Adam Jonah | Artist, Founder of tuttO and B.I.G.

Adam talks about how he became a represented artist at such a young age, his experience at Tesla and Primary, launching tuttO, and how witnessing the October 7th attacks inspired him to build B.I.G.

I first met Adam at a farm school in rural Vermont when we were seventeen years old. We’d both attended the Mountain School of Milton Academy – a program in which 45 high-school juniors spend a semester working on and learning about the land. It’s a very Thoreau experience, and the students that attend, in my biased opinion, tend to be some of the most thoughtful and intelligent high school juniors in the country. Adam was no different. Adam is a very creative thinker and talented artist. He sees the world differently than everyone else. These traits, combined with strong ambition and determination, have given Adam a uniquely long list of successes for his age. At 16, he became the youngest artist to be represented by a Hamptons gallery. At 18, he was commissioned to produce art by hospital giant Northwell Health. At 21, he had already held positions at Tesla and Primary Venture Partners. And now, at 24, he has become a prolific entrepreneur – working with his mom to grow her initiative Visible Women Agency (which hosts live talking circles in interesting venues with fascinating guests), launching the relationship-focused card game and app tuttO, and now building the safety app B.I.G.

Can you talk a bit about your background as an artist and how this inspired you to create tuttO? 

I love creating art. I was raised in a family of entrepreneurs who encouraged me to pursue my creativity. They converted a room in our home into a painting studio, providing me with an environment to experiment and play. At 16 years old, my mom and I drove around with paintings stuffed in the trunk of our car, going from gallery to gallery pitching my art. Whether someone liked my work or not, it was an adventure. We clicked with a gallerist, Sara De Luca of Ille arts in Amagansett which launched my career. I exhibited in many art shows and built interactive art installations where people could draw and erase directly on top of my art. Northwell Health commissioned me to create interactive works which are currently exhibited in their Monter Cancer Center Hospital as part of an “art as healing” initiative. 

These thrilling experiences of creating art with real-world positive impacts inspired me to attend the USC Iovine Young Academy to study art, technology, and the business of innovation. After COVID, I transferred to NYU to continue with individualized study. When I started at NYU, my mom was incubating a new community called Visible Women, which produces live, interactive talking circles featuring trailblazing entrepreneurs and creators. Through this work, we met many like-minded people looking for deeper connections to others, especially as our hyper-online society makes it difficult to forge and deepen relationships. This inspired us to launch tuttO, an app and physical flirting card game based on an expanded definition of flirting… aligned with seeking playful banter in all aspects of life. 

I know you and your mom are super close and also business partners. Can you talk more about her role in your life? 

My mom is a rockstar entrepreneur, lawyer, and strategist. She has always encouraged me to surpass my potential and to lead a well-lived life. When I was looking to get into the art world in high school, other people told me that to get into galleries, you first had to get a degree and intern for an artist for many years. My mom rejected that, brought me to galleries, and told me to introduce myself and show my work. If I failed, she told me to keep going. She continues to push me to be more fearless and ambitious in pursuing what I want. It’s a true joy to be able to brainstorm and collaborate with her. 

You’ve also had some cool roles at Tesla and at Primary Venture Partners. How did you find those jobs and what did you learn? 

Working at Tesla was a dream of mine for many years. I deeply admire Tesla and Elon Musk and how he is changing the course of human civilization with technology. I applied to work at Tesla many times and eventually was hired as an autopilot data specialist, training the autopilot neural nets. I continue to benefit from my insider look into Tesla and the internal structures that propel its outsized positive impact on the world and its ability to innovate unbelievably quickly. After Tesla, I interned at Primary Venture Partners. Being immersed in the VC world inspired me to want to build my own start-ups. 

Can you tell me about a phrase or idea — maybe from a book, a song, a life motto — that you repeat to yourself often?

“TuttO” comes from the Italian word “tutto” which translates to “all/everything”. I love the word, especially the way it's used in the motto “tutto é possible” which means “everything is possible”. This motto is a life philosophy that I embrace and that the people I admire embody. It’s about believing in yourself and taking action to create a positive and fun future despite doubts. One way I’ve channeled this is by coding the tuttO app myself. I took on the project of making the tuttO app without knowing how to code. I thought it could take a year to figure out how to do it but through hard work, I was able to do it in less than 2 months. 

So, where do you go from here? 

Two days after the launch party for tuttO, the horrific Hamas terror attacks happened. Friends of mine had family members murdered and a friend of a friend Omer Nuetra, who is from Long Island, NY, is currently among the hostages still being held by Hamas. As a descendant of holocaust survivors, it has been particularly terrifying to watch, a fear only compounded by the violence spreading in cities around the world since that date.

In researching what happened on October 7th, I discovered that Hamas disrupted Israel’s government communication system which significantly delayed the IDF’s response. Remarkably, the swift actions of neighbors and community members who reacted in the absence of immediate government intervention saved many lives. It was very important to me to take action. I considered, “What if someone I loved was in danger and they couldn’t find help from the police or me.” This line of thinking, combined with my recent coding knowledge from building tuttO, led me to develop another app, called B.I.G. (buddy intel group). B.I.G. is based on a buddy system. The app offers a “B.I.G. button” so that with one click, users can instantly send an alarm sound to their designated trusted contacts, neighbors, friends, and family, while simultaneously sharing their locations. 

So to answer your question of where I’m going next… I’m grateful to have and enjoy the gift that is my life, and I will continue to create products and experiences that aspire to make a BIG positive impact.

If you’re looking for a holiday present for your friends (or yourself), the card game tuttO can be ordered here. The app can be downloaded here. You can find out more about Visible Women and their events here. The B.I.G. app can be downloaded here. Both tuttO and B.I.G. are offering friends and family the first month free (which includes you if you’re reading this.) Connect with Adam Jonah on Instagram and Twitter. Nominate people to be on The Kitchen Fridge’s Shelf Space here.