Leantime

Gloria Folaron

Hi, I’m Gloria Folaron and I’m the founder of Leantime.

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Leantime is the only project management tool built to inspire productivity by providing what your brain needs to be effective. Through the use of AI and behavioral science, we enable better work management for the 53% of tech workers that identify as neurodivergent.

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Let me introduce you to a few people. This is Anna. She’s a Product Manager. She grew up being told she was too much, too blunt, too talkative, too all over the place. She got in the habit of proving them wrong and taking on a lot, making her a top performer. She finally burned out last year and discovered what everyone said was 'too much' was really undiagnosed ADHD. This is John. He’s a fabulous software engineer but he keeps getting passed up for promotion because the team complains that he’s not flexible enough when he struggles with sudden changes in tasks.  John’s Autistic and it’s part of what makes him detail oriented with an insatiable drive to build the right thing. It’s this drive that makes him an asset to the team and product.

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Both Anna and John are neurodivergent. This means their brains process the world differently. And like them, I’m also one of the 53% of tech workers that identify as neurodivergent and we are working in a world where companies believe only 3% of their employees are.  That 50% gap totals over 500 million neurodivergent knowledge workers that aren’t getting the support they need at work. And even with a proliferation of work management tools – it’s no wonder they have a 23% adoption rate as they continue to be built on the assumption that employees all process information the same way.  And the reality is cognitive diversity brings success.

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Studies have found people with ADHD are more innovative. In fact, it’s unlikely that Microsoft would exist without Bill Gates’ ADHD hyperfocus.  And when we’re supported, we do better. JP Morgan found supported Autistic employees were up to 140% more productive and other studies found cognitively diverse teams bring in more revenue. I was diagnosed 3 years ago. When I looked back, I realized that even becoming a nurse in my first career –  was an attempt to treat my undiagnosed ADHD by leaning into what now sets our patent pending system apart.

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Leantime uses a proprietary motivation model that focuses on 8 primary areas split into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. We take these motivating factors, empower users with the insights and then pair them with behavioral science and AI to help people better manage their work. And the data shows that it’s working: with over 41,000 accounts, nearly 1.8million docker pulls and our growth being entirely organic and inbound – it’s clear that people are looking for a system that does more than sell you your productivity.  Taking a bottoms up approach, we’re starting with a B2C model because we find that even when companies have a tool, people are still using their own and then, as we grow, quickly shifting to enterprise penetration through accessibility, HR, and DEI. 

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We are now raising a pre-seed round to expand our personal motivation features while building partnerships with providers and practitioners supporting neurodivergent tech workers. In today’s world, it isn’t enough to just manage data. You need to help people understand how they relate to that data and how to use it in their lives. 

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The cognitive load of getting started can be the hardest part but I can tell you, every person I know with ADHD has a list of tasks in their head taunting them. Instead of adding another hurdle of learning a new tool, you start by off-loading your tasks and then we use AI to help you create your project, identify goals and then set intentions on when to work on them. Understanding what you like to do and applying it to what you actually work on gets easier through the use of our task sentiment features. Rating how you feel on your tasks on a scale from red, swearing angry face to elated unicorn. 

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In the future, our motivation features will allow us to help you see how your work currently aligns with what’s important to you and then give you insights to make the incremental changes necessary to improve on it.

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Our tools should enable our brains to do their best work. What we’re building isn’t just for the future of work. It’s for the future of Amelie’s work, my 8 year old daughter – who is Autistic with ADHD. You can’t see the differences in her brain by looking at her and the future of work needs to be one where you don’t have to.

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If you are interested in being part of the future of work, or know someone we should be connected to, come see me after the event, scan the QR code or email me directly at: gloria@leantime.io

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Again, I’m Gloria Folaron with Leantime - Thank you.