofreading capabilities. Recently, though, I found myself turning to ChatGPT with a simple prompt: “proofread this.” It did a much better job, but the constant copy-pasting was a hassle. I tried various AI keyboards, but most were just Grammarly copycats—constantly nudging me about comma placements or suggesting rewrites because my message “wasn’t clear.” All I wanted was a tool that would handle this for me, effortlessly.

    I even started counting the clicks it took to proofread a simple text—21 clicks, to be exact. And still, the result felt off, often using the Portuguese text structures that didn’t quite fit.

    So, about two months ago, I decided to experiment with iOS Keyboard Extensions to build my own solution. I just wanted a single button on top of my keyboard to proofread my text. One click and bam, done. The feature itself was simple to build, the real challenge was creating a good keyboard. When you build a keyboard extension on iOS, you have to design the entire keyboard. That’s when I discovered KeyboardKit, an open-source project by Daniel Saidi, that saved me months of development.

    But in this space, there aren’t many competitive barriers to building keyboards apps—there are hundreds, if not thousands, of these apps out there. Only a few make real money (millions/month), while the rest flood the App Store. I knew that without a hefty marketing budget, this would be a fun personal experiment, possibly leading to something else down the line.

    I was happy with my MVP, to me was better than Grammarly already, so I started adding more features: keys that could convert a text to a casual tone, shortening it, generating pickup lines, even creating a “speak like a tech mogul” key. 🤦, I went overboard and ended up with over 150 new keys on my keyboard.

    Last week, I launched it to some close friends and ESL students to get their feedback. The response was full of amazing ideas, but the keyboard experience and autocorrection still lag behind the native iOS keyboard.

    Then, I had a thought: when Apple inevitably launches their LLM, they’ll likely integrate a native writing tool. And when they do, it’s going to be a game-changer—at least for someone like me. Fast forward, and here we are: iOS 18 will include a native proofreading tool across both desktop and mobile. One click, and bam—your text is proofread everywhere, without any hassle.

    And that’s just one of the new features in iOS 18. If you’re eager to explore Apple Intelligence and other new tools, download the iOS 18 beta.

    But if you want to give Smart Keys a try, the second-best writing tool 🥸, download it here: https://smartkeys.so/

    That’s it, I’m left wondering, with barriers to entry lower than ever, what will separate leaders from the pack in AI tech?

  • SF2.LA: Part 2 – $10M

    What is it like to raise $11 million for a health project in 9 months?

    As a startup founder, fundraising is my least favorite part of the job, but it’s necessary to solve big problems. In late 2023, I decided to join a group of people pushing the boundaries of health justice. I wanted to learn from them what it’s like to raise more than $310M over the last 30 years.

    Since 1994, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center have produced a unique experience called the AIDS/LifeCycle, a 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It’s a fundraising event to reduce new HIV infections and improve the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS.

    To join this group, I needed to accomplish these two things:
    – I set a personal challenge to raise at least $10k.
    – I also needed to ride 545 miles by bike.

    Raising the minimum amount of money to participate is not easy ($3.5k). Only about 50% of participants were able to do that. So, I built an AI Strava Extension to help my fundraising efforts and then opened it to all participants to use. Thank you, DonorDrive , for being transparent and making your API open, and also Strava for accepting my submission as a Developer Partner.

    I raised the minimum amount of money to participate quite quickly, and I’m proud to have helped a significant number of other participants. In fact, 96% of participants who used the Strava extension were able to raise the minimum to participate in the ride, making some of them top fundraisers.

    Long story short, together, more than 1,300 participants and 400 volunteers fundraised $11 million using various fundraising strategies, from corporate matching to fundraising parties.

    How was the ride? Well, it was a unique experience that words can hardly do justice. The camaraderie, the physical challenge, and the shared purpose made it an unforgettable journey. I encourage you to sign up for AIDS/LifeCycle 2025 to experience it for yourself.

    My next challenge is to tackle other big problems, join Climate Ride challenges, and raise funds for organizations related to sustainability and climate change.

  • No gimmicks, please!

    Want to boost your team’s productivity? Here’s an amazing list of strategies that I’ve been incorporating during the last 2 years.

    – Incentives to increase commuting by bike: Encourage cycling to work. It’s not just good for the environment, but those endorphins from exercise can elevate mood and improve focus. 🌿🚴‍♂️

    – Longer lunch times for a quick walk: Allow your team to enjoy a walk after lunch. This reduces the insulin spike and helps maintain energy levels throughout the afternoon. 🍃🏃‍♀️

    – Nature time: Promote spending time outdoors. Being in nature reduces stress and boosts creativity, leading to more innovative problem-solving. 🌳✨

    There are no gimmicks, gamification, or digital tools that will do better than that.

    Today, I had the pleasure of participating in #BikeToWhateverDay, and it was a powerful reminder of how these elements can significantly enhance our mental and physical well-being.

    A big thank you to Bike East Bay for organizing this event and to the fantastic team I met along the way: GU Energy Labs, Backroads, and Sustainable Contra Costa. Your dedication made this experience unforgettable and impactful. 🙌🚴‍♂️

    Let’s incorporate more outdoor activities into our routines to foster a happier, healthier, and more productive work environment. Together, we can pedal towards a sustainable and successful future! 🌍💚

  • World powered by women

    Last month, Nadine Hammer and I organized a series of free sustainability workshops around the city.

    Can you guess the gender ratio of the RSVPs and attendees?

    **99% women, from diverse ages and ethnic backgrounds.**

    Some thoughts:

    • 1. Research indicates that women often express greater environmental concern and feel more responsible for fostering sustainable practices. This situation invites a deeper look into how environmental awareness and activism are influenced by gender roles.
    • 2. Are we conditioning women to assume ‘nurturing’ roles, including environmental caretaking, while men may not view it as their responsibility? This observation challenges us to rethink societal norms and the distribution of environmental duties across genders.
    • 3. What implications does this gender imbalance have for creating effective environmental policies? If one gender is largely missing from these discussions, can our policies truly be representative or effective? This disparity prompts policymakers to explore new ways to engage all demographics in sustainability efforts. Or is it just a matter of electing more women?
    • 4. Could the gender uniformity in workshop attendance lead to an echo chamber where only the perspectives of one demographic are heard and amplified? This situation raises concerns about potential narrow representation in activist movements and the blind spots it might introduce in tackling complex issues like climate change.

  • Bicycle use now exceeds car use

    Not in the US, sorry, it was in Paris.

    Still, should we continue prioritizing the present comfort of our cars, electric or otherwise, over simpler, healthier alternatives like biking, which also safeguard our future physical and mental health and the planet’s well-being?

    This shift not only challenges the notion that EVs are the ultimate solution for urban sustainability but also prompts us to rethink our reliance on technology. As bicycles surpass cars in usage, it’s time to evaluate whether simpler solutions might better serve our cities and us.

    Another good stuff, one of the biggest urban cycling trends in 2024 is children-focused initiatives: the bike bus and school streets.

    “The future of cities belongs to its children, and this new movement just might prove to be a vital tipping point where they are finally considered and involved in the planning process.” – Chris Bruntlett, Dutch Cycling Embassy