We’ve built tools for every kind of interaction.
- Slack and Microsoft Teams for internal teams
- WhatsApp and Telegram for friends
But what happens when you need to reach someone across those boundaries?
Like:
- A freelance designer you're hiring
- A podcast guest you just invited
- A startup you're investing in
- A new contact you met at a meetup
You probably default to email.
Not because it’s great - but because it’s the only shared tool left.
That fallback?
It’s slow, messy, and completely outside your control.
You get lost in threads, miss replies, and hand over your personal inbox every time.
The awkward middle of modern communication
Let’s be honest - this isn’t a minor issue. It’s the most common, least-discussed gap in how we communicate today.
You don’t want to add someone to your Slack.
You’re not ready to give out your phone number.
You want to keep context and boundaries.
So you’re left juggling inboxes, DMs, and scattered expectations and context.
There should be a better default.
A better way to manage cross-boundary conversations
That’s what I set out to build with RelayBeam - a Port-based messaging network built for conversations that cross boundaries: team members, clients, collaborators, and new contacts alike.
The key idea is something called a Port.
A Port is:
- A unique, human-friendly address like
alex@hiringordana@press - Structured and built for thoughtful communication, and organized by purpose
- Public but private - you control how people reach you
Example: What a Port Address Looks Like
Let’s say your username is alex.
You’re hiring a freelance developer, so you create a Port called hiring.
Your Port address becomes:
alex@hiring
You can share this with anyone - in a job post, a DM, or on your website.
When someone messages alex@hiring, it opens a structured, user-friendly thread under that Port.
No inbox clutter. No random pings. No personal exposure.
You can create custom Ports for different purposes - each with its own context and intent.
For example:
-
alex@clients -
alex@feedback -
alex@press alex@support
All organized in one place - without context switching or fragmented tools.
Another example of ports:
Real-world use cases
Here’s where Ports start to feel like a superpower:
- A founder onboarding a contractor
- An investor reaching out to a startup
- A podcast host coordinating with a guest
- A job-seeker messaging hiring teams
In all these cases, a Port replaces the awkward fallback with something simple, focused, and structured - without asking either side to switch tools.
Built for boundaries, not bloat
RelayBeam is lightweight by design - especially if you’re:
- A solo founder or indie creator
- Someone who gets a lot of inbound messages
- Tired of cluttered inboxes and dropped threads
It’s free to use.
And it only takes a minute to set up your first Port.
Curious?
Try creating your first Port and see how it fits into your workflow.
After testing with early users around the world, I’m now rolling out early access more broadly.
Start using RelayBeam: Get Early Access
📣 Let’s connect:
Thanks for reading!
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