We’ve all done it — set our phone to “do not disturb” with the intention of getting some work done, only to wander back onto social media a few minutes later. Germantown-based Brick has created a solution to this problem. Co-founders TJ Driver and Zach Nasgowitz have created a physical device that pairs with a
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Driver and Nasgowitz[/caption]
“We started talking and thought maybe there’s a way to turn our iPhones into flip phones,” he said.
At the start of 2023, Nasgowitz began conceptualizing a physical device that pairs with a smartphone application and, when tapped, shuts off access to other distracting applications.
Users can select which apps they want blocked through the downloadable smartphone application and they’re not able to unblock those apps until they return to the physical device. The Brick application does not gather any data from users.
“This physical device is the key, so once you leave that device, you have no choice,” said Driver. “It’s as if you have a new phone. There’s no cheating.”
The startup’s first physical devices were finished by June of 2023, but Driver and Nasgowitz had to wait several more months before officially launching the product so the smartphone application that pairs with the physical device could gain approval from Apple. Brick then launched in mid-September.
Around 2,000 Brick devices have been sold so far at a price point of $49. Each one is 3D-printed in Nasgowitz’s basement. The venture has been totally bootstrapped thus far.
Figuring out a scalable way to continue manufacturing the devices is the startup’s biggest immediate goal.
“We’d like to have a real plastics manufacturer create these for us,” said Driver.
Increasing their marketing efforts and expanding beyond Instagram is another aspiration for the startup.
"We take our phones everywhere, but that doesn’t mean we should also have to take our distractions everywhere,” said Nasgowitz. “Technology can both empower and hinder us; we’re offering a tool that brings back control to the user.”