The inspiration for founding My Stories Matter stemmed from the loss of my mother. Her passing made me acutely aware of the irreplaceable life stories and wisdom that were now forever lost, including stories from my own childhood.

I’m embarrassed at how little I know of her early life to share with my children in order to preserve her memory. I didn't want my kids to face the same issue when talking about me to their future children. When I searched for digital solutions, I found that existing applications do little to help people remember their life stories. Baby boomers, like myself, straddle the pre- and post-digital eras. Much of my life is stored in the ‘hard drive between my ears’ and that’s starting to fail. This realization underscored the crucial role that memory aids play in preserving our personal histories and led to the creation of My Stories Matter.

Arnie Papp (CEO & Co-Founder)

Born and raised in Perth, Australia, I earned my Bachelor's in Business and a Master's in Japanese Studies from the University of Western Australia. As the driving force behind My Stories Matter, my role is to guide our team toward fulfilling our mission and vision.

Before founding My Stories Matter, I served on the core executive team of multiple startups, including Infinity Financial Technology and Calypso Technology, where I successfully started operations in Asia-Pacific and contributed to their global revenue growth. Infinity went public on Nasdaq in 1997 and Calypso was acquired in a unicorn private equity deal in 2011.

After spending 12 years in Japan, I took a year-long sabbatical and toured the world with my family. We settled in Silicon Valley in 1998 and I became a US citizen in 2011.

When I was (much) younger, I spent 2.5 years backpacking around the world by myself —an experience I consider more educational than my academic degrees.

In my downtime, I love spending time with my family. I also enjoy travel, reading, photography, and cooking.

What advice would you give your younger self?

My Mum made excellent curries, even grinding her own curry spices. She also excelled in making desserts such as tortes, crepes, and apple strudel. I used to help her make the filo pastry for the strudel by hand on our kitchen table.

Bali, Indonesia is a special place for me as it was my first trip outside of Australia. I was fortunate to visit it before it became a popular tourist destination.

My first encounter with wild monkeys occurred at the Monkey Forest in Ubud. I quickly discovered that they are quite cheeky and become incredibly bold if they suspect you have food.

Daniel Papp (COO & Co-Founder)

I have a bachelor's in Business Information Systems with a minor in Computer Science from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo. I manage the day-to-day operations at My Stories Matter, mainly working on product development.

When I first started recording my memories, I was skeptical about how many memories I had that were truly meaningful as a young adult in my 20s. However, I was shocked that I was able to recall so many. I am always surprised at how small random events (like walking by a small cactus or smelling chocolate) can spark so many dormant memories - and I am always quick to capture them as MindPops. I hope that if you read any of my memories (mainly misadventures) that I made public on My Stories Matter, you’ll get a hearty laugh from them.

In my free time, I can be found practicing martial arts, learning how to cook (currently fermenting hot sauces), and giving my dog too much attention.

Write about a time a stranger showed you kindness or helped you.

Japanese sour plums pickled by my grandma that I still eat to this day.

Reading books during winter with hot chocolate in a blanket fort that I put over the heater.