“Quincy started when my grandfather came out of his bedroom with a yellow legal pad with 17 computer task on it and asked, 'Can you help me with this?'”

For Ryan Greene, the answers were quite simple. But for those who didn’t grow up with the same kind of technology, every tap or click or menu can be a complication.

“I was turning into the family tech support," remembered Greene. "Every family gathering was turning into a tech support meeting.”

While in business school in 2020, Greene worked to create a solution. The New Yorker launched Quincy, a calling service to walk people through their everyday tech issues.

“There’s nothing intuitive about these pieces of technology, especially if you grew up in a world where you were receiving that newspaper in the world physically," said Greene. "Everything that my generation takes for granted is a barrier in many of these cases for the older generations.”

For the first six months, Greene answered every phone call by himself – helping callers through tech problems from spam email to subscriptions. He quickly expanded, seeking out others with the patience to calmly find solutions.

“This is not a complex problem," Greene acknowledged. "It’s actually a really simple problem. You just have to have the patience and interest in fixing it.”

Though the company was inspired by his own experiences with his grandfather, Greene says tech support is needed by everyone in a world where technology is constantly expanding.

“This is not an ageist problem," commented Greene. "Technology evolves so much more rapidly then we are comfortable learning how to do it.”

What's the best moment of his day?

“The moment when they know it’s okay," said Greene. "That’s the single most gratifying part.”

For adding a guiding hand, Ryan Greene is our New Yorker of the Week.