👋🏽Hi all, with everything going on, I want you to know that you’re not alone and that I’m here to support our founder, funder, and friend community. My first attempt to help was offering to get on 1:1 30-min calls with a couple of founders. I received 98 submissions for that and, due to bandwidth, I can only take 2 calls. I realize that’s not very scalable. So…
Starting today, I’m experimenting with a rolling Ask Me Anything thread. My hypothesis is that I’ll be able to support you in a more scalable way. Bonus: you, as part of the community, will also be able to support each other with your questions and answers.
Join me in this rolling AMA and post your Qs + As below. You can ask about anything that’s on your mind. I’ll respond as I can.
We’re going to get through this together. Lolita twitter | bio
ScriptDrop is a prescription delivery solution. We've typically been B2B and scaled that across the country. On Monday, we launch a patient-initiated solution. National pharmacy chains and state government reached out and asked us to move quickly, due to the Coronavirus.
This week I met with the team, shared the ask with them, and was completely honest. Us responding to this could be an opportunity to help hundreds of thousands/millions of people to not contract the Coronavirus. It could also lead to the company, as a whole, failing. We'll effectively 30-50X volume in a matter of weeks. You can't fully prepare for that. The team all chose to rise to the occasion and we've been working around the clock for a national launch on Monday.
I have two questions for you:
1. We're reinforcing this in anyway possible, but can you think of additional ways to show the team know how incredibly grateful and proud of them I am?
2. Do you have thoughts on ways to reach out to media, in an effort to amplify the message? We've typically been B2B and our quick growth never required media coverage, so it's not something I'm great at.
Nick, thank you for sharing. I can see how ScriptDrop's national launch can have you feeling both excited and anxious.
1. If you can find out directly from the team what would make them feel most appreciated, that'd be your best bet in making them feel it. Here's a thread that can help with perspective: https://twitter.com/lolitataub/status/1205861339291369475?s=20
2. Some announcement amplification thoughts, based on your timeline to launch Monday:
Grassroots approach
1. Identify your goal for your launch amplification
2. Identify where, on the internet, your customer/audience target lives
3. Produce comms for your customer/audience target (note: calls to action are important if you want them to take action)
4. Share comms with customer/audience target where they live (see step 2)
*Simultaneously, ask your ecosystem partners, and community members to amplify
Media approach
1. Identify media outlets/journalists who would be interested in publishing your announcement (i.e., they overlap with you on the topics and/or the customers/audience)
2. Pitch them. Some have pitch submission forms on their sites with specifics asks.
3. Be patient. Stories for media outlets typically need to go through an approval process.
Nick - sorry just reading this. Hope the launch is going well. You are bold and courageous. One thing for employees is more stock if have a stock option plan.
First, THANK YOU for doing this and for the founders who really are new this process and getting help building their dreams in helping humanity- again TY.
OneCarPayment helps sub/prime folks with their cost in owning a car by giving them "payment" options banks don't provide.
We help them with splitting those costs to equally affordable daily or bi/tri/quad-weekly payments. Really making it affordable for them to own their vehicle(s).
We're at pre-seed with a solid team of folks picked to build and scale this. We're at a point in receiving any funds to build the platform.
Now, the problem were having is meeting with investors, the ones we've "met" said NO bc of "we're not in the paytech anymore or were not making any new investments".. 😠
Also it's VERY FRUSTRATING, many want warm intro's to them, when I reach out to them. I've exhausted my network a few times in hopes of finding an investor(s).. I wonder if it's the deck that stop them of investing, I'm not sure but maybe..
I've send out over 1000s emails/snail mail to many investors.. 6 reached out and said no. 😭 Im NOT going to give up, but I WILL die trying. In the end all I want to do is help humanity period bc 99% of the population can't really afford to own a car.
Again, Lolita thanks for doing this for the community.
Hi Rudy, thanks for your note. There are many reasons why investors say "no." Some will have nothing to do with you or OneCarPayment. This new bear market has everyone - investors + non-investors - thinking twice of how to spend/deploy capital, for example.
That said, looking at your deck, your slide on getting from $0 to $20.4B between now and 2023 is reaching, and you don't show any traction $s. I recommend you pilot a simple v1 of your envisioned solution, gain traction there, and then expand capability based on market demand/feasibility.
Check out the posts below. I think they'll help:
- What all founders should do before fundraising (hint: quality over quantity)
This game allows expecting moms to raise money by hosting a virtual gender reveal (top game --> https://www.genderrevealgame.com/game/209) in our mission to gamify all things motherhood and baby.
