Today we’d like to introduce you to Curt Meinhold.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I left a secure consulting job to launch LilyList because I’ve seen the pain and chaos that follows a death too many times. This mission is deeply personal, rooted in a childhood shaped by both immense creativity and profound loss.
My story started in blue-collar, low-income Boston apartments. My father introduced me to a world of defiant art and ideas – Beatles, Kurt Vonnegut, Lenny Bruce – but his own battle with addiction and depression ended in suicide when I was nine. My mother had always been the stability in those environments. She became a single mom of four who worked really hard to improve our living situations. A bit different from my father, I got my appreciation of things heartfelt and sappy from her love of artists like Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, and Meatloaf.
I always had a creative spark and it sent me searching for a different world. As a teenager, I found my tribe in Harvard Square, connecting with a diverse group of kids over a shared love of metal and punk music. That’s also when I picked up bass guitar and eventually began a 30-year journey with my band, Sift. That journey was my true education in what it means to be human. Unfortunately, it ended abruptly in 2023. My music partner was given 9-12 months to live after a cancer diagnosis but was gone in just thirty days.
More importantly, Harvard Square is where my wife and I met in 1989. We married in 2000, and I know that without the impact that she and her family have had on my life, I’d not be where I am today. We lost both her parents over the last year, and those experiences have also driven the work I am doing with LilyList.
On a parallel track, my professional life was – and still is – a journey of finding niches where my diverse skillset can deliver big impacts. I started in printing and loved seeing a tangible product ship out, but I saw the digital wave coming when the first fully-digital printing presses came into the country and I then pivoted to tech. After realizing my talents weren’t in day-to-day coding but in connection and communication, I found my true passion was closer to the customer and leading teams. For the last 20 years, I’ve focused on product management and building teams, finding the most joy in leading solutions to complex problems, building teams, and mentoring others.
LilyList is where the creative and the professional truly came together. It’s the culmination of all the lessons learned from tragedy, producing music and films, all of my experience across technologies, and from leadership of both myself and others. My co-founder, the wonderful Shannon Smith, started out as a colleague almost twenty years ago in a startup we were both employed at. Over the years she’s become a friend and trusted mentor, sharing many of the same values as I do, and I am lucky and grateful to have her help as we continue to build out this platform that is human-first and legacy-focused. After a successful soft launch in July, we’re incredibly excited to release our public version next month.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I learned about mortality long before I learned about mortgages. My life has been punctuated by loss – my father, my brother, my friends, my bandmates. In some ways devastating, these experiences also gave me an undeniable sense of urgency. Life is short, so get things done.
This became my way of life – especially when younger. It fueled a work ethic that allowed me to outpace many of my peers, but it also came at a cost. As my mother would often tell me, I’ve spent a lot of time “burning the candle at both ends.”
Compounding this was the reality of coming from an upbringing that did not provide many resources. I was always playing catch-up, learning the way that society worked through discovery, failure, and constant iteration. That experience is a breeding ground for imposter syndrome – something I see all the time from people with similar backgrounds, and it’s a state that I’ve had to learn to manage over the years for myself. But these challenges also build resilience, forcing me and others to be resourceful and relentless in a way that has ultimately defined the success I’ve had.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about LilyList?
Your life is a story. It’s in the lessons you’ve learned, the traditions you hold dear, and the love you share. At LilyList, we believe that journey is the most valuable thing you’ll ever create, and it deserves to be told – not just today, but for generations to come.
We built LilyList to be more than a digital scrapbook. It’s what bridges generations.
You can record stories in your own voice, dedicate meaningful songs to your children, share treasured family recipes, and build a beautiful, lasting legacy for those you love now, and into the future. It’s a space to connect with your loved ones today and leave a piece of your heart for the family of tomorrow.
What are we most proud of? We made a choice from the start to focus on human beings, not AI hype. Our platform is a testament to the power of authentic connection.
David Deutsch recently gave Sam Altman a lesson on humans vs machines, when it comes to intelligence – and how we define intelligence. He said, “… how do we know that humans are general intelligence? By telling their story.”
As we prepare for our launch next month, we invite you to join our founding community. Pre-register today, and you’ll receive free access to the platform. Come help us ensure that no story goes untold – including those who came before us. One of the big features we will be releasing at public launch are Tribute pages that allow each of us to create lasting legacy pages for those who have already passed.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We love to connect with anyone interested in our mission, or who needs a hand as they navigate their own.
* Pre-register and share the platform and podcast at lilylist.com
* If you are an organization that would like to make LilyList available to your employees or members, reach out via the website. We are currently partnered with Creative Aging Network and The Leadership Forum, and would love to continue to make the platform available and support our partners. We have options aimed at allowing orgs to resell, or to focus on giving their people a novel benefit that improves satisfaction
* We are always happy to partner with other organizations that are offering aligned services – legal, end-of-life, social
* Finally, we believe in collaboration over competition. If you are in the same space and would like to connect, we are always happy to do so. If we can help you along the way in your own journey, we are happy to do that
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lilylist.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mylilylist
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lilylist
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@MyLilyList
- Other: https://siftmusic.com
