According to TechCrunch, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp have raised $29 million in seed funding, led by Spark Capital, for their new social media startup West Co. The company launched an invite-only version of its first app, called Tangle, back in November. CEO Evan Sharp framed the company’s mission as a response to the “terrible devastation of the human mind and heart” caused by social media over the last 15 years. The Tangle app prompts users with the question, “What’s your intention for today?” allowing them to share goals with friends. Stone noted the app could change significantly before a full public launch.
West Co’s big ask
Here’s the thing: asking “What’s your intention for today?” is a massive pivot from the dopamine-hit-driven feeds we’re used to. It’s fundamentally anti-viral. You can’t really rage-post or doom-scroll about your intention to “finish that report” or “call my mom.” And that’s probably the point. Sharp’s language about “devastation” is strikingly blunt for someone who helped build the modern social web. It feels like a genuine, if incredibly ambitious, mea culpa. But is an app focused on gentle, intentional sharing really what people want from a social network? Or is it just a digital journal with a friends list?
The founder advantage and baggage
They’ve got the pedigree and the funding, no doubt. Stone and Sharp have built iconic, lasting platforms before. That gets you a $29 million seed round and instant press. But it also comes with huge expectations and skepticism. Can they truly build something outside the engagement-at-all-costs model when that’s the ecosystem they helped create? Their experience is their biggest asset and their biggest hurdle. People will watch to see if West Co can resist the very metrics—daily active users, time spent, growth—that made Twitter and Pinterest successful. That’s a tough internal culture to build.
Where this could go
Stone’s comment to the FT that Tangle could change “significantly” is the most telling part. The current description sounds almost like a wellness app. But with that much capital and that founding team, you have to assume they’re playing a longer game. Maybe Tangle is just the first experiment, a minimal viable product to test a philosophy of connection. The real bet might be on a new underlying protocol or a suite of apps under the West Co umbrella. They’re not just building a feature; they’re trying to build a whole new vibe for online interaction. Whether that vibe can scale beyond a niche audience of the already-mindful is the billion-dollar question. Honestly, I’m skeptical it can, but I’m also rooting for it. The alternative—more of the same—is pretty bleak.
