Two fathers. Five teenagers. One constant flashpoint.
How the daily fight over screen time turned into the idea behind Digital Mastery.
- 1
The trigger
We're two fathers of five teenagers between us — and we've lived every one of these conflicts ourselves: the endless negotiating over phone time, the guilty conscience, the feeling of losing control over our kids' media use as parents. At home, screen time was the number one flashpoint.
- 2
The first idea
Our first idea was typical for tech-minded parents: an app that captures and analyses screen use live across devices — paired with a reflection part alongside the data. Early on, even schools showed interest in using the concept to build media literacy in the classroom.
- 3
The low point
We developed, built, pitched — and hit wall after wall. Trade shows didn't spark the response we'd hoped for, our sales approach didn't land, and the purely technical path grew more complex with every step. On top of that, the market was already full of tracking, live-analysis and blocking apps. It looked like the end for Digital Mastery.
- 4
The turning point
But with our test customers, one part landed surprisingly well — and it wasn't the technology. It was the reflection: answering and comparing the questions together, the conversation within the family. Not the data analysis, but the exchange about it. The trade shows confirmed it too: there was no solution out there built around reflection.
- 5
Today
So we turned everything around. Our conviction: when the problem is technology, more technology is rarely the answer. We put the focus radically on reflection — a low-tech mindset shift, away from surveillance and bans, toward the personal growth of parents and children. Out of that came a completely new app: less tech, more humanity.
„The problem is technology. The solution is less technology — and more humanity.“
The founders
Burkhardt
Co-founder & father
Father of teenagers and co-founder of Digital Mastery. From his own experience he knows how quickly screen time turns into a family argument — and how much a calm, eye-to-eye conversation can change.
Harald
Co-founder & father
Father of teenagers and co-founder of Digital Mastery. For him it matters that technology doesn't surveil families but brings them into conversation — without blame, with genuine understanding for both sides.