The only thing public about us was an “A” on the office wall
It all began with an A on the wall.
Last week we breathed life into our idea about a (legal?) tech startup. Until now Aligned had only been in our plans, our discussions, our partnership agreement and a piece of art on our office spaces wall. For most people ideas get real when you sign a partnership agreement, but we are not your usual entrepreneurs. The only thing public about Aligned was an “A”, painted as a modern art piece, hanging on our office wall.
So what was so big last week? Our attendance at Legal Design Summit 2025 at the University of Helsinki. On an average august weekday we had boldly signed up for the conference as representing the legal tech startup Aligned. In hindsight it’s good that we were bold then, because on day one of the summit we felt nothing the like.
On the morning train we got back to the questions: are we a legal tech stratup? Is “legal” the right market for us? Can we actually put ourselves in the shoes of legal experts? Spiralling into an existential crisis wasn’t an option. So we agreed that legal tech is one lucrative avenue for advancement, but our go-to-market might look different.
We met several legal, design and organisational experts who offered their point of view on the future of negotiations, the typical pain points and how AI fits into the process of negotiation. We even booked a few meetings. Thank you to each and every one who gave us their perspective. Now we know others believe in Aligned as much as we do, so we decided to tell the world about our idea. Boom, now it’s out there and it will continue to evolve – and the best part: you can follow the journey while it enfolds.