When I asked Amy Jørgensen to describe Shortwired, she laughed. "We reimagine self-improvement books for ADHD minds," she said. "It's like Blinkist, but if Blinkist actually worked for those of us who are wired differently.
"Born from years of personal frustration with the one-size-fits-all world of self-help, Shortwired turns the wisdom of bestselling non-fiction into ADHD-friendly audio summaries. Fifteen minutes of insight, followed by five minutes of guided actions, all designed to help you do something with what you've just learned.
The problem she is tackling is familiar to those with ADHD. Top self-improvement books promise transformation (like how to build wealth, what a perfect morning routine looks like, and the secret to building effective habits), yet most were not written with ADHD neurobiology in mind. The advice is often sound, the execution steps less so. Long formats put the material behind dense 300 pages (not easily accessible for ADHDers), and even when the ideas do land, initiating the task and follow-through are another hill to climb. Amy's question became practical very quickly: what if we adapted the way the wisdom is conveyed to the ADHD reader?
Shortwired's format grew from that principle. Audio first, short and focused, action embedded. "You hear the key idea, then you do the key action with a 5-minute guided walkthrough," Amy said. It feels a little like body-doubling in your ears, the same way a meditation or fitness app talks you through the exact steps of how to do something. "There is something about being able to move while you learn," Amy continued. "Those with ADHD often like to keep hands busy and minds engaged, so audio fits our reality."
Getting to an audio first solution was not linear for Amy. Early experiments ranged from flip books to physical card decks with problems on one side and solutions on the other. After speaking with users, diving through community forums and testing prototypes, audio kept winning.
Looking back, the move to audio feels almost inevitable. Before Shortwired, Amy worked as a film and TV composer with credits spanning Netflix, Disney, National Geographic and even a collaboration with James Cameron. She has scored everything from Home & Away and Bluey to feature films that screened at Cannes and Venice, and was nominated for an Australian Academy Award for “Best Original Score.” That background lingers in everything she builds, with the listening experience for Shortwired not an afterthought; it’s the whole point.
The story behind the product is personal. Amy has lived experience of ADHD and, when she set out to build a company, she went looking for ADHD-specific resources that would help. Throughout our chat, Amy reflected on how she came across plenty of ADHD material on surviving daily friction, but fewer resources aimed at really thriving. Answers to questions like how to start a business, how to nail a presentation or how to get investment weren't as straightforward as she hoped. Shortwired is her answer to that gap, a translation layer between popular non-fiction and the way many people with ADHD think and act.
"Two things stood out for me throughout Launch Club," Amy said. "Clarity and community." The program pushed for deeper customer insight, sharper positioning in a space crowded with generic book summaries, and a willingness to evolve the format as the data came in. Just as important, it provided accountability. When analysis paralysis tried to creep in, there were mentors and peers to reset direction and keep shipping.
One early test captured the spirit of the product. During workshops, The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick surfaced as a recommended read (a book about business idea validation), so Amy built a Shortwired version of the book on the spot, reframing the lessons through an ADHD lens and adding guided actions to put that knowledge into practice. It helped her immediately with user interviews, and it resonated with others in the cohort. That mix of speed, relevance and application is what she wants every ADHD listener to feel when they consume a 15-minute "Shortwire".
So where to next? Shortwired is on the cusp of public launch as a mobile app, where a growing library of these Shortwires will be available for a monthly subscription. From there, the plan is to keep refining the cadence of the audio, deepen the neuroscience framing where it helps, and grow with community feedback.
If you want in early, head to shortwired.com to join the waitlist.Follow along on Instagram for updates as Amy ships, learns and keeps translating big ideas into ADHD-friendly steps that actually stick.
Connect with Amy on LinkedIn.
Check out Amy’s composer https://www.amyjorgensen.co/
