Dossta
A project about death, grief and the things we don't talk about enough.
About
Dossta started with a simple observation: we are remarkably unprepared for what happens when someone dies.
Not only emotionally, but practically.
What needs to be done? Who needs to be contacted? What happens to someone's belongings, accounts, documents and digital life? And how do we support someone who is grieving when we often don't know what to say?
I wanted to create something that made those conversations a little easier.
Dossta was born from that idea.
How it started
Dossta began as an attempt to solve a problem I couldn't stop thinking about. Death is inevitable, yet most of us spend very little time preparing for it. When it happens, families are suddenly confronted with a huge number of practical decisions while simultaneously trying to process an emotional loss.
I became interested in the gap between those two realities.There were resources for grief. There were resources for end-of-life planning. There were legal and financial services.
But the experience of actually navigating a loss remained fragmented, overwhelming and often deeply lonely. So I started building Dossta.
The original idea was a practical support platform for people and organisations navigating loss, bringing together information, tools and guidance in one place. It was designed around a simple principle:
Grief is hard. Getting support shouldn't be.
Continuing the conversation
Dossta may no longer be a standalone business, but the question behind it hasn't disappeared. I still believe we need more open conversations about death, dying and grief. That means making space for conversations about:
Preparing for death
Not because we are expecting it, but because preparation can make things easier for the people left behind.
Grief at work
Grief doesn't stop at the office door. Organisations need to think differently about how they support people experiencing loss.
The practical reality of loss
There is an enormous amount of administration, decision-making and organisation that follows a death, often at a time when people are least equipped to deal with it.
How we talk about death
Avoidance doesn't make death easier. Better conversations can make it less frightening, less lonely and more human.
From startup to advocacy
Dossta began as a startup idea and evolved into something broader. As I explored the problem, I realised that the challenge wasn't simply a lack of tools. It was also cultural. We don't talk enough about death. We don't always know how to support someone who is grieving. And many of the practical tasks that follow a death remain invisible until someone is suddenly responsible for them. The more I researched and spoke to people, the more interested I became in the bigger question:
What would change if we became better at talking about death before we were forced to?
That question shifted Dossta from a product idea towards an advocacy project: creating awareness, sharing useful resources and encouraging more open conversations about death, dying and grief.