One of my most prized possessions is a digital watch I bought for about $10 before heading off to do my dissertation work in northwestern Australia. At first glance, it doesn’t look all that special. It’s a little beaten up. It’s more than a little dirty. By all appearances, it’s remarkable only for its utter lack of remarkability.

But here’s what makes this unremarkable watch truly special: it does exactly what I need it to do, it’s never stopped working and it only cost me ten bucks! In the decade (plus) that I’ve owned it, this bit of electronic pseudo-ephemera has been 40 feet down in the Indian Ocean and up countless mountains. In all that time, all it’s ever needed is a new band.

Delivering that level of reliability and practical value for such a low price is inspiring as heck: no doodads, no flashy interface, no complexity for complexity’s sake. In short, it’s exactly what we’re striving to achieve with Slick Predict’s products. We want to make effective, affordable tools that surprise you with how unfussy they are. A cheap old watch might seem like a pretty low bar at first glance, but upon closer inspection it’s anything but.