The moment that started everything
It started the way most important things do — with an uncomfortable realization.
We were sitting with people we genuinely loved. Friends we’d known for years. And the conversation was… fine. Surface-level. The same loop we’d been in for months.“How are you?” “Good, you?” “Yeah, good.” And then silence, filled with scrolling.
Not because anyone was shallow. Not because the friendship was dying. But because somewhere along the way, we’d lost the muscle for going deeper. Life got busy. Everyone moved to different cities. The group chat became all memes and no meaning.
The people who matter most to us were getting the least interesting version of us.
That realization hurt. And it stuck with us long enough that we decided to do something about it.
The real problem isn’t distance
We have more ways to communicate than any generation in history. Group chats, video calls, voice notes, stories, reels. We are drowning in communication tools.
And yet most friendships are shallower than ever.
The problem isn’t that we can’t reach each other. The problem is that we don’t know what to say. We don’t know how to start the conversations that actually matter. The ones that move a friendship from “we should catch up” to “I feel like you actually know me.”
Think about the best conversation you’ve ever had with a friend. It probably started with a question. Not “how’s work?” — a real question. One that made you pause before answering. One that surprised both of you with where it went.
Those conversations are rare. Not because people don’t want them, but because nobody starts them.
So we built the starting point
Ohh exists for one reason: to give you the question when you don’t have one.
The mechanic is simple on purpose. You pick a question from a deck. You answer it first. Then you send it to a friend. They see your answer, and they share theirs. Both revealed together.
That “answer first” part is crucial. It means you’re not just asking — you’re sharing. You’re going first. You’re saying “here’s something real about me, now it’s your turn.” That vulnerability is what turns a question into a conversation.
The “ohh” moment — that’s the feeling when your friend’s answer surprises you. When you learn something new about someone you thought you knew everything about. When a question you almost skipped leads to the most honest thing either of you has said in months.
Built for real life, not idealized life
We deliberately made Ohh asynchronous. No scheduling. No “let’s FaceTime at 7.” No guilt when Tuesday passes and you still haven’t called back.
Your friend sends you a Spark at 11pm from their couch. You answer it on your commute the next morning. The conversation happens across hours, days, time zones — and it still hits. Because the depth of a conversation has nothing to do with whether it happens in real time.
We built Circles for the same reason. Your friend group of 5 all answer the same question blind, then everyone reveals at once. No anchoring to whoever answered first. No performing. Just honest answers from people you trust, dropped all at once. The group chat will never be the same.
3,000 questions. Every one of them intentional.
We wrote every question ourselves. 58 decks. Over 3,000 cards. From light icebreakers that work at a dinner party to questions about fear, childhood, meaning, and everything you’ve been avoiding.
Each question was tested the same way: does it make you pause before answering? If the answer comes instantly, the question isn’t deep enough. If the answer makes you uncomfortable in the right way — the way that leads to real honesty — it goes in the deck.
Some of our favourite decks are the ones that sound simple but aren’t.“What’s something you need from a friendship that you rarely ask for?”Try answering that one without learning something about yourself.
Why now
Loneliness is at epidemic levels. Not because people are alone, but because people are surrounded by connections that don’t feel connecting. We have 500 followers and 2 friends we’d actually call at 2am.
We don’t think the answer is another social network. The answer is better conversations with the people already in your life. Deeper, not wider. Quality, not quantity.
That’s what Ohh is. Not a social network. Not a dating app. Not a party game. It’s a tool for the friendships you already have — to make them feel like they did when everything was new and you could talk about anything.
What comes next
We’re just getting started. We have ideas for new decks, new ways to connect, and features we can’t wait to share. But the core will always be the same: one question, two honest answers, one friendship that just got a little deeper.
If you’ve ever wished a friendship felt more like it used to — more honest, more surprising, more real — that’s exactly why we built this.
Download Ohh. Share your code with one friend. Send one Spark tonight. And see what happens when you ask the questions that actually matter.
— The Ohh team, Zemio Labs