EaseUp

Overview

EaseUp grew out of my own experience — working with a therapist and using exposure therapy to overcome social anxiety. I set out to build an app around that journey, and the idea resonated immediately, striking a chord with a lot of people on social media before a line of it had shipped.

The product took many forms over the years. It began closer to a meditation app, but it soon became clear that easing the symptoms of social anxiety wasn’t enough — people needed to be encouraged to take action. So EaseUp became an app built around situational exposure, done gently, and that’s what it came to be known for. Over time the team grew to around ten people at its peak.

It launched in 2025 and reached 5M impressions and around 1,000 users within a month. Then it wound down almost overnight, when Ready Player Me — a core part of its gamification stack — was acquired by Netflix and shut down within two weeks, before the gap could be filled. After years of work from everyone involved, losing the company that quickly was one of the hardest things I’ve been through — a loss that still lingers, along with the team I built it with.

Milestones

1. 2023
   Started, built from first-hand experience with social anxiety.
2. 2025
   Launched — reached 5M impressions and ~1,000 users within a month.
3. 2025
   Ready Player Me, a core gamification dependency, was acquired by Netflix and shut down within two weeks.
4. 2025
   Wound down before the gap in the stack could be filled.