Don't make the train faster. Make the ride better.

“This train ride takes forever.”

Quimira digs into how things feel, then builds around that.

The train story

Okay so, old story: there’s a train ride everyone swears takes forever. Engineers drop a fortune to make it a few minutes faster. Still feels like forever.

Then someone goes,

ok but what if we just make the ride nicer?

  • wifi that actually works
  • comfy seats
  • good snacks

Same trip. Lowkey feels way shorter. That’s the kind of fix we live for.

We start with how it feels, not what it does.

The boredom, the stress, the “ugh, not this again.” We dig into that first, then build whatever makes it feel lighter. No magic fix. Just better, one try at a time.

Feel it out. Try it. Check in.

  1. Feel it out

    real conversations.

    We talk to actual people about the annoying parts: what bugs them, what they put up with, where they give up.

  2. Try it

    this week.

    Something small, shipped while the feeling is still fresh. It won’t be perfect, and that’s kind of the point.

  3. Check in

    never really done.

    Does it actually feel better? If yes, great. If not, back to step one. Honestly, it’s usually back to step one.

Alchemy, and a way of looking.

Quimira is two Spanish words put together: alquimia (alchemy) and mira (look). Alchemy, because when a small change makes something feel way better, it can seem a bit like magic. Look, because it always starts with looking closely at people.

Apps for now. Things you can hold, soon.

Gestilo home screen showing this month's spending by category
Gestilo

Tracking money is boring, so we made it feel like texting. Type what you spent and it becomes a clean record. On the web now, with iOS and Android in beta.

gestilo.app

Be first to see the next one.

One email when we launch something new. That’s it. Or just say hi: hi@quimira.net

A note from the founder

Quimira started with a book: Alchemy by Rory Sutherland. One idea stuck with me: people aren't calculators. We feel first and find the reasons later.

So that's where we start. We dig into how something feels for the person using it, then try things until it feels better. We won't always get it right the first time, but we'll keep at it.

— Billy