Beat the game that's built to beat you.
A free, 90-minute session on how apps and games are built to hook you, and how to win your time back. From someone who used to build them.
The internet isn't safe, and nobody's coming to fix it soon.
Companies won't slow down. Governments will take their time. The time to fix this is now.
That new friend request? For more than 1 in 5 people your age, it's turned out to be someone pretending to be someone else entirely.
In the session: the tells that give a fake account away, before you hit accept.
Ofcom, 2026 (4,097 UK 11 to 17 year olds)
More than 3 hours a day on social media is linked to double the risk of mental health problems. The average teen spends 4.8.
In the session: how to get hours back without quitting everything or losing your friends.
Riehm et al., JAMA Psychiatry, 2019; Gallup, 2023
You're seeing about 20 promotional messages an hour on your screen. That's nearly 9,000 a year.
In the session: how to spot when you're being sold to, and stop paying with your attention.
Kelly, Bosward & Freeman, JMIR, 2021 (95 Australian 13 to 17 year olds, screen-recorded, not self-reported; figure is food and drink brand marketing only (17.4/hour, ~8,700/year), mix of paid ads and organic content, small dated 2018/19 sample; treat as a lower bound for ad exposure overall, not a total across all advertising)
We all clicked Sure. Time to ask again:
Are you Sure?
Good news: this game can be beaten. In 90 minutes, I'll show you how the apps are built to hook you, and how to win your time back.
About an hour of talk, then up to 30 minutes of questions. No smartphones needed. Ironic, we know.
What you'll learn
- Spot the trap. How apps and games are built to play with your mind
- Beat the game. Moves you and your friends can pull together
- Win your time back. For the stuff you actually want to do
What you leave with
- The pile: everyone's smartphone goes in the middle. First to touch theirs takes a dare
- Keep it offline: some moments are for living, not posting. Let your friends just be themselves
And many more tools.
Formats
Are you Sure? For teens
How apps and games play with your mind, and how to beat them.
Sure, this one.Are you Sure? Together
You and your parents in the same room. Yes, really. It's better than it sounds.
Sure, this one.Looking for Are you Sure? For parents?
So who's telling you this?
Hi, I'm Gilad.
I'm on the inside, and I'm telling you how it works.
- Product manager at companies like eBay and monday.com. I know how these hooks get built, because building them was the job.
- Three years running my own venture, Prickly Bear, trying to fix this from the inside. The lesson: the fix has to come from home, not from another app.
- Father of three, and uncle to 16 kids who are teenagers or about to be.
Why is it free?
Because this is my mission. I spent years building the apps that keep you hooked. Now I want to help you and your friends take back control. No catch, and no in-app purchases.
Want this at your school, or just want to know more?
Sure, let's talk.
Want a session at your school or club, want to join one, or just have a question? Fill this in and I'll email your parent.
Free, and no commitment. I'll reply to your parent within 3 working days.