The Karma is an incredibly useful little gadget—a pay-as-you-go mobile hotspot that can get you online wherever you are. It's one of the most popular Wi-Fi hotspots around, and has saved more than a few bloggers from internet outages and spotty hotel Wi-Fi connections.
Behind the company and its device is Steven van Wel, co-founder and CEO of Karma. As it turns out, Steven has enough faith in his little device that he doesn't even use a smartphone, opting for a humble iPod touch. We asked Steven about his work habits and his other favorite gear, aside from the Karma, of course.
Location: New York
Current Gig: CEO & Founder at Karma
One word that best describes how you work: Efficiency
Current mobile device: I use an iPod touch exclusively. About two years ago when we started Karma, everyone on the team decided to put their phone in flight mode, just to see if it would work. I decided to stick with it, and my iPhone was in flight mode for at least a year and a half, fully reliant on Karma to get access to the internet. Six months or so ago I decided to ditch my iPhone and buy an iPod touch. Using Google Voice, it becomes your mobile phone. There's no need to pay a mobile provider, no need to have a data subscription; you're just connected to Wi-Fi 24/7 and you're good to go.
For communication I use a lot of FaceTime and Google Hangouts. FaceTime especially replaced my calls with my family and kids. For meetings I use the UberConference app. It doesn't matter what kind of device you use, and it definitely doesn't have to be a phone.
To further push minimalism, I deleted the Facebook app last week. I deleted Twitter earlier this year, and now I only use it from my laptop. The "phone" for me is just a simple device you use to communicate. Apps you check 20 times a day, maybe more, became a big distraction, so I deleted them and I haven't missed them.
Current computer: MacBook Air 13-inch. When I'm at the office I keep it closed and use an Apple Thunderbolt Display with a Bluetooth Keyboard and Trackpad.
What apps/software/tools can't you live without?
Sunrise
The best calendar app. It's one of the apps solving the scheduling of meetings and it "just works." It connects to Google Maps for places, it integrates with your contact list to auto-complete, it pulls in social profiles for context about the person you're meeting. Most of the other calendar apps have small things that annoy me. There's still a bunch of improvements I'd like in Sunrise, but I'm pretty sure they're listening.
Slack
For chat, we switched from HipChat to Slack a few months ago because the mobile apps were better. Slack's mobile apps are super fast, and that was the main reason for our team to switch. I'm looking forward to more services being integrated into Slack, but it's already pretty much replaced internal emails. Whenever on the team someone emails me, I try to pull that conversation into Slack. I don't know what their big idea is, but it's great to see them killing email.
Dropbox
A no brainer. I think Dropbox has saved my life at least 20 times. I think everything in my life, digitally, is stored with Dropbox. (That might be scary for some people!) I share a Dropbox folder with my wife, and all our documents are in there. At the office we have absolutely no paper: we use ScanSnap to scan all documents and they go straight into Dropbox.
Karma
I'm a little bit biased, but I think Karma is a great way to get all your devices connected. When I go to the office it's plugged into my Thunderbolt Display to charge. When I go outside it's with me. It's a habit, just like taking my keys and wallet with me. It's always on. I think the world could be different if we got away from mobile providers and eventually our ISPs. With Karma I have one device to get me connected, and the data is mine.
1Password
When I'm hanging out with family over the holidays and they ask me "what should I install," I tell them about Dropbox, and then I tell them about 1Password. I have almost 200 logins, they all use different logins, and I have absolutely no idea what my passwords are. All you have to remember with 1Password is your master phrase. Like Dropbox, it's one of those tools where you start using it and there's no way back.
Taptalk
I kind of collect messaging apps, which is frustrating because you never get all of your friends using the same app. Right now my favorite is Taptalk. I moved to New York about two years ago, so there's still a lot of back-and-forth with friends back home in Amsterdam. Taptalk lets me take really quick videos of, say, someone on a bike. Or I get a video of someone in my old neighborhood. Like Snapchat, it's an impression of what someone's life is like at that moment. It's great how the world shrinks with apps like this. Which I guess is why I keep collecting! I hear good things about Telegram...
What's your workspace setup like?
