Garry Tan

Around 2.0 - Video calls for the future of hybrid-remote work

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Around is a lightweight video collaboration tool that floats on your desktop, perfect for things like design sessions, brainstorms, and code reviews. Available for download. Now comes with EchoTerminator.

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Dominik Zane
Hi hunters! Dominik here, CEO of Around. My co-founders and I have worked remotely for over 15 years, both in fully-remote and hybrid-remote setups. Hybrid-remote scenarios were especially frustrating—traditional TV-based conferencing room hardware felt awkward, clunky, and people brought laptops to conference rooms anyway, setting off cascading echos and frantic muting. On top of that, many spaces don’t even have TV setups, especially coworking spaces. In 2017, we decided to build something that we would actually love to use ourselves, focused on helping people collaborate in modern, flexible workspace situations with remote colleagues. A solution that works entirely just with laptops, doesn’t require any extra hardware, and gets out of the way. Around’s EchoTerminator engine completely solves the hybrid-remote challenge: sophisticated ultrasonic signaling, complex DSP algorithms and real-time audio synchronization ensures that all microphones and speakers are enabled concurrently, meaning everyone is heard perfectly. We’ve also designed Around from the ground up with remote collaboration in mind, including thoughtful features like anti-fatigue video filters, designated audio-only rooms, and bespoke AI-based noise suppression. (Mobile app coming soon!) We’re a 23-person team, and we’ve raised $15.2M from investors like Initialized Capital, Forerunner Ventures, Wing, Floodgate, Slack Fund and others. We launched in this community a year ago in private beta and have been humbled by the sheer amount of interest and love we’ve received since. You can read what our users are saying here: bit.ly/around-love. Around 2.0 with EchoTerminator is now in public beta and available for anyone to download at around.co. Let us know if you have any feedback or questions—we’re excited to build the future of the hybrid-remote workplace together.
Michael Sieb
@dominikbalogh amazing product! 😍 Congrats on the launch.
Dominik Zane
@michael_sieb Thank you, Michael! 🙏🏼
Isaac Naor
@dominikbalogh Congrats! 🎉 Around is my favorite tool in my work stack, and I don't know how I'd collaborate without it (well, I do know – vid chats with team members would be laborious and taxing again!). Thank you!
Dominik Zane
@markhuf Thank you, Mark!
Dominik Zane
@isaacnaor Thank you, Issac!
Garry Tan
Hunter
Garry Tan here from Initialized Capital! We've invested in Around in 2018 when it was still in stealth. I'll let Dominik, the Maker (CEO) tell the story below :)
Dominik Zane
@garrytan @mrandydavis We're thrilled to hear that, thanks, Andy!
Kia Kamgar
I SO LOVE THIS APP! It's made my life, and my client's lives SO MUCH easier and simpler. As a Tech Minimalist & Coach, I pick tools for their simplicity and ease of use, not only for myself, but for the people that hire me, so we can have the quickest and simplest way to connect without the headaches a fuss. Been using Around for many months, and it's been rock solid experience. The team. are great and have reached out to me on a few occasions and it's been a blast to help out with feedback and ideas for future features to come. Around has replaced Zoom for my business and I couldn't be happier! Keep IT Simple.
Dominik Zane
@kiakamgar We really appreciate that, Kia and thank you! That's amazing to hear you're using it with your clients as well. Your thoughts and feedback have already been so helpful for us, and we'll definitely be reaching out more in the future to get your insights into how we can build some of features you've specifically been requesting. ;) P.S. Margot says hi!
Eduardo Moreno
Hey! What a week, I've seen many products we use at Wego. We use Around for all our planned meetings (if they're unplanned we normally use tandem) and I have to say everyone loves it, it makes everything so much more relaxing and less tiring. We particularly enjoy the Live meeting notes and the GIFs . The GIFs have made our meetings so much more fun! The auto-framing is also super cool, helping us to keep our face centered and allowing us to do some work without the app covering our whole screen. Keep working on this awesome product!
Dominik Zane
@aguilaair_tech "Relaxing and less tiring" - YES. That is definitely something we care deeply about and are really happy to hear that. Thank you, Eduardo!
Lucas Dubois
Zoom? Google Meet? What are those? If you are tired of those kinds of meetings, you need to try Around. We've been using it with our team for a few months already and we just LOVE it. GAME CHANGER 🔥
Dominik Zane
@lucasdubois Thank you, Lucas! We are so happy to hear that and feel very lucky to have such passionate users like yourself. Really appreciate all of your feedback and insights as well - keep it coming ;)
Lucas Dubois
@dominikbalogh Thank you guys for this amazing product! Happy to be amongst the first to try it out. Don't worry about my feedback! I'll keep it coming! 💯
Dominik Zane
@sakshamsharda Looking forward to your thoughts, Saksham! Thanks for giving it a spin - you can go to around.co. :)
Aldo Silva
Zoom seems too 2019 when compared with Around. This is the future!
Dominik Zane
@aldo_silva Thank you, Aldo! We think that there's definitely a time and place for Zoom-type meetings, but Around is for when people want to get stuff done together and feel free to do their best work. 😀
Kyle Makischuk
Amazing product, we use this for all internal jam sessions!
Dominik Zane
@makischuk Awesome, we love hearing that, Kyle! Thank you for using Around :)
Patrick Sullivan
been using around since early on, it's been awesome to watch the product improve and get better and better. congrats on the success!
Dominik Zane
@patsully88 Thank you, Patrick! Sounds like you've seen us through a few iterations - we appreciate you sticking with us as we continue to make the product better! 🤗
Tomas Ondrejka
This is really cool, upvoted! What is the main difference between Around and Zoom?
Dominik Zane
@tomas_ondrejka Thanks, Tomas! Here's how we think about it: Zoom is meant for more traditional, "conference-room" type meetings, while Around is what you'd use with your team to get work done together. We're designed specifically for collaboration with an unobtrusive, lightweight interface that floats on top of your desktop, freeing up your screen for things like code reviews, design sessions or ad-hoc syncs. You can get a good sense of why people enjoy using us here: bit.ly/around-love. Hope that helps answer your question!
Maddie Lee
@tomas_ondrejka @dominikbalogh love this idea. Traditional web conferences aren't set up for creative collaboration - this sounds like you're heading in the right direction.
Dominik Zane
@tomas_ondrejka @shesmaddie Exactly, Maddie! 💯 Thanks so much
flo merian
Launching soon!
Around is the most elegant solution for audio and video calls. Its UI design is delightful, and its Slack integration is a breath. Perfect for team collaboration—and more.
Dominik Zane
@fmerian Thank you, Florent! We really appreciate it and glad you're utilizing the Slack integration as well :)
Volodymyr
Great product! Great feel of using this tool 😍
Dominik Zane
@new_user_314d21aa31 Thank you! We appreciate that :)
Nirav Dalwadi
amazing product! 😍 Congrats on the launch. used and loved :) I SO LOVE THIS APP!
Dominik Zane
@nayan_parmar We're thrilled to hear that, thank you, Nayan! 🙏🏼
Mark Huf
Amazing! Great team and refreshing experience! Go Around! ✅👍
Dominik Zane
@markhuf Thank you, Mark! We really appreciate that
Javier Sanchez Mejorada
@glen this is what I was talking about with the voice suppression
Amanda Adamson
A great tool. Versatile and effective. I recommend it.
Dominik Zane
@amanda_adamson Awesome, thank you so much, Amanda!
Gene Kamenets
Looks really promising, great job team! Will try it out now 🔥
Dominik Zane
@eugene_kamenets Thanks so much, Gene! We're excited to hear your thoughts. Feel free to email us at feedback@around.co. :)
Rui Ramos
Been using Around for team meetings and catch ups with friends and really recommend it. It's a simple, fun to use app and the floating mode is great for pair programming or any kind of remote collaborative work. Keep it up! 🙌
Dominik Zane
@ruimramos Love hearing that you're using floating mode for pair programming—perfect use case. Thanks for the kind words, Rui!
Nazim @Koinju
it looks impressive, congratulations for the work
Dominik Zane
@nazim_m Thanks, Nazim!
Tom Littrell
Favorite video meeting app hands-down! Extraordinarily refreshing experience ✨✨✨
Dominik Zane
@tomlittrell "Extraordinarily refreshing" 😍🥤 Thank you, Tom!
Daryll Wong
Awesome! This is a problem that I face when I do a video call with someone, but with some of my teammates in the same room tunning in too. We have to only have one person's mic on at a time. Great stuff.
Dominik Zane
@daryllman Thanks, Daryll! We're excited for you to try it out in the future and let us know what you think.