Hi, I’m Roberto Hanas

I build software for people who work with their attention.

Founder at BRNSFT. Operator at BRNSFT Capital. Based in Finland, working on the problem of how context, focus, and cognitive load actually behave when you use a computer all day.

Why this work

I got into building focus tools because I couldn't hold three projects in my head anymore.

Most days I move between BRNSFT Capital client work, Ikuna itself, and side threads of research — each with its own set of apps, browser tabs, notes, and mental state. Every switch cost me the same thing: the twenty-three minutes Gloria Mark's UC Irvine research says it takes to refocus after an interruption. I was paying that cost four or five times a day.

The idea for Ikuna came out of a long conversation with Pasi, my co-founder. He was the one who saw something I didn't at first — that the problem wasn't window management, it wasn't task management, and it wasn't Focus Mode. It was that macOS has no concept of context as a first-class thing. That framing is his, and it's the foundation the whole product is built on.

What I try to bring to that foundation is discipline about the cognitive science underneath — Sophie Leroy on attention residue, Gabriel Radvansky on the doorway effect, Roy Baumeister on decision fatigue — and a commitment to shipping small, honest, boring tools that respect the user's attention rather than harvest it.

What I work on

Ikuna - Product direction, positioning, most of the writing about it. I don't ship every line of code, but I sit close to the product decisions that shape it.

BRNSFT Capital - AI and R&D operations consulting. I work with European founders (mostly Finnish and Nordic) on Business Finland R&D funding applications and fractional AI-operator engagements — helping teams figure out how to actually build AI into their product without hiring a full internal team.

The blog - I keep it as a working notebook on Mac productivity, deep work, and applied cognitive science. Named research over hot takes. The pieces I'm proudest of are the research reads, not the listicles.

Community - I moderate r/ikuna and post there directly. Reddit is where I get the sharpest feedback on the product.

Background

  • Founder & builder - BRNSFT (2021–), Ikuna (2022–), BRNSFT Capital (2025–)

  • Prior - AI product and operations work across European startups; automation and workflow design before that

  • Based - Finland

  • Focus areas — cognitive science of attention, Mac productivity tooling, applied AI in operational workflows, R&D funding structuring (Business Finland)

If you're evaluating Ikuna and want to ask something directly before you subscribe - the email above is the fastest route. Small enough team that you get me, not a support inbox.

Talk to me

Podcasts, interviews, and press — happy to talk about:

  • Focus, attention, and cognitive load on knowledge workers

  • Indie SaaS pricing and building small tools sustainably (bootstrapped, no VC)

  • Business Finland R&D funding for founders

  • Mac productivity workflows and where the current tools fall short

  • Applied cognitive science in software design

  • The macOS "missing layer" of context as a first-class thing

Email: roberto@brnsft.com

Elsewhere: