liya

[Regina Lin (@ICML 2026) @reggitales]

I've spent my whole life trying to make absence mean something.

When I was five, the piano bench became my world. Practicing eight, ten hours a day wasn't punishment; I learned early to speak love through sacrifice.

Every practice session was also a choice to say no. No to field trips, no to sleepovers, no high school prom, no summer trips, no inside jokes that last decades. By the time I realized what I'd traded, those years were gone.

Missing became a habit. A personality. People learned not to expect me; I learned not to expect to be included.

But here's the contradiction I can't shake: the thing that motivates me most is human connection. I want to be the person you call first – for your wins and your heartbreaks. I want to love people in the currency of time. With my presence.

But I've built a life that keeps me in debt.

A few days ago, I missed my little brother's 18th birthday. I didn't even notice what day it was. I know if I died today, the version of me most people know - always working, always "too busy," always absent - would be the opposite of who I am inside.

So I made a deal with myself: if I can't buy back the time I've lost, maybe I can help buy it back for the hundreds, thousands, millions of others trapped in the same cycle. Maybe I can help them reclaim their presence – their ability to breathe, to connect, to be there for the people who matter before it's too late.

That mission is Dex, a Chrome-based productivity tool designed to remember, understand, and save you time so you have energy for what matters most.

To my friends and family: I think about you all the time. You don't know that, because thoughts don't hug back. I'm sorry for being a ghost. I'm building something that protects your time, and I'm working to protect mine with you.

We can't get back the years we lost, but we built Dex to give you yours.

Dex is available now.