Why I Created Niva – A Personal Story
Niva didn’t start as a business idea. It started with real struggles, forgotten appointments, and a wish for someone who would gently help me organize life.
I didn’t build Niva because I’m good at organizing.
I built her because I kept forgetting things. Appointments. Tasks. People.
And because I caught myself thinking:
“I’m a failure. I can’t do this. I’m an idiot.”
💔 The moment that really hurt
One day, I forgot the birthday of someone close to me.
No gift. No message. Just silence.
It made me deeply sad – because I knew it looked like I didn’t care.
But I did. I just… forgot.
🧩 I had tried everything
Bullet journals.
Beautiful notebooks, started with motivation – abandoned within weeks.
Sticky notes, Trello boards, Wunderlist, Obsidian, Kanban systems.
Slack reminders. Calendar blockers. Fancy Markdown routines.
They all worked briefly. Until life got in the way.
Until the first early morning, the missed update, the one note I didn’t have with me.
🌱 What I really needed wasn’t an app – it was someone
Not another tool. Not a smarter system.
I needed someone who could say,
“Hey, anything from daycare you still need to note?”
“Want to add a break somewhere?”
“Hey, there’s a birthday coming up – need help preparing?”
Someone who would remind me kindly,
who wouldn’t judge me,
who could celebrate small wins with me – even if no one else saw them.
That’s how the idea for Niva came to life.
A small companion who supports, structures, reminds –
without pressure.
And because I care deeply about privacy, I wanted it all to be in my own hands.
I don’t want to hand my life over to big tech.
An open-source version of Niva is something I dream about – so that anyone can decide how to host or use her.
🧠 What Niva means to me today
- She greets me in the morning and shows me my day
- After I pick up my son from daycare, she gently asks if there’s anything I forgot to note
- She reduces my mental load – just by being interactive and present
- She helps me break birthday prep into tiny steps
- She helps me draft important emails
- She suggests when I could pause – or breathe
It’s not magic.
But sometimes, it feels like a little bit of it.
💬 What I want others to know
Head up. It’s not your fault.
ADHD (or any neurodivergent brain) just makes organizing harder. That’s reality.
If I forget something today, I don’t spiral into shame anymore.
I smile. “Oh, that’s my ADHD again.”
You don’t have to get it right every day.
Routines will break. Focus will drift.
That’s okay.
Our job is to begin again.
And maybe have someone gently remind us: You can.
✨ I hope Niva can be that kind companion for you, too.
👉 Want to try Niva? Join the Early Access
About the Author
Roland Steinegger is the person behind Niva – and someone who knows firsthand what it feels like to forget tasks, miss appointments, or get buried under a mountain of to-dos.
As a father, software architect, and neurodivergent human, he’s experienced what “mental load” really means – especially when there’s cake to bake after daycare and important messages scribbled on notes that never made it to a list.
Niva was born from that everyday chaos: as a digital companion that gently reminds, checks in, and helps build structure – without adding stress.
Professionally, Roland has been developing secure web and cloud applications for years – always with the goal of making technology understandable, respectful, and useful. Whether in research, at synyx, as co-founder of the nonprofit edudea e.V., or with startups like leguli – his focus has always been on building solutions that are practical and truly supportive.
“When I forget something today, I make fun of my forgetfulness – instead of feeling ashamed. That’s just part of who I am sometimes.”
When he’s not working on Niva, he gives talks on AI, bakes pizza, or uses Niva to plan his next proper break.