We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Arthur Emma. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Arthur below.

Arthur, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

ByDesign was started by two teachers with a deep passion to help their students succeed. Day in and day out, we see that achieving big goals is not only about ambition, talent or even hard work. It’s about design. Designing your day to get the most out of it. Designing your month to achieve your goals. Designing your year to move you closer to your biggest dreams.

What if every action had a bigger purpose behind it? If you lived not on autopilot, but with meaning and intent? That’s why we built ByDesign. We’re more than a tool, we’re an idea. A movement. A way to act. And most importantly, a way to live.

Our mission is simple: to build a future where every person can create the life they always imagined.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We are the first to bring planning and social networking together, which enables collaboration and shared achievement for our customers. ByDesign is a direct-to-consumer product. Our web and mobile apps are free, as our revenue is generated through advertising and sponsored content. Many customers find us online, but most students hear about ByDesign from their friends or receive network invitations from someone at their school.

The core of our product is planning. ByDesign offers powerful, intuitively designed planning features for calendaring, note-taking, task-management, habit-tracking, and more. On the social side, we offer features such as in-app chat, profile pages, activity feed, school directories, and groups.
At Boston University, I was a philosophy major. I’ve always been obsessed with the idea that life is meaningful, but flies by fast. Thus began my search for the ideal productivity tool—and I’ve tried every productivity tool under the sun. But nothing satisfied my needs. Every tool was inflexible, short-term—focused and uninspiring.

Through my research, I learned that people needed two things to achieve their full potential: the ability to holistically plan their life and a community of support. In 2019, with this research at hand, I started drawing wireframes on printer paper in my small apartment in Jamaica Plain. In 2020, our company was accepted into Dartmouth’s Tuck Incubator. A few months later, we were accepted into a prestigious program at Dartmouth’s DALI Lab, which funded a team of students over six months to build our [product]. This kick-started our business, and the rest is history.

We have eight people on our team; three of us operate out of an office in Boston’s West End, but everyone else is spread across the globe. We have three exceptional Ukrainian developers who have continued working throughout the war, despite the nightmarish conditions. We’re super grateful for their friendship and support.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

My biggest piece of advice:

First look inwards, then look outwards. Find what you love and what brings you meaning. Entrepreneurship is a long game, and if you’re not working on something you love, you will burn out. Second, look for resources—friends, team members, associations, mentors, investors—anyone who is willing to support you, work with you, or lend an ear. Isolation is where start-ups go to die.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My co-founder and I are an unusual duo. I’m 34, and Nelson Ray, my co-founder, is 20. Shortly after graduating from Dartmouth’s Tuck Incubator, one of our investors suggested I meet with an 18-year-old tech savant. Nelson had already built several applications on his own, some that were already gaining traction. I offered Nelson an internship to test his abilities. Within one month, he was outperforming the developer who was managing him. I let go of the developer and Nelson took his role. His performance continued to accelerate, and I soon saw that – although young – Nelson had the potential to be an ideal technical co-founder. Since then, we’ve had a wild ride. We’ve grown our team, raised money, entered the renowned Techstars Accelerator, and built an exceptional product.

Contact Info:

• Website: bydesign.io
• Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bydesignapp/?viewAsMember=true
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bydesignapp/?viewAsMember=true