For product managers · 2-minute read
One PM. Problem to pilot-ready B2B product. Every call written down, with a kill switch.
Viraam is the last 2½ minutes of a team's standup: one link in the invite, everyone starts together, and HR has nothing to run. I owned discovery, research, requirements, safety, build and launch.
The whole case, at a glance
The problemCompanies pay for wellbeing that goes unused, and HR can't prove usage without tracking people.
Who paysHR champions it, Finance signs. Employees use it. Each needs something different, and the product answers all three.
Why it winsIt attaches to a meeting the team already holds, the last 2½ minutes of the standup, so nobody has to remember it. Microsoft Viva gives individuals a private break reminder; it cannot give a team a shared one.
The hard lineNo individual data, ever. Teams with under 10 sessions a week are hidden. That's the product, not a setting.
How I'll knowTen standup teams with the link in the invite against ten channel-drop teams, for two weeks. Kill if anchored teams skip by day 3.
Where it standsLive and pilot-ready. No paying customers yet. HR feedback is the next entry, and this page will show it.
Why this problem: the data says reach and proof, not content
38%of employees use health check-ups even when offered (Plum, 2025, 6,000+ companies)
1 in 3say they lack time for their health (Plum, 2025)
~0measurable wellbeing effect from individual programmes like apps (Oxford, 46,336 workers, 2024)
Insight: wellness fails on reach and proof, not content. So the product competes on effort-to-start and on a number HR can defend, not on more content.
Three people decide. I designed for each.
EmployeeUses it
Needs: under 3 minutes, standing or seated, nothing to install, nobody watching.
HR / TA leadChampions it
Needs: proof of use, zero admin, no privacy risk under DPDP.
Finance / founderApproves it
Needs: cost per team-day run, a clear stop rule.
Every bet has a number that kills it
| Hypothesis | Signal | Kill if |
|---|---|---|
| Teams run a 2½-minute close if starting costs nothing | Share of standup days the team starts it, weeks 1–2 | Under 30% by week 2 |
| The habit holds past novelty | Return within 7 days | Under 1 in 5 |
| HR will pay for proof without names | Pilot to paid conversion | HR can't name a decision the report changed |
What I measure, and what I refuse to measure
North starWeekly finished sessions per active team
ActivationFirst finish within 48h of launch
RetentionTeam ran again within 7 days
ValueCost per team-day run
GuardrailsZero individual data leaves a device · every safety stop handled · teams under 10 sessions a week never shown
The incumbent, head-on
| Microsoft Viva Insights | Viraam | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it's for | Each person, privately by design | The team, together |
| Trigger | A personal reminder | The end of a meeting the team already holds |
| Setup | Part of Microsoft 365, admin-managed | One link in the invite, no accounts |
Viva's privacy model protects the individual from the manager, so it cannot create a shared team moment. That structural gap is the wedge.
What I said no to, and why that is the strategy
| Not built | Why |
|---|---|
| Manager or individual view | Kills trust, and adoption with it. The whole bet is "never a person". |
| Leaderboards, streaks, badges | Inflate early numbers, then fail; make the data less honest. |
| Dashboard as the main surface | HR doesn't log in weekly. A Friday email is the retention loop. |
| SSO, HRIS sync, roster upload | Each adds an IT approval. One link needs none. |
| AI by default | Typed text would leave the device. Rules-based by default (~900 phrases, four languages); a company can switch on an AI layer such as Claude with its own key and written opt-in. Safety never depends on the model. |
Three products, one problem. Each changed when evidence showed where it would fail.
- 1 · AIRA → Stillwater: the guidance. A workout companion. People between calls choose by problem ("stiff neck"), not workout type → rebuilt as short desk breaks. My own eval found a keyword list missed 10 of 14 body-pain cases → fixed safety rules no AI can override.
- 2 · Lull → Sukoon: the company layer. HR needs proof and employees fear tracking → team totals only, teams under 10 hidden. A full individual app: type how you feel in English, Hinglish, Hindi or Marathi, get one guided break; an HR view and a week-6 report. Open the Sukoon prototype → (archived as it stood on 30 Oct 2026)
- Where Sukoon would fail. Pre-mortem: a break reminder is already included in many Microsoft 365 plans; anything that relies on people remembering is abandoned (about 3% of wellbeing-app users remain at 30 days); seat pricing sat at par with full HR software.
- 3 · Viraam: the ending. Don't ask anyone to remember. The last 2½ minutes of a standup the team already holds: one link in the invite, everyone starts together, ₹1,499 per team. Every step graded against research; unsupported claims cut, including productivity. Named विराम, the full stop.
Not yet proven: there are no customers. The pilot measures whether teams still run it in week 6.
Risks I know about, and what covers each
- Privacy vs detail. HR gets less granularity than it may ask for. Accepted: detail without trust gets no usage.
- Novelty decay. Weeks 1–2 inflate. The week-3 check-in and 7-day return metric exist for this.
- No clinical review yet. Disclosed on the safety page; required before any paid pilot.
- Single founder. Pilots capped at six teams.
Next 90 days: ends in a decision, not a roadmap
- Weeks 1–3. 20 HR conversations; one change from the top objection.
- Weeks 4–9. First 6-week pilot, measured against the kill criteria above.
- Week 10+. Kill, pivot, or price. Decided by the numbers, written up here.