Overview

My Family Book accelerates a child's ability to build a connection with those closest to them, by allowing them to learn their family’s names and faces. Shaan Shah created My Family Book because having a close relationship to one's family is imperative in both surviving life's challenges and also thriving towards accomplishments. My Family Book values the importance of relatives, friends, and family members. Shaan launched his first startup MakerSquare, an accelerator school for software engineers, in 2013. MakerSquare grew from one location in Austin to schools in San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles. After expansion, MakerSquare was acquired by a competitor in a multimillion-dollar deal. Near this time, Shaan unfortunately fell into a clinical depression. It's important to realize that depression can happen to anyone, even a high energy, social, and positive person like Shaan. The depression lasted six months before Shaan was able to return to work. Shaan attributes his recovery to his inner strength and the support from family and friends. One Christmas, while reading a picture book to his 1.5-year-old nephew, Shaan had the idea for My Family Book. He could replace the books dogs, cats, and giraffes with pictures of family and friends. From there My Family Book was born. Shaan began giving picture books to his friend's kids. He received great feedback: “Because of My Family Book, I feel so much more connected to my family because I established a connection with them at such a young age” - Suhani Parekh “Now my grandchild recognizes me and all of our relatives every time we come over!” - Hemangini Shah “The book is a wonderful way for our little one to learn the skills of recognition and language” - Mital Gohil Shaan was encouraged to make a business out of this product because more people would love to have a family book. Shaan connected with his friend and former boss Ajay Pattani and together they launched My Family Book.