A tech founder's nostalgic effort to reduce her screen time has transformed into a viral business success, generating $120,000 (approximately â‚ą1 crore) in sales within just three days. Cat Goetze, who is popular online as CatGPT, was tired of smartphones and wanted to build a landline phone to bring back old-school vibes and conversations.
She told CNBC Make It, "I was kind of just sitting around [thinking] it’d be so cute if they still had landline phones and we could twirl the cord and talk with your friends. Which just felt nostalgic and chic to her,”.
How does the plan come in?
Goetze claimed that when she discovered that a landline required a new number and paid connection, she opted to make her own version. Then, using a thrifted pink clamshell handset, she “hijacked” the device and made it Bluetooth-compatible. It became the odd focus of her residence. Whenever someone buzzed into her building’s security system, Goetze said that she would let them in from her landline, and she could even place outgoing calls from the set.
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She then made the gadget public on the internet in July 2025. She said that the response was swift, with hundreds of individuals remarking that they wanted it. She opened an internet store as a result, anticipating 15 to 20 preorders.
Success of the product
Her project is now called Physical Phones, which hit $120,000 in sales in just 3 days. She is expecting that by the end of October, she will have sold over 3,000 units, with total revenue exceeding $280,000, the techie revealed. She said, “It literally felt like we had captured lightning in a bottle.”
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Price and features
Goetze has teamed up with an electronics manufacturer to expand manufacturing, and the first shipments will begin in December, according to CNBC Make It, and the product is priced at around 90 to 110 dollars.
The techie stated that the devices connect to iPhones and Android phones via Bluetooth and ring when users receive calls from services like WhatsApp, FaceTime, Instagram, and Snapchat.
Goetze believes the product’s popularity signals a rising backlash against excessive screen time and digital overload. She claims that although the pandemic increased reliance on smartphones, many individuals are now actively looking for methods to unplug.
