Welcome to Cleft
About Cleft
Learn about Cleft’s mission, meet our founders, and discover why we’re building the future of thought processing
Our Mission
We build products where people feel like they belong and that help our users gain confidence in their own thoughts. Cleft exists to help you capture your thoughts, removing friction from your workflows. Our North Star: Transform how the world thinks about voice, privacy, and accessibility and disability in technology.Meet the Founders
We’re neurodivergent founders who got tired of being afterthoughts in product design. Justin MitchellX · LinkedIn · Threads · Website Jonny Cosgrove
X · LinkedIn · Threads · Website We built Cleft because we needed it. Now 10,000+ people have joined our journey, shaping it into something they want to pay for because they needed what we started with.
Why We Built Cleft
The Problems We Faced:- Traditional note-taking failed us. Brilliant insights during walks or conversations would vanish before we could capture them.
- Privacy anxiety made it impossible to think freely. Every voice app sent audio to the cloud, leaving our most personal ideas exposed.
- Voice-first design that keeps up with how minds actually work, transforming scattered thoughts into structured brilliance.
- Privacy-first architecture that keeps your thoughts secure, always.
Our Philosophy
You deserve software that sees your brilliance, not your struggles. We started Cleft for users who are usually treated as “edge cases” in product design. We wanted to build something by us and for us, and open to all.We are our users. We use Cleft every day. When we improve it for us, we improve it for you. Our daily frustrations become your feature requests.
How We Build Cleft
We run Cleft alongside our other ventures and day jobs - because we believe in building sustainable businesses that solve real problems. Our Other Work:- Amber - Our shared consultancy and agency work
- KB0 - Knowledge base and documentation solutions
- Plus our individual day jobs that keep us grounded in real-world challenges
What We Stand For
🎯 Doing One Thing Exceptionally Well
We have zero interest in becoming another “everything” app. Cleft transforms longwinded verbal thoughts into usable notes. That’s it. That’s what we do exceptionally well.
🔒 Privacy by Design
Your thoughts should not train someone else’s AI. We’re jaded with how Big Tech treats user data. Our only interest in your data is keeping it safe and making it accessible to you.
♿ Accessibility First
We believe if you build a house, people need to be able to walk in, roll in, or fly in. Everybody should participate equally from day one, not as an afterthought.
🎨 Artisan Software Philosophy
We’re not trying to scale to billions of users. We’re building beautiful, thoughtful software for people who appreciate quality over quantity.
Why We’re Bootstrapped
Customer-funded, not investor-driven. Here’s what that means for you:With Bootstrapped Companies:
- ✅ Built for profitability and sustainability
- ✅ Customer interests come first
- ✅ Focus on product quality over hypergrowth
- ✅ Long-term thinking, not exit strategy
- ✅ Transparent pricing based on value delivered
Our Principles
Integration Over Competition
We work WITH your existing tools, not against them:- Use Cleft IN Google Meet for your personal notes
- Use Cleft WITH Microsoft Teams for your follow-up thoughts
- Export TO Notion, Obsidian, or wherever you work
Experience-Based Pricing
We charge for an amazing experience, not consumption:| What Others Charge For | What Cleft Charges For |
|---|---|
| Storage space | Thought transformation |
| Transcription minutes | Experience quality |
| Per-seat licensing | Individual productivity |
| Feature access tiers | One great experience |
The Extra Mile Philosophy
Most software treats edge cases as afterthoughts. We treat them as the primary use case because that’s who we are. When you’re neurodivergent, ADHD, or process thoughts differently, you need developers who understand that “good enough” is not good enough. We go the extra mile because we have to - for ourselves and for you. Every feature, every interaction, every decision is made with verbal processors in mind first.What We’re Opinionated About
- Voice is first-class - Not an afterthought, but how many people naturally process complex ideas
- Privacy matters - Your thoughts should not train someone else’s AI (local Whisper processing)
- Custom instructions are essential - Generic formatting doesn’t work for personal productivity
- Integration > competition - We work WITH Google Meet, Teams, Notion, Obsidian, not against them
What We’re Unopinionated About
- Organization methods (folders, tags, whatever works for you)
- Export destinations (send your notes anywhere)
- Processing levels (dial AI formatting up or down)
- Workflow integration (fit Cleft into YOUR process, not ours)
What’s Next
Short term: Cleft 2.0 is coming in November 2025 with expanded AI capabilities. iOS v1.10 is now live on the App Store! Long term: We’re building a voice-first revolution in how we interact with technology, one thoughtful feature at a time. Our promise: We’re not building to sell or scale infinitely. We’re building to last - for ourselves, for you, and for the future of thoughtful technology.Connect With Us
We love hearing from users. Seriously. Every email gets read by Justin or Jonny personally.📧 Email Us
Share feedback, ideas, or just say hello
🐦 Follow Our Journey
Behind-the-scenes updates and thoughts
💬 Join the Community
Connect with other Cleft users
Thank You
To everyone who’s supported our mission - from our first beta users to our Plus subscribers to everyone who’s shared feedback - thank you for believing in a different kind of software company. To our fellow neurodivergent thinkers - you’re not broken. Your tools were. We’re here to change that, one thought at a time.We’re building more than software - we’re building a future where different minds are celebrated, not marginalized. Where privacy is a right, not a luxury. Where quality matters more than scale.
Want to support our mission? Upgrade to Plus and join us in building the future of thought processing.