We have great initial traction with this game (12K users, hosted 700 games 5K pregnant moms in our network) and we are working on growing affiliate programs. Our niche is that we capture moms so early in the pregnancy (as early as 12 weeks) and we are working on building additional resources to retain them.
My question is, where should we turn to raise capital.
-VC twitter has HORRIFIED me. And also, are we ready?
-I do not have a network for angels
-I have done plenty of pitch competitions and even an accelerator that funded us $25K which got us to the product and traction we have now
A single-payer telemedicine two-sided marketplace 100% in Spanish that allows Hispanics documented and undocumented consult doctors all over the world meeting linguistic and cultural needs.
On the doctor's side, Unividoc allows doctors to collect patient payments, virtually sent prescriptions to the pharmacy of the patients' choice as well as to create medical charts for users and other health systems.
Unlike other companies in the field, Unividoc is the only telemedicine company 100% in Spanish in the US and the only one that circumvents many of the regulatory issues by maintaining the doctor-patient relationship and keeping patients in their Patient-Centered Medical Home, as well as allowing doctors from other countries to provide educational services without creating a doctor-patient relationship.
More things we help with.
Univicoin: Universal peer to peer sharable coin that lets Hispanics pay for health services without a banking system.
UniviAi: Health analytics system that predicts illnesses based on key patterns from health records and medical images.
Univicloud: Universal sharing health record system between patients and doctors.
We did in 2019.
1. We partnered with 98% of all US pharmacies.
2. Got a contract that allows Unividoc to get $2.50 per prescription.
3. Became HIPAA complaint.
4. Got a list of about 150 doctors.
5. Got 2 small clinics onboard.
6. In communications with the largest health system in New Mexico.
We’ve done in 2020.
1. Raised $30K from family and friends last month.
2. Working on all the legal documentation for the company such as 1099 doctor contracts, terms of use, privacy policy and other agreements.
Questions.
1. Your feedback and advice.
2. Can you direct us to someone you know that is LATINO, SPEAK SPANISH and is possibly a “Hospital CEO, VC, Hospital director, telemedicine director or angel investor” with healthcare experience. We would like to get their input, feedback and advice as well.
My name is Ibrahim (ibrahim@farmula.io) and I head operations at an agritech startup called Farmula (farmula.io) where we are building the future of e-commerce in Africa, or so we say. Our solution is focused on fresh foods and has us building both the tech and infrastructure.
We are currently fully operational in Nairobi, East Africa where we've been able to build a simple model and we are testing a pilot in Lagos, West Africa. Our goal is to understand the underlying differences that might hinder the scalability of our model.
We've hit a couple of snags in investor relationships as we always kick off discussions but never get any headway. Also, dedicating the time and resources to consistently follow up with investors is proving to be tough at a time where we are still aiming to attain market fit.
Two questions,
- The African context is the market is too small, hence most viable businesses in Africa are multinational. Do you feel its too early to test the scalability of our model considering that we are 5 months old?
- Do you have a seamless method you'll suggest for us to employ which would ease how we maintain relationships with potential investors?
- This Q is better suited for someone in your country/niche
- In terms of building relationships with potential investors, my recommendation is to consider thinking of us as regular people with whom you want to get to know and work. It's a human-relationship you're after. So, RT/comment on their posts, ask if it's okay if you send them updates, etc. I recommend you read this post: https://blog.usejournal.com/what-all-founders-should-do-before-fundraising-4483160a43f5
ScriptDrop is a prescription delivery solution. We've typically been B2B and scaled that across the country. On Monday, we launch a patient-initiated solution. National pharmacy chains and state government reached out and asked us to move quickly, due to the Coronavirus.
This week I met with the team, shared the ask with them, and was completely honest. Us responding to this could be an opportunity to help hundreds of thousands/millions of people to not contract the Coronavirus. It could also lead to the company, as a whole, failing. We'll effectively 30-50X volume in a matter of weeks. You can't fully prepare for that. The team all chose to rise to the occasion and we've been working around the clock for a national launch on Monday.
I have two questions for you:
1. We're reinforcing this in anyway possible, but can you think of additional ways to show the team know how incredibly grateful and proud of them I am?
2. Do you have thoughts on ways to reach out to media, in an effort to amplify the message? We've typically been B2B and our quick growth never required media coverage, so it's not something I'm great at.
