About Us
For musicians, by musicians.
The inspiration for Benjamin came during the pandemic, when we tried to learn how to play new instruments. As life-long musicians, we knew how to practice. But using our iPads to watch instructive YouTube videos was a painful process. We didn't have iPad stands. And trying to rewind, speed up, slow down or even pause a video was infuriating.
There had to be a better way.
Without even knowing if it was possible, we started to whip up some early sketches. We made a list of cool features we wanted the device to have. Could this even be done? While the company founders are seasoned entrepreneurs, we didn't have much electronics experience. So it was a steep learning curve. But after lots of learning and testing, we managed to get a prototype working. Finally, we could easily control YouTube content using intuitive, reliable, and predictable buttons, sliders and knobs. We were back in control!
We could create loops to learn that tricky solo. We could slow down the parts that were way too fast for our newbie fingers. We could get in and out of fullscreen without moving to the end of the video by mistake! Now, we're addicted. We can't use our iPads without Benjamin.
We thought it was a good idea. Did others?
Yes! Early user testing revealed that lots of people share our frustration. As portable and easy as iPads are — managing the playback of music or videos is a frustrating, unreliable process. ESPECIALLY when you're actually focused on another task — like practicing music, learning a new skill, watching a DIY video or trying to move frame-by-frame through a great sports replay. The value of Benjamin was confirmed.
So here we are — preparing to launch a product that eliminates the friction of video-based learning. There's still lots to do, but we hope you'll support our efforts and join us on the journey. If our story and product resonate for you, visit our Prelaunch page to reserve your early access to a discounted Benjamin!
Proudly Canadian.
We’re a Toronto-based company with a proudly Canadian mindset. As a growing startup, we aim to build our product locally wherever possible — working with local partners and talent whenever we can. If you are in the GTA and interested in user-testing a Benjamin prototype, click to learn more.
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