I’ve been using Calendly for about ten years. I mean that genuinely — it was one of those tools that solved a real problem in a clever way, and I respected it enormously when it launched. The idea was simple: stop asking people what time they’re free. Just send them a link and let them pick.Calendly built a $3.5 billion business on that idea. And I think that says everything about how big and how real the problem was.
But here’s what always bothered me about Calendly: it doesn’t actually own any of the experience it creates. It plugs into Google Calendar because it has no calendar of its own. It generates Zoom links because it has no video conferencing. You’re paying $12 a month for a scheduling layer that sits between two other tools you’re already paying for. Add Zoom at $20 a month and you’re at $32 a month just to schedule and run a meeting.
When we built Network Chains, I wanted to collapse all of that into one place.
What Network Chains Actually Does
The experience starts the same way Calendly does. You connect your calendars — Google, Microsoft, as many accounts as you have — and set up your meeting types. You get a personal booking link. You share it. The person on the other end sees your real availability, picks a time that works for them, and the meeting is confirmed on both calendars instantly. Time zones are handled automatically. No back-and-forth. No “what time is that in your timezone?” emails.
Where it diverges from Calendly is in what happens when the meeting is confirmed. The video call link that gets sent to both parties isn’t a Zoom link. It’s a Network Chains meeting link. The scheduling, the calendar sync, and the video conference all live inside the same platform. There’s no middleware. There’s no hand-off between tools.
And unlike Calendly, where the free version limits you to a single meeting type — nudging you toward a paid plan the moment you need more flexibility — Network Chains gives you unlimited meeting types from day one. Sales calls, coaching sessions, team check-ins, client introductions — you can build a template for every type of conversation you have, and your booking link reflects all of them.
The Feature I’m Most Excited About:
Here’s the thing about Network Chains that goes beyond scheduling. In the near future, when someone books a meeting through your personal Network Chains link and they’re not already in the Garage ecosystem, they’ll automatically be added to your network. Every meeting becomes not just a meeting, but a connection. The act of scheduling time with you becomes a moment of genuine network growth.
I think about that and it strikes me as one of the most natural ways to build a network I’ve ever seen.
You’re not asking people to sign up for anything. You’re just doing what you’d do anyway — meeting with people. And the platform does the rest.