More info on the PR here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/scriptdrop-launches-nationwide-patient-focused-prescription-delivery-solution-in-response-to-covid-19-301022797.html
Nick, thank you for sharing. I can see how ScriptDrop's national launch can have you feeling both excited and anxious.
1. If you can find out directly from the team what would make them feel most appreciated, that'd be your best bet in making them feel it. Here's a thread that can help with perspective: https://twitter.com/lolitataub/status/1205861339291369475?s=20
2. Some announcement amplification thoughts, based on your timeline to launch Monday:
Grassroots approach
1. Identify your goal for your launch amplification
2. Identify where, on the internet, your customer/audience target lives
3. Produce comms for your customer/audience target (note: calls to action are important if you want them to take action)
4. Share comms with customer/audience target where they live (see step 2)
*Simultaneously, ask your ecosystem partners, and community members to amplify
Media approach
1. Identify media outlets/journalists who would be interested in publishing your announcement (i.e., they overlap with you on the topics and/or the customers/audience)
2. Pitch them. Some have pitch submission forms on their sites with specifics asks.
3. Be patient. Stories for media outlets typically need to go through an approval process.
Hope that helps and best of luck! LT
Nick - sorry just reading this. Hope the launch is going well. You are bold and courageous. One thing for employees is more stock if have a stock option plan.
Hi Lolita,
First, THANK YOU for doing this and for the founders who really are new this process and getting help building their dreams in helping humanity- again TY.
OneCarPayment helps sub/prime folks with their cost in owning a car by giving them "payment" options banks don't provide.
We help them with splitting those costs to equally affordable daily or bi/tri/quad-weekly payments. Really making it affordable for them to own their vehicle(s).
We're at pre-seed with a solid team of folks picked to build and scale this. We're at a point in receiving any funds to build the platform.
Now, the problem were having is meeting with investors, the ones we've "met" said NO bc of "we're not in the paytech anymore or were not making any new investments".. 😠
Also it's VERY FRUSTRATING, many want warm intro's to them, when I reach out to them. I've exhausted my network a few times in hopes of finding an investor(s).. I wonder if it's the deck that stop them of investing, I'm not sure but maybe..
I've send out over 1000s emails/snail mail to many investors.. 6 reached out and said no. 😭 Im NOT going to give up, but I WILL die trying. In the end all I want to do is help humanity period bc 99% of the population can't really afford to own a car.
Again, Lolita thanks for doing this for the community.
Here is our deck https://t.co/OKxei4E0MW and sample video of the service: https://t.co/kJgDAsHVJz
rudyferraz@onecarpayment.com
Hi Rudy, thanks for your note. There are many reasons why investors say "no." Some will have nothing to do with you or OneCarPayment. This new bear market has everyone - investors + non-investors - thinking twice of how to spend/deploy capital, for example.
That said, looking at your deck, your slide on getting from $0 to $20.4B between now and 2023 is reaching, and you don't show any traction $s. I recommend you pilot a simple v1 of your envisioned solution, gain traction there, and then expand capability based on market demand/feasibility.
Check out the posts below. I think they'll help:
- What all founders should do before fundraising (hint: quality over quantity)
https://blog.usejournal.com/what-all-founders-should-do-before-fundraising-4483160a43f5
- What all founders should do before and when asking for investor intros
https://medium.com/@lolitataub/what-all-founders-should-do-before-and-when-asking-for-investor-intros-2d28ffa32c63
All the best! LT
Hello Lolita!
I'm Kim and our first product is GenderRevealGame.com
This game allows expecting moms to raise money by hosting a virtual gender reveal (top game --> https://www.genderrevealgame.com/game/209) in our mission to gamify all things motherhood and baby.
We have great initial traction with this game (12K users, hosted 700 games 5K pregnant moms in our network) and we are working on growing affiliate programs. Our niche is that we capture moms so early in the pregnancy (as early as 12 weeks) and we are working on building additional resources to retain them.
My question is, where should we turn to raise capital.
-VC twitter has HORRIFIED me. And also, are we ready?
-I do not have a network for angels
-I have done plenty of pitch competitions and even an accelerator that funded us $25K which got us to the product and traction we have now
Hi Kim, raising is difficult but keep at it! Below are posts I put together that I believe will help you!
