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Cat Goetze, alias CatGPT online, has turned a personal nostalgia project into a rapidly growing hardware startup. Her company, Physical Phones, has tapped into a generation eager to disconnect from screens without severing communication entirely.
According to a CNBC Make It report, the retro-style handset business generated $120,000 in sales in its first three days after going viral on social media in July 2025. By late October, the brand had sold more than 3,000 units, touching $280,000 in revenue.
Goetze’s inspiration came from her own attempt at reducing smartphone dependence. Two years ago, she tried to replace her mobile with a low-tech alternative but found it expensive and impractical to re-install a landline in her apartment.
However, the nostalgia of ‘twirling the cord, and talking with friends’ pushed her to engineer a workaround: She modified a thrifted landline phone and made it Bluetooth compatible. For the next two years, the pink clamshell phone became her main device to talk at home, letting her take calls and even buzz visitors into her building.
When she finally launched the invention online, she said that she expected “15 to 20 pre-orders.” Demand exploded instead. “It felt like we had captured lightning in a bottle,” she told CNBC.
Physical Phones currently sell in five designs for between Rs. 7,500 and Rs. 9,200 ($90 - $110). Goetze initially crafted each handset by hand but has now teamed up with an electronics manufacturer to start shipping larger batches this December.
The device serves as a nostalgic extension to any smartphone. It connects via Bluetooth with iPhone and Android, rings for calls from mobile networks and apps like WhatsApp, FaceTime, Instagram, and Snapchat, and lets users dial out using the keypad or voice assistants triggered through the star key.
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Goetze’s Instagram posts have fuelled the viral moment. In one, she tells how tech platforms exploit the brain’s craving for novelty, urging followers to ‘protect your monkey brain.’ In another, she pitches the handset as a tool for reducing screen time while reliving a ‘nostalgic 90s dream.’
The Physical Phones tapped an unexpected segment and has become a viral startup online.