I enjoy sitting behind my desk at the office. It's super clean: there are two small gifts from my kids on it, but otherwise it's entirely minimal. We only have eight desks at our co-working space, so almost nobody has their "own" desk anymore. Which is fun but challenging. So often I'll lounge on the couch, or use a table in the space, or go to a coffee shop. It's pretty fun to see how nowadays you don't "need" to have your own desk. But I prefer to sit down with a big screen and get stuff done.
What's your best time-saving shortcut/life hack?
Don't check your email before 9AM. It changes everything. I read a post about it a few months ago, as one of the things you can do to start your day better. I wake up extremely early for most people, like 5:30 or 6:00AM. So I have a few hours where I don't have to think about anything except the things I "want" to do. By challenging myself not to look at my email client, I'm much more productive. Sometimes I'll even write emails but not look at my inbox. Lately I've been logging into our Customer Support software and replying to responses to the "Welcome Email" each customer receives when they join Karma.
The rest of the day I'm pretty fast replying to emails. I don't like the look of an inbox with a million unread messages in it, so I try to go through it quickly. Making sure the inbox doesn't have a hold on me all day long is pretty refreshing.
What's your favorite to-do list manager?
I've tried them all and Clear (Mac and iOS only) wins for me. It all comes back to simplicity and efficiency. Clear does just one thing: it's a simple list, color coded, with drag and drop for priority. I keep just one list, called "The Daily Show," and I use it for notes in addition to work and home to dos. It's the one place for thoughts, things I need to remember, and to-do items.
Besides your phone and computer, what gadget can't you live without and why?
I always have an external battery pack in my bag, which can charge both my iPod touch and Karma multiple times. And I have another smaller external battery that fits in my pocket. There are always gadgets you can't live without, but none of them work without a battery! You don't want to be one of those people who sits next to a power outlet for four hours to charge your phone.
What everyday thing are you better at than everyone else?
Prioritization. I know what's needed right now and what's needed 10 minutes from now. At work and at home, it's important to spend time on what needs attention. When I look at my to-do list I tend to tackle the things I can solve right now, and wait on the things I can't.
It's the same thing with the company. As a startup we focus on only one product, and we make sure all the features we work on are a benefit for all our users. The product has to remain super simple for people to understand, and instead of adding more features we'd rather look at the existing features and improve on them. And that's it. Don't look at all the features you could build, look at the ones your customers need. If they're using one feature all day long, you could probably make a million improvements to that feature.
What do you listen to while you work?
I prefer silence. I have Bose noise canceling headphones I wear at the office. If silence isn't available available, I listen to hip-hop/rap Spotify playlists. I don't tend to focus on a specific artist.
What are you currently reading?
I love to read blog posts about design, software, and hardware. People who either have a ton of experience in an industry, or people who share their own experience. I think everyone at Karma likes to read about technology and the future of technology. But everything else reading-wise I tend to avoid... I haven't touched a book in a long, long time.
Are you more of an introvert or an extrovert?
I'm an extrovert. In a startup it's important to be vocal and tell people your opinion. Not just the founder, but everyone.
What's your sleep routine like?
With two kids at home, a two-year-old and a four-month-old, I'm an early-riser. I stopped using an alarm clock 15 years ago, which is one of the best personal decisions ever made.
Fill in the blank: I'd love to see _________ answer these same questions.
Elon Musk.
How does he run two companies at the same time? I'm sure there's no simple answer, he probably just works really hard. He's one of those entrepreneurs, together with maybe Jeff Bezos, who inspires a ton of other entrepreneurs to do the same thing. He thinks of something, and then a few years later it's there. Not just small projects, but huge projects. You can only have respect for that.
What's the best advice you've ever received?
"Everything fails, all the time"
Is there anything else you'd like to add that might be interesting to readers/fans?
Prepare for success. Design for failure. You have to think: "what happens if this becomes hugely successful?" You never want to be the victim of your own success. With technology, with partnerships, everything we do is prepared to work with a million people, as opposed to the tens of thousands of customers we have today. At the same time, if things go wrong we need to have a plan B, and a plan C. With our next device, Karma Go, plan A failed, plan B failed, and now we're at plan C. I think now that plan C is better after all, but we had to go through plan A and B to get there.
The How I Work series asks heroes, experts, and flat-out productive people to share their shortcuts, workspaces, routines, and more. Every other Wednesday we'll feature a new guest and the gadgets, apps, tips, and tricks that keep them going. Have someone you want to see featured, or questions you think we should ask? Email Andy.
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