From Mental Health App to Indy Jeff Quach on Building AI Families Actually Trust

From hacking mainframes to building Haven (mental health) and now Indy, an AI co-pilot helping families navigate paediatric and developmental care, Jeff Quach shares a builder’s journey grounded in anthropology, trust, and real-world impact. We unpack when AI should support human care (not replace it), why guardrails matter, how to find the right co-founder, and the gritty reality of bootstrapping (“the desert walk”), plus practical tools and workflows you can use today.

Time stamps
00:00 – Intro: Jeff Quach, Indy & what this episode covers
05:53 – From Haven to Indy: why the pivot in mental health tech
06:00 – Anthropology in product: culture, reciprocity & trust
08:11 – Designing for trust: small choices that compound
10:17 – Where AI supports, not replaces, human care
12:09 – Problem space: parents, families & complex journeys
14:14 – Haven lessons: support across age stages and scope
17:27 – Early builder stories & shipping fast
21:15 – Founder persistence and the “desert walk”
24:04 – ICP clarity: serving parents first
26:17 – Finding the right co-founder (Antler signals & fit)
31:33 – Parent outcomes: progress they can see
35:00 – Mental health models: what AI can/can’t solve
37:02 – Inside Indy: product shape & value moments
41:40 – Workflow stack: Notion (AI), ops, cadence
44:53 – Safety & guardrails: avoiding overreach
49:30 – Tools recap: Claude, Notion AI, practical tips
51:30 – Closing: key takeaways & what’s next

What you’ll learn
- Applying anthropology to product: cultural relativism, reciprocity & trust → better UX and retention
- The limits of “self-solving” mental health; designing tech that restores human-to-human connection
- Why Jeff wound down Haven and built Indy with safety guardrails and a parent-first journey
- Co-founder fit via Antler: complementary skills, oxygen for the journey, signals that you’re on the right path
- Hyper-personalisation that isn’t creepy: small preference shifts that build long-term trust
- Tools & stack: Notion + Notion AI, Claude (Code), rapid prototyping, lightweight agents
- Career & founder advice: go wide, ship often, persist, and avoid “big-name” co-founder traps

About Jeff
Product and AI leader with roots in financial services and SafetyCulture, a background in social anthropology, and founder/operator across Haven (mental health) and Indy (AI for parents). Jeff’s lens: build value where people feel it daily—then earn trust with clear trade-offs and smart guardrails.

Who this episode is for
Founders and PMs shipping AI into health, family & education contexts
UX/CX leaders chasing evidence-backed trust and adoption
Builders validating AI products without losing the human

Episode links:
Check out the Indi App: https://projectindi.com/
Check out Jeff Quach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyquach/