Why we're building Perch
The mission of Perch is to make reading accessible and delightful.
For the first time in recorded history, IQ scores are falling. The decline correlates almost perfectly with the rise of the smartphone and the displacement of reading by digital media. Today, nearly 50% of U.S. teenagers say they "hardly ever" read in their leisure time (up from 15% just a few decades ago).
If one habit unites the leaders, scientists, and artists who built our civilization, it is reading. Serious readers are disproportionately represented in every area of human achievement. And as reading declines, we have to ask an uncomfortable question: How many world-shaping minds are quietly atrophying in front of a screen instead of being sharpened by a page?
We want to reverse this decline by making reading the most delightful thing you can do on your phone. We've built Perch around three core principles:
Universal access
Quality writing is too frequently locked behind paywalls, but reading on Perch is completely free. We aggregate all of the incredible free writing on the internet in one place and only charge for "superpowers" like AI Chat and Unlimited Listening.
Curation
Writing today is scattered across millions of websites. Most of it isn't worth reading, but there are some blog posts that will change your life. Perch is building tools that help curators amplify the truly great writing.
Delight
Reading has to be delightful if you want billions of people to prefer it over playing video games or doomscrolling short-form video. That's why we prioritize brilliant aesthetics, social features that let you read with your friends, and subtle game mechanics that make building a healthy reading habit fun.
And we're not stopping at a reading app. Our long-term roadmap includes everything from a dedicated e-reader for distraction-free reading to an open-source publishing platform that empowers the next generation of writers. This is a lifelong project for us, and we're glad you're here.