The intersection of what makes your heart race and something the world longs for

Most mornings, I start by reading a little snippet out of The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday. It’s a great way to take a minute or two to zoom out, and practice timeless ideas like ‘focus on what you can control’. I think about the billions of people that came before us, the billions that will come after and the insignificance of it all. While I read, the kids are focused (or trying to be) on their breakfast. And every so often they ask me what’s in “the book” today, which I then try to share. Usually I wonder if it’s suitable for kids, but it’s fascinating to me how easy they grasp the ideas. Ideas that we grownups seem to find so hard to apply, like that worrying about things you cannot change isn’t very helpful. Anyway, the whole setting, the combination of the words in the book and the whirlwind of family rush hour, puts things in perspective. It helps not to take myself, my life and what I’m doing too seriously. I have this bad habit of not being there, mentally. I’m just slightly disengaged, I’m in organizing and rushing mode to get to the thing that comes after breakfast and dropping off the kids. The notes from Holiday and the ancient thinkers about the shortness of life, of inevitable departure and fast moving life seasons, make me appreciate that this time is precious. The time with three young kids at the table will be gone any minute now, and I’ll probably long back for it.

Weirdly enough, all this is not turning me into a nihilist. On the contrary: it’s a trigger to live better. It triggers to shift from ‘self’ to ‘us’. And to consider the intersection of what makes my heart race and what the world is waiting for–something I hope you do, too.

A year ago, I was considering what to pick up after the closure of Rise. Shortly after Trump reappeared in office, we all started to see what is now in full effect: a country with leadership that simply focuses on what’s best for the people in charge. And, understatement, this is not great. Especially when you realize that we (Europeans) are simply addicted to whatever comes out of the US.

I started thinking about where I could be part of the solution—I considered robotics, hardware, defense stuff, but I don’t have experience in this area and I didn’t see how I could make a difference within a reasonable amount of time. But again and again, I noticed that email infrastructure was a recurring theme. From the International Criminal Court that got mailboxes shut off by the US, to the Dutch OM (Public Prosecution Service) where the people who work there have been complaining about their workplace tools for years and where loading a simple email can take five minutes (!). Workspace software a solved problem? Well, globally maybe, but here in Europe definitely not. And this is something I actually know a thing to two about.

And so I got started, and that’s how I spent most of last year. Building–from scratch–a new home for email. I call it Cirrux, and it is completely funded and built by me. You can sign up and use it today and use it with any compatible client you most likely already use. It does not just link seamlessly with your email, it also supports calendars, handles invites, it supports reminders, stores and synchronizes your contacts, has a solid spamfilter, supports setting up automatic email filters, custom domains and infinite aliases. I’m not using any existing products or components, by the way. For a simple reason: if you want to build the best possible product, you need to own and be intimately familiar with each part. So from the socket your email app plugs into, to the spam filter, I just locked myself in a room and built it. And I’m biased, but I think it’s already pretty good.

In the last few months, a tireless group of early adopters helped me iron out a ton of kinks in the system and gave me invaluable feedback. There was one thing they kept repeating though: I’d love to move, but I have gigabytes worth of data out there: how do I tackle that? How do I not lose my whole history? This is where Cirrux Sync comes in. Connect your Google account, and Cirrux pulls in your email, calendars and contacts, and keeps the copy on our side up to date continuously. Actually, if you’re hesitant to switch over (I get it!) setting up Sync is a great way to have a backup of your valuable stuff and check out my progress every so often. Make the switch whenever you feel ready.

Last, but definitely not least: my previous company was built with venture capital. Thrilling at the start, rough at the end. VC is great for risky projects, but it also has the tendency to destroy great products and companies because it demands aggressive growth. Businesses that do just fine get killed because of that. With Cirrux I’m taking a different approach. By bootstrapping, meaning investing my own money and time, I’m completely independent. And while the details aren’t fully set yet, I want to go even further and lock in the larger mission into a foundation. It will allow me to bring on people that believe in the mission, want to back the initiative financially and with that grow the team, but in a sustainable way. Healthy margins, yes, but only if it serves the mission. I want to set up a structure that blocks acquisitions that would expose your data. All of that to build something that lasts.

I’ll return to this list when there are bigger updates to share, but you’re more than welcome to join Cirrux. I’m sharing very regular updates over email, and if you want even more I’ve introduced a Superfans plan which gives you access to a closed chat with me + a bunch of other enthousiasts that actively help shape the product.

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you. Have a great day, and talk soon,

Rick