This entry looks back at what has been built so far, to help decide what comes next.
Where it started
HappyBein began in 2021 with a simple observation: well-being and good decisions depend on things most people are never taught, from how our bodies and minds react to stress, to how we decide and how we work with others. In April 2022 we made it official by setting up a non-profit foundation, HappyBein Stichting, to share that knowledge in plain language.
The first steps were a website, explainer videos for YouTube, and protecting the HappyBein brand. We also tried branded t-shirts and mugs, to see whether the brand could help fund the work.
Listening, then restructuring
We presented the idea to coaches and other professionals. The reactions were mixed: many were keen to connect, but the value of HappyBein wasn’t always clear to them. One piece of feedback stood out: a tool that helps someone set goals would be genuinely useful.
That told us we weren’t there yet. We paused the branding work and restructured the project. The educational content moved to a new home, YeahVibe, and was improved along the way.
Adding context: YeahSight and YeahDev
Good decisions often need a high-level understanding of where society is and where it’s heading. That’s why we added YeahSight, which looks at how society works, the challenges it faces, and how they might be solved. We also started YeahDev, to share the development know-how we were picking up.
From videos to tools
We tried marketing the content through short videos on social platforms. It took a lot of time and the results were disappointing, but it taught us useful skills in AI tools and modern marketing.
It also led to a key insight: the content creates far more value when it’s built into tools people use every day. So we started building simple web apps, now gathered at yeahvibe.com. The foundation content became YeahCore, at yeahcore.happybein.com.
IntentFlow and ShopTools
Two apps have had most of our attention since:
- IntentFlow: habits, plans and an agenda, all in one place.
- ShopTools: groceries, household stock, stores and a budget. It started as “Shop” and grew enough beyond groceries to earn a new name.
Both are free and store data on your device by default, with optional cloud sync for people who switch devices. A small group of early users now uses them every day, and their feedback has shaped most of what we’ve built since. Both are also packaged as Android apps: ShopTools is partway through its Google Play submission, and IntentFlow is next.
More to come…
The HappyBein team