About the Episode

Pinwheel is a healthy first phone for kids, designed to provide a safe and controlled digital experience. The CEO and founder, Dane Whitbeck, created Pinwheel after struggling to find a suitable parental control system for his own children. Pinwheel offers a curated library of 1,200+ kid-friendly apps, text and call monitoring, and a safe list of contacts. The goal is to allow kids to embrace technology while staying safe and productive. The company also developed Pinwheel GPT, a kids-safe chat app that provides age-appropriate answers to questions.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Concerns about Online Safety

00:40 The Birth of Pinwheel: A Personal Problem

03:08 Curating Kid-Friendly Content with Expert Input

06:39 Starting Kids on Pinwheel at a Young Age

08:01 Embracing Technology Safely and Productively

11:40 Customizable App Experience and App Bans

13:50 Pinwheel GPT: Kids-Safe Chat App

16:57 Future Expansion and Product Offerings

18:50 Possibility of Serving the Elderly Population

19:49 Pinwheel’s Role and Pricing

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