2017 – Maybe I'm crazy

The Magic of Coffee Shops in San Fran

Where else can you be sitting in a coffee shop and listen to conversations all around you on funding, success, failures, and product market fit? There aren’t many. There are fewer where you can interject and start a new conversation…which is my specialty. I am in San Francisco for a conference that is starting tomorrow. Today I explored the city and am now in a coffee shop in downtown San Fran near the financial district. As I was sitting, here I saw these 2 guys walk in. It appeared to be a founder and an advisor as one (advisor) was older with a notebook and the other in slacks and a zip up. During their conversation, I listened and heard about the founder’s successes over the past year. Raising millions of dollars and succeeding. He is now cashflow positive. The advisor said, “Just think about how amazing this is and you did it all. Think about how many companies in the 1-mile radius of us have tried and failed..and you did it, you broke through.” More

I feel like the Statue of Liberty

Startup

This feeling does not happen every day, but lately, I have been feeling more and more like the statue of liberty. (I know its weird, it’s a weird thought but hang on with me for a little longer.)

From speaking at a few conferences to sharing my story about my company, I feel like I am at the top. My mindset is just that I love what I do and my confidence is contagious to those around me. I sometimes feel that I exude inspiration with every word that comes out of my mouth. I show perseverance for how far I have come and I show humbleness for all those who helped me along the way.

I stand for something greater than myself. More

Lessons Learned from Serving as a Panelist at the Under 25 and Ready to Thrive Conference

Lessons

A long time ago, I learned that it is important to take advantage of everything that comes your way because you just don’t know where it could lead. Last month, I received an email from Next Gen email list about upcoming opportunities for speaking, funding, and startup marketing. On the email was an opportunity to apply to talk on a panel about entrepreneurship at Johnson and Wales University’s Under 25 and Ready to Thrive Conference. The conference intrigued me, essentially the premise was that many alumni 40+ come back to the university to speak, yet students don’t often hear from the younger alumni or people to learn from. The organizer of this conference wanted to change that and give students an opportunity to see and hear from young successful entrepreneurs who were around their own age.

Little Man, Big City

Internet of Things, Startup

They said I couldn’t do it. They said I was crazy. They said stop before you start. I said let me try.

It’s been 3 months and I am feeling good. I have found an office space, received a few investments, had some not so good days and some out of this world days. I have engrained myself in the Chicago startup community and getting deeper every day.

Don’t pay $700 for a conference to listen to speakers, talk to the speakers

Internet of Things, Startup

Today, I went to an IoT conference in Chicago called the IoT Summit. It was an event put on by the Illinois Technology Association (ITA) and featured over 80 speakers from the top IoT companies like Aeris Communications, HoneyWell, Google, LoRa, Baxter and many others. I went to learn about trends in the market, validate my knowledge and make connections. Being one of the youngest people in attendance, I made it my mission to stand out form the crowd. Many people that attend these types of conferences are there because they are representatives of multi-million dollar companies and have meetings with people who are also attending the conference. Yet for me, it is an opportunity to learn, meet new people, and make a name for myself in an area I am so passionate about.

With my love for networking, emerging technology, and my company’s unique technology, I was able to thrive. One things that has made me successful in the past at large conferences like this one, is to not only listen and take notes during the sessions but to follow up and speak with the speakers/panelists. I believe there are many benefits to attending conferences, yet the largest and most untapped is to have the follow-up conversations with the speakers. I often pick 1 topic from their talk, form a few questions around it, then go start the conversation. At this conference, I was amazed that only about 10 people throughout the entire day engaged in these types of follow up conversations. With over 500 people in attendance that is a very small percentage of prime engagement. The amazing part about connecting with the speakers after their talk is that you have no idea where the conversation will lead, maybe to an investment, a follow up call/meeting, or even an introduction.

Finding My Niche in the World

Lessons, People, Startup

The other day I was having a conversation with my sister’s friend who is about to graduate from college. She was explaining to me how for the entirety of college she had studied marketing and international business without knowing what she wanted to do with her life. At the beginning of her senior year, she had decided, with the support from her family, that law school was the “right thing” for her. She proceeded to spend hours on hours studying for the LSAT and took the exam in September. Yet upon reviewing her score, she was not happy and felt uneasy. It wasn’t what she wanted, it wasn’t the score she had trained for, and now she was stuck trying to figure out what her true passions are and where she fits into this world. More

A New Home for My Startup

Startup

I don’t remember a lot from Junior High School, but I do remember my 8th-grade history teacher’s favorite phrase was “Tabula Rasa” which is Latin for a blank slate. An absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined goals. Today I walked into my new office. Just like starting a new job, there were new faces, new technology, new things to learn. After searching for a few weeks since leaving my job, I finally landed on

Today I walked into my new office. Just like starting a new job, there were new faces, new environment, and new things to learn. After searching for a few weeks, since leaving my job, I finally landed on MATTER the healthcare co-working space. More

Battle Scars from Raising Money as a Healthcare Hardware Company

Lessons, Startup

Over the past few weeks, I have been trying to raise money for my startup. As with most startups, raising money is one of the most difficult parts of starting a startup. If you aren’t a B2B Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) startup with recurring revenue in the millions then you have to work much harder to raise capital and convince potential investors that you have a novel, profitable, and sustainable venture.

Beyond the challenges of building a hardware company, building a hardware company in a city that is traditionally known for SaaS startups is challenging. Additionally, having a healthcare focus is challenging as well. So far, I have faced a number of specific roadblocks as they relate to this journey of fundraising. Each roadblock presents a unique set of challenges that I have to face, yet I believe that each challenge provides the perfect grounds to learn from it.

A lean hardware company getting to beta

Lessons, Startup

There is no true manual for starting a company, let alone a hardware company. With the Apples and Samsungs of the world, most would say that hardware is hard. That you have to have deep expertise to even start or know where to start.

As for me, I am an idealistic visionary. I believe that with hard work anything is possible, even though deemed as hard. Initially, when I started this venture I thought what resources do I have that I could leverage to build a hardware product. More

September Lessons

Lessons

Business:

Be critical about your product and open about others. Usually, it’s the other way around.
Sometimes all people want is to be appreciated. An investor had 1 request after he invested a large amount. He said, “just give me a business card with my name on it”
Big companies promise the world, then disappear. Be cautious
You can’t fix the world, so pick a problem and bunker down
In most industries and markets, innovation and new methods of doing old things is seen as a positive force. But in healthcare things are backward and upside down. Disruption is not a good word to use.