Welcome.

Stephen had been in Switzerland the week before, and while waiting in line for a zipline on the side of a mountain, ended up next to a guy named Justin, who ran a successful YouTube channel about philosophy. It quickly turned into a deep conversation about different philosophical ideas, including Socrates. Specifically, that Stephen believed Socrates was actually the first true salesperson. He didn't pitch anyone. He asked questions. The Socratic method. People in Athens believed he was the smartest man alive because he was the first person to admit he didn't know everything, and would just sit and ask questions. In turn, the answers showed up through the process of simply asking.

Stephen was retelling the story to Nick. Nick had been quiet for a minute. Then he cut in.

“That's it. Simply Asking. That's our company. That's our name. Say no more.”

We laughed. We never turned back.

We've been working together for more than a decade. Same companies, same boards, same kinds of conversations. One of us comes at things process-first. Spreadsheets. Structure. The same right answer the same way every time. The other comes at them story-first. Analogies, parables, the big arc. Watching the same problem from opposite sides, we somehow always landed in the same place.

We both believed the same thing… Sales is asking. Leadership is asking. Coaching is asking. Learning is asking.

What started as consulting evolved into a software company with the same belief in simply asking questions. Now it's just through a different lens, with a larger impact.

When AI came along, we realized something quickly. This felt more like talking to someone than searching on a computer. It provided the answer, yes, but with context and personality. Like everyone else using ChatGPT for the first time, it was a crazy, eye-opening experience.

The reason it was eye-opening for us was because we'd spent our careers developing skills and knowledge through trial and error, then trying to capture what we learned and share it with people. The sharing was always through leading, coaching, and then consulting. The only downside was that we were limited by time, just like everyone. We could only help as many people as our own time allowed. We had to be present. So the only way to do more of it was to multiply ourselves. But how could we possibly do that? Well, AI made that possible in theory.

The missing piece from all the documents and training all along was us. The part that actually understood what was inside of it all. Not just what was written on the pages, but the context around how and why it worked. We understood it all at once, instead of one document at a time. That, to us, is what AI made possible. Nothing existed for a business to take everything it knew, pair it with AI, and securely put it in front of the right people whenever and wherever they needed it. Sure, you could point ChatGPT at your documents, but it didn't understand what your business actually knew. It found titles. It didn't understand context.

So we built it. A brain for a business.

We believe technology should help people, not replace them. That when you focus on people first, you win. That an owner shouldn't spend three hours hunting down old purchase orders just to see what a customer last bought. That a marketing director shouldn't have to reschedule a call with the agency because nobody can find the creative from the last campaign. That a field tech at a customer's house shouldn't have to call the owner at seven-thirty at night for an answer that already lives somewhere in the company. That a warehouse worker should have the same access to what the company knows as the person at the desk.

If you need an answer, an insight, or access to what you need to do your job, it should be as simple as asking a question.

We built something that gives people exactly what they need, only what they should see, the moment they need it. It doesn't just find documents. It pulls from across the company, connects what's been disconnected, and turns it all into an answer. It gets smarter every time someone uses it. When it doesn't know the answer, it says so. Somebody fills the gap. The same question never goes unanswered twice.

It's the thing we wished we had when we were the brain. And it works the way Socrates taught us all: by simply asking.

Thanks for being here. The whole point is that one person shouldn't be the bottleneck. That includes us. If something's off, or you see a way we can do better, simply ask. We'll listen.

Stephen & Nick

Founders, Simply Asking

stephen@simplyasking.io·nick@simplyasking.io