Why I built OpenMat

Hey everyone 🤙 martial arts enthusiast here out of Austin, TX! I released OpenMat today, an app inspired by my jiu jitsu's community's sincere yet unexpected friendships. OpenMat is my attempt to dig to the heart of what makes this community special, and then share it with others. At about this time last year, I was burnt out from remote work and social echo chambers. I frequently found myself exploring the question "what makes life meaningful?" It took time, but today the answer is obvious — people. You're born into a family and a neighborhood. You attend school and eventually the office. You get together with friends at sports practice or at the bars later on. You embrace one another during holidays and at funerals. Real people make life meaningful. Unfortunately, our minds are already treading in dark waters (Facebook 👀). As a jiu jitsu student you learn to make the most of every situation. So I asked: "how can our phones bring real people together instead of keep us apart?" We're often surrounded by amazing people, but rarely take the time to realize; exchanging contact info infrequently (never) occurs. So on OpenMat you can: • Join geofenced group chats and message those nearby. • Your OpenDex logs the real people you meet. • And then easily meetup later — chats are unified with your calendar. My hope is that by opening the world to those around you, OpenMat inspires a 'make it meaningful' mentality, just as the jiu jitsu community's 'open mats' do 🤙 OSU!