- Where Black Female Founders Can Find Funding, Resources, and More
https://marker.medium.com/a-resource-guide-for-black-female-founders-b90120ab6abd
- What all founders should do before fundraising
https://blog.usejournal.com/what-all-founders-should-do-before-fundraising-4483160a43f5
- First-Time Founders Resource Guide
https://medium.com/@lolitataub/first-time-founders-resource-guide-2b14ba3fb608
- +500 US women angels
https://twitter.com/lolitataub/status/1235746596970811392?s=20
- Alternatives to VC Funding That All Founders Should Know About
https://medium.com/greenroom/alternatives-to-vc-funding-that-all-founders-should-know-about-60554fffdba2
Lolita,
Hope everything is well.
My name is German! Founder and CEO of Unividoc.
A single-payer telemedicine two-sided marketplace 100% in Spanish that allows Hispanics documented and undocumented consult doctors all over the world meeting linguistic and cultural needs.
On the doctor's side, Unividoc allows doctors to collect patient payments, virtually sent prescriptions to the pharmacy of the patients' choice as well as to create medical charts for users and other health systems.
Unlike other companies in the field, Unividoc is the only telemedicine company 100% in Spanish in the US and the only one that circumvents many of the regulatory issues by maintaining the doctor-patient relationship and keeping patients in their Patient-Centered Medical Home, as well as allowing doctors from other countries to provide educational services without creating a doctor-patient relationship.
More things we help with.
Univicoin: Universal peer to peer sharable coin that lets Hispanics pay for health services without a banking system.
UniviAi: Health analytics system that predicts illnesses based on key patterns from health records and medical images.
Univicloud: Universal sharing health record system between patients and doctors.
We did in 2019.
1. We partnered with 98% of all US pharmacies.
2. Got a contract that allows Unividoc to get $2.50 per prescription.
3. Became HIPAA complaint.
4. Got a list of about 150 doctors.
5. Got 2 small clinics onboard.
6. In communications with the largest health system in New Mexico.
We’ve done in 2020.
1. Raised $30K from family and friends last month.
2. Working on all the legal documentation for the company such as 1099 doctor contracts, terms of use, privacy policy and other agreements.
Questions.
1. Your feedback and advice.
2. Can you direct us to someone you know that is LATINO, SPEAK SPANISH and is possibly a “Hospital CEO, VC, Hospital director, telemedicine director or angel investor” with healthcare experience. We would like to get their input, feedback and advice as well.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Best,
German Urrego
German@Unividoc.com
Hi German,
Specific questions are easier for feedback requests.
You can start working on your investor list with the info in this post: https://blog.usejournal.com/what-all-founders-should-do-before-fundraising-4483160a43f5
Feel free to submit your co for investment consideration here: https://forms.gle/hrTZbVeP4X9qfCGh9
Hi Lolta,
My name is Ibrahim (ibrahim@farmula.io) and I head operations at an agritech startup called Farmula (farmula.io) where we are building the future of e-commerce in Africa, or so we say. Our solution is focused on fresh foods and has us building both the tech and infrastructure.
We are currently fully operational in Nairobi, East Africa where we've been able to build a simple model and we are testing a pilot in Lagos, West Africa. Our goal is to understand the underlying differences that might hinder the scalability of our model.
We've hit a couple of snags in investor relationships as we always kick off discussions but never get any headway. Also, dedicating the time and resources to consistently follow up with investors is proving to be tough at a time where we are still aiming to attain market fit.
Two questions,
- The African context is the market is too small, hence most viable businesses in Africa are multinational. Do you feel its too early to test the scalability of our model considering that we are 5 months old?
- Do you have a seamless method you'll suggest for us to employ which would ease how we maintain relationships with potential investors?
Best,
Ibrahim
Hi Ibrahim, unfortunately, I am not familiar with the African startup-investor ecosystem and my niche is not agtech. I'll still try to help, though.
Here are links on agtech's most active investors:
https://www.cbinsights.com/research/agriculture-tech-top-investors/
https://agfundernews.com/who-are-the-most-active-agrifood-tech-investors.html
Also, there is this African angel group that I heard pop-up that you might want to look up: https://twitter.com/lolitataub/status/1230901255956025344?s=20
Q&A
- This Q is better suited for someone in your country/niche
- In terms of building relationships with potential investors, my recommendation is to consider thinking of us as regular people with whom you want to get to know and work. It's a human-relationship you're after. So, RT/comment on their posts, ask if it's okay if you send them updates, etc. I recommend you read this post: https://blog.usejournal.com/what-all-founders-should-do-before-fundraising-4483160a43f5