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M T
Let's Design the Future of Work
Professional Background
M T is an accomplished Design Researcher whose professional journey began during a transformative trek to India, which ignited a passion for exploring innovative ideas and solutions. With over two decades of experience in design research, innovation, and business development, M T has built a robust career dedicated to helping brands, products, and companies flourish. As a co-founder of RotoLab, Second Studio, and SM+ART, and the founder and chairman of the GGI (George Greenstein Institute), M T has expertly navigated the intersection of creativity, design, and strategic insights.
Throughout their career, M T has honed a diverse skill set, balancing design and user research with brand architecture and experience design. With a knack for systems thinking and analysis, M T adopts a holistic approach to problem-solving that integrates both creative intuition and analytical rigor. This professional versatility has allowed M T to excel in various roles, from leading media communications to serving as an author, editor, and marketer, contributing to the evolution of industries impacted by new and emerging technologies.
Active in various consulting and think tank capacities, M T serves as a Special Advisor on the "Future of Work" for the Sundance New Frontier Lab and the World Building Institute. M T’s work within the Maven network at General Electric Ventures, as well as advisory contributions to various think tanks and educational organizations such as Tool for America and Feedback Profile, underscores their commitment to fostering innovation and collaboration within the design research community.
Education and Achievements
M T holds a rich academic background, with a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), followed by a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Interdisciplinary Arts and Science from Claremont Graduate University. Additionally, M T earned a Master’s degree in Dance/Movement Therapy from UCLA, which enriches their approach to design and user research by incorporating a nuanced understanding of human experience and behavior.
As an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Art Center College of Design, M T emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary learning, mentoring the next generation of designers and thinkers. Their commitment to education extends to various speaking engagements on topics such as spatial intelligence, game design, and the neuroscience of design decision-making, inspiring audiences at renowned conferences like TEDx and Mind and Its Potential.
M T's contributions have been recognized through numerous grants and fellowships, including a 2013 grant from the CAA Foundation for a STEAM project, a 2011 Mind/Life Senior Fellowship titled "Situated Intelligence," and the prestigious Fulbright Senior Scholar designation during their time in Taiwan and China (1999-2000). These accolades speak not only to M T’s dedication to excellence in their field but also to their impact on global art, design, and education initiatives.
Collaborative Engagements
Further showcasing M T's collaborative spirit, their tenure as a member and mindfulness teacher at TED conferences reflects a deep-seated belief in the power of shared knowledge and community-driven innovation. M T has actively participated in notable initiatives including being a Chief Research and Incubation Officer at RotoLab, and leveraging their skills as a Results Coach to empower individuals and teams to achieve their goals.
M T's impressive portfolio also includes projects like the "Timer for Toothbrush" (pending patent) and the "Inventio!Brains System," alongside publishing efforts like "BODIES IN SPACE"—a magazine that delves into the intersections of art, science, and community—a testament to M T's ability to seamlessly blend creativity with functionality in product development.
Thought Leadership and Outreach
M T's voice is not only heard in classrooms and design studios but also across expansive platforms where knowledge is shared and ideas are cultivated. As a guest speaker, they have engaged audiences with their insights on critical topics such as design with a focus on the brain's role in creativity and making, showcasing the significance of design research in shaping our futures. Guest talks at events like SWXW, TEDXACCD, and Serious Play have positioned M T as an influential thought leader, addressing complex issues such as the future of work and ways to bridge creative practice with analytical strategy.
Through a career characterized by innovation, collaboration, and design rigor, M T embodies the role of a whole-brain thinker—someone who values both creative exploration and empirical analysis. M T stands as a testament to what is possible when design research is approached through the lens of empathy and forward-thinking, actively shaping initiatives that reflect the evolving nature of design in our world.
The diverse array of companies and organizations M T has been involved with, from innovation-driven startups to established institutions, represents a commitment to nurturing ideas that have a meaningful impact on society. Whether as a co-founder, consultant, or educator, M T’s contributions reflect a deep passion for fostering creativity and strategic thinking, empowering others, and driving innovations that serve the greater good.
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.