#vheda

[occultopossum]

Have a lil set of doodles of a couple old oc’s I decided to redraw

Vheda, blood sucking lamprey boy but with a heavy dash of ~*anxiety*~

Pithou a tiny little klepto, one of the key’s is an enchanted key that can open any lock (He stole it and uses it to steal more things).  (x)

[vheda]

The Iron Yard Experience - Day 3

It's day 4 and I'm blogging for day 3...such a slacker am I! Hey, what can I say, startups are hard work. Just bare with me...I'll be back to my normal schedule in no time.

We spent our morning speaking to Vidyo about their video conferencing technology. Did you know their codec powers the majority of #Google services we take for granted today such as voice and video chat? I've got to say, I'm quite impressed with what Vidyo has been able to do in such a short period of time. There is a prediction out in the marketplace that this company will IPO in the next year or two. Maybe that's why the VP of business development is so content on having a meeting with a company with two employees. Can anyone say stock options? ;)  

After this session, we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon in a conferencing room whiteboarding our requirements and UI design. I never thought I would have so much fun writing requirements and designing an application. It's amazing how much effort an individual will put into something they care about versus the boring work they're often doing for an employer they give two shits about. As we go to a stopping point, it occurred to us we should schedule a session with our development team to give them a heads up of what's coming their way. We sent a few e-mails and confirmed a call for tomorrow. 

The day culiminated with our first one-on-one with both the managing director and program manager of the Iron Yard. We reviewed our high-level accomplishments, along with a review of what we wanted to get out of the accelerator at the end of the 12-weeks, such as a killer board of advisors and funding! They also provided the following advice for pitch practice, in preparation for the biggie at Health 2.0 this fall:

1.  Health 2.0 audience will be approximately 75% investor, 15% partner, and 10% other

2. Pitch should be laser-fcoused on one particular market with a plan for expansion to future markets

3. Make the pitch interesting by telling a story.

4. Stay away from the technical jargon

5. Have the investor want to remember you 20 minutes after the session.

That evening, we went to our living quarters, which is directly above the working space. While the space is massive and convenient, we haven't had power for the past 3 days which has made it extremely challenging to figure out what we're eating for dinner every night. Luckily, we have some awesome neighbors - Dan, Kat, and Senthil - who are also in the accelerator. Dan commented on how often and intense Phil and I looked while in the conference room...hahaha. We all hung out in an adjacent apartment over beers and veggie sandwiches. They've also got quite a cool dog...luckily I am not allergic.

Now, it's time to briefly blog about day 4 on day 4 (kind of)! Here's hoping the lights come on tomorrow/

[vheda]

The Iron Yard Experience - Day 1

One of our goals with this blog is to share this magical journey with you. Everyday, we will post one entry summarizing our days thoughts. If there's something you want to hear about, let us know and we will do our best to accommodate it. == Start --> Each of us gets one, maybe two opportunities in our lives to really pursue something that ultimately defines us as individuals. It can be anything - a new relationship, a new food, or even a career. Since I was in high school, it's been a dream of mine to start a company at the intersection of health and technology. This dream suddenly turned into a reality when our company, Vheda, was accepted into The Iron Yard digital health accelerator in of all places Spartanburg, South Carolina. Who would have thought...but we took the plunge and now we're in it to win it in healthcare! Today was the first day of the program and it was nothing short of spectacular! The positive energy was apparent. Its finally nice to be in an environment where everyone is happy and motivated with a sense of urgency to bring change to a healthcare system in dire need of an upgrade. The day began with a brief welcome by Peter Barth, managing director of the program. Intros from other executive team members soon followed. This is really a team that has a vested interest in our success. Even before arriving, Kate, the program manager, was an invaluable resource making sure our nerves were at rest in preparation for the move down south. Next was an opportunity to learn about our cohort - 10 companies. There was quite a bit of ACC representation and wide age range...naturally, Phil and I were the youngest founders. When it was my turn to talk, I made it a point to state my allegiances to the #Terps and #Ravens! I couldn't believe how many Steeler fans there are in our class...all we can do is sympathize...yeah right! After this, we went right to work. We got our first real investment, 40k seed, and also completed a 1-2 hour strategic planning session outlining every single milestone that we will achieve by the time of our official company launch at Health 2.0 in Silicon Valley this fall (if you're reading this, then you have an open invitation to hear us) - come out and support how we are meeting our mission of providing universal knowledge that simplifies the healthcare experience. Further, become part of a worldwide movement of bringing care to one billion people around the world by 2020!