The dad behind it

Hi. I'm Jack.
Here's my story.

I have two sons. Their early childhoods were very different experiences. The difference wasn't love. It wasn't effort. It was preparation.

2 Sons
500+ Studies read
200+ Windows mapped
1 Calendar system
🤰 Expecting a baby
🍼 Baby already here
👴 Grandparent or family member

Scout works for all of you. You can start at any point.

01

First Son. I winged it.

With my First Son, my wife and I had no system and no plan. Just good intentions and a habit of reacting to whatever came next. There were a lot of fires. Some we caught. Some we didn't.

Looking back, I missed developmental windows I didn't even know existed. Not because I didn't care. Because nobody told me they were there.

My First Son is fine. Kids are resilient. But the experience didn't have to be that hard.

"The developmental windows are real. The research is solid. Most parents just don't know they're there until they've already passed."

02

Before Second Son. I went deep.

Before we had our second, I decided to do what I do with everything else that matters: research it. I hold an MBA. When I have a problem I want to solve, I go deep. My wife and I wanted to be more prepared this time. So we were.

So I went deep. Clinical papers. Peer reviewed studies. Academic journals. Books. Podcasts. Parent forums. Conversations with pediatricians and other parents who had been through it.

What I found surprised me. Early childhood development isn't mysterious. There's an enormous body of research on exactly what matters, when it matters, and what parents can actually do about it. The problem isn't a lack of information. It's the noise.

So I did what the MBA trains you to do: strip it down to what the evidence actually supports. I identified the key developmental windows, the moments when a specific kind of engagement has an outsized effect, and I built a system around them.

📄
500+
Studies reviewed
Clinical papers, peer reviewed research, academic journals
📚
40+
Books read
Child development, pediatric guidelines, parenting research
🎙️
100+
Hours of podcasts
Expert interviews, pediatrician discussions, parent forums
🧹
200+
Windows identified
After removing noise and conflicting advice
03

Second Son. We had a system.

I put everything into a calendar. Every important milestone, every window, every prompt. I shared it with my wife. We had reminders ready before the moment arrived, not after.

It wasn't perfect. Parenting never is. But the experience was fundamentally different. Calmer. More intentional. Less "I wish I'd known that six months ago."

Month 7 — First Son No system
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No milestones tracked. No reminders set.
Month 7 — Second Son Scout system
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Peanut introduction window — open until month 11
Babbling + back-and-forth — closing in 3 weeks
9-month developmental review — schedule now

The same month. One calendar had nothing. The other had a system.

04

Then friends started asking.

I shared the calendar with a few friends who were expecting. They wanted it. I shared it with more people. More people started asking.

That's when I realised: the research exists. The windows are real. But there's no good tool that puts it all together, personalises it to your child's exact age, and delivers it at the right moment, before the window closes.

So I built one.

🔭
Introducing Scout
A monthly digest, personalised to your child's age, delivered as an email and a calendar invite. It tells you what matters right now, what you can do about it, and how long you have. Nothing more.
🤰 Covers the pre-birth period too 👴 Grandparents can join the Family Circle 🍼 Start at any age, up to 3 years
05

We're just getting started.

The premise is simple. But if you have a child under three, I think you'll find it genuinely useful. I built it because I needed it. Other parents wanted it. That's usually how the right products start.

The roadmap is long. But the foundation is solid, the research is real, and the goal is clear: help parents stay on track during the years that matter most.

Live now
Scout — Birth to Age 3
200+ developmental windows. Monthly email digest. Calendar invites. Family sharing.
Coming next
Extended age range
Windows from age 3 to 6. School readiness, social development, early learning.
On the roadmap
Mobile app
Faster access, push notifications, and deeper progress tracking on the go.

"Stay on track."

Jack Hartley

Founder, FamilyForce · MBA · Dad of two

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