Frequently asked questions
Who is Forge for?
Forge is for anyone with a large network of relationships, whether those relationships are with clients, customers, colleagues, users, vendors, patients, bosses, friends, family, alumni… basically, as long as the relationship is with another human being then Forge can help you grow it.
What’s the science and methodology behind Forge?
Forge’s design and content leverages two key sources: first, the growing academic field of relationship and behavioral science; and second the empirical experiences and observations of many active large-network professionals and business experts. We find these sources overlap and integrate cleanly, permitting us to have very high confidence in Forge’s operation and recommendations.
How can I maximize the benefits of using Forge?
Forge has been intentionally designed to create positive habits that promote trust building and relationship growth, and Forge’s AI works around the clock to find you natural opportunities to engage with your contacts. Engaging with these opportunities as Forge presents them will maximize your returns.
Additionally, a helpful 4-part “formula” for building trust is to ensure you (1) follow-through on your commitments; (2) earn credibility with the advice you give; (3) guarantee privacy in all your conversations (including refraining from judgment); and especially (4) actively listen to make others feel heard and valued. While Forge is designed to help you continuously optimize all four of these traits, we also find it helpful to set aside time each week for intentional reflection on our performance in these traits and identify ways we can improve.
Could Forge be more automated to save me even more time?
Forge’s design has been carefully calibrated to ensure your contacts always understand your genuine interest in them as people first. Appearing insincere in your efforts or “phoning it in” could cause lasting damage and is something we work hard to help you avoid. Specifically, too much automation can actually increase this risk so we ensure “human-in-the-loop” decision making within Forge. Also, while Forge greatly reduces the workload and “friction” of managing relationships, a small amount of user work is also desirable (a) for ensuring your awareness of your network’s activities, (b) for awareness of actions being taken in your name, as well as (c) to reinforce your recollection of others’ key personal details during live conversations.
How does Forge use my device’s calendar and contact information?
We know you’re busy, so to keep you moving forward Forge streamlines your day by pulling together multiple insights about others just as you need it.
For example, a person’s phone number can indicate where they live or grew up, so giving Forge access to your device’s contacts allows Forge to continuously search for any important news about that specific place.
Also, knowing the schedule of who you’re meeting with and when means Forge can deliver you that information just when you need it.
We find this insight discovery enabled by calendar and contact access makes relationship building so much easier that we use it ourselves!