Mark
Mark is a $129 AI hardware bookmark that enables physical book readers to extract the full value out of reading. It garnered 10M+ views on X, 10k waitlist.
The Why
I've always been obsessed with becoming my best self. The key to getting there intellectually? Reading. The problem was that I struggled to retain what I in-took, sometimes even the very next day. So I asked myself:
How can I solve this problem while building something I love — beautifully designed consumer products?
Colliding with the trend of hardware products on X doing incredibly well, I knew this was going to be explosive. I teamed up with my best mate Eason, and we got to work.
Press
Mark garnered 15M+ views across X.
It was featured on: Seesaw, Gizmodo, Hacker News, Yahoo News, Digital Frontier, The Morning Brew.
Mark's Philosophy
There are many ways to unpack this beautiful name:
- Mark as in bookmark.
- Mark following the military naming convention (Mark I, Mark II, etc.).
- Mark as a friendly companion name.
- A Mark of a new era.
Even the logo tells a story. At a glance, it's simple — but turn it vertically, and it resembles the bookmark with a screen and a button. Flip it horizontally, and it evokes the device's screen component and its sleek edge.
Result
After announcing on X, going viral and being featured on countless websites, we sped ahead. We spent the next few months building out the product and fundraising. However, as time went on due to a combination of factors — a close family member passing, passion and belief in the product, opportunity cost in other areas of learning — I decided to step away from Mark.
Eason and I are still best buddies today. Eason is working hard on the product and is set to officially launch it later this year. I'm very keen.
What I Worked On
- Website design & development
- Mobile UI/UX
- X launch story and post
- Copy writing
- Investor fundraising
- Pitching to competitions
- Customer discovery calls
- Manufacturing comms