Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

The guy who built failed anonymous messaging app Secret is launching a new company

David Byttow is back and getting into publishing.

Brian Ach / Getty

David Byttow, co-founder and CEO of the defunct anonymous messaging app Secret, announced a new company on Tuesday: Bold, a publishing tool for people to write things they want to share with their co-workers.

Think of it like Medium or Wordpress but specifically for your office. You write thoughtful posts about being a great manager, and Bold makes them look pretty and helps you distribute them in your workplace. If it’s a particularly great post, you can share it outside the office, too.

Eventually, Byttow will charge companies to use the platform, but not right now.

Publishing is hard, though, and Byttow is entering a particularly competitive space. Medium and Slack and LinkedIn and Facebook all let users do some kind of publishing, and most of them have a focus on inter-office collaboration, too. Plus they already have massive audiences, and people like to write things they know others can find and read.

Bold is still in beta and has a few early users from companies like Patreon and Netflix, Byttow told me. He has raised $1 million from Index Ventures and is self-funding the rest.

Byttow’s previous company, Secret, folded last April, and he took heat for cashing out on some of his shares before things went under. When Secret did officially close, he gave back what was left of his VC money to investors.

You can read more about his new company here.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Future Perfect
How to fall in love with humanity againHow to fall in love with humanity again
Future Perfect

Tech culture has made contempt for humanity feel enlightened. We can do better.

By Sigal Samuel
America, Actually
Inside the fight over America’s data centersInside the fight over America’s data centers
Podcast
America, Actually

“The ugliest thing I’ve ever seen”: How New Jersey residents feel about a data center in their backyard.

By Astead Herndon
Podcasts
Could you spot an AI-written book?Could you spot an AI-written book?
Podcast
Podcasts

An author set up an experiment to find out.

By Amina Al-Sadi and Noel King
Future Perfect
The 5 most unhinged revelations from Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAIThe 5 most unhinged revelations from Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI
Future Perfect

The Musk v. OpenAI trial is over. Here are the receipts.

By Sara Herschander
Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol