Vheda [knowledge] is power.

The experience of a lifetime, now.

[vheda]

The Iron Yard Experience - Day 11

Week three begins and Vheda is pumped. Outside of our packed schedule of mentor sessions, the focus is sales, sales, and more sales. During today's CEO standup, we noted our intention to get our company in front of three customers by the end of the week. Kate and Peter stated it is never too early to get in front of potential customers to get feedback on our product. I also spent quite a bit of time sending thank you e-mails to all supporters of the Iron Yard. The community here is top-notch and we really appreciate all they have done to make us feel like part of the family. We will not let you down! :)

[vheda]

The Iron Yard Experience - Day 10

Today is the close of our second week at The Iron Yard. It's been nothing but progress, progress, and progress these last ten days. After a full week of 1-on-1's, mentor sessions, surprise pitch practice, and regular pitch practice, I am ready for a break. The first half of the day was reflecting on Thursday evenings pitch. As I mentioned in my previous post, there's definitely some times to work on, which will only get better as we practice. I also spent some time planning for the upcoming week. Over the next three weeks, Phil and I need to focus on strategic partnerships, sales, and getting our product in front of customers. The Iron Yard has such a support great support channel that I know they'll help us get there.

The afternoon was dedicated to a mentor session with the managing partner of Noro-Moseley, the largest venture capital fund in the Southeast. Mike Elliott gave a succinct, yet candid talk about the VC environment today. While dollars are difficult to obtain, it is not impossible. He expressed his firm having a significant interest in a healthcare IT investment. His team has great background and resources. Vheda looks forward to retaining a strong, solid relationship with Mike Elliott and Noro-Moseley.

[vheda]

The Iron Yard Experience - Day 9

Most of today's tasks were focused on pitch preparation. The first half of the day was exclusively dedicated to refining the pitch. Little did I realize how difficult it is to speak and change slides at the same time. It's truly a balancing act. I found this out around 5pm when I gave my pitch. The first half of delivery was exceptional, but felt like it went downhill. I started repeating my words and the effectiveness went down. One of the key pieces of feedback was creating a hook earlier, identifying our key differentiators, and telling the crowd what we do earlier.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be working exclusively to refine that pitch so we kill it in front of everyone. Perfect timing too because next week, people from around the city will be sitting in. This includes both investors in TIY and VC/angels...pressure?

We will not disappoint.

Game on!!

[vheda]

The Iron Yard Experience - Day 8

Our 1-on-1 with Ted Tanner this morning was spectacular! I'm a huge proponent of people who provide real and honest feedback. This is Ted's way. We talked through our understanding of an MVP. One of our core focus areas was analytics. Ted's response - why are you focusing on this if you do not have any data to mine. Scrap it until you have a viable dataset we can use and then put dollars, time, and resources into it. Another recommendation he had was looking at our company through a funnel. The middle of the funnel is where you will be squeeze the most - whether it is dollars, time, or resources related. He also talked about the Series A crunch. Only .01% of company's get Series A. Therefore, my response to him was how to we get into the .01%. Overall, the conversation went great. 

Wyche law firm gave an excellent talk focused on intellectual property.

The remainder of the afternoon was a surprise pitch practice. Ted gave us 3-minutes to pitch our company. He instituted the restricted time limit because of a national pitch event in Silicon Valley known as Vater Splash. The top companies pitch to a string of VCs. He stated company's selected as top 10 finalist have inked deals that night! Something for us to shoot for indeed! 

Vheda was lucky #1! The previous night, I clocked in at 4 1/2 minutes so I knew I wouldn't finish...guess what, I didn't. Feedback from Ted was as following:

Presence in the room was great. Could definitely see the passion

Need to draw the hook earlier with a thought provoking image

After all pitches were completed, he left us with the following:

"You are doing the impossible most people only dream of. You guys are in the funnest phase of your startups - enjoy it!"

We are looking forward to maintaining an active relationship with Ted in the future!

[vheda]

You are doing the impossible most people only dream of.

Theodore Tanner, CTO PokItDoc

[vheda]

The Iron Yard Experience - Day 7

The last three days at TIY have been so busy. I bet you those that are following blog are wondering, "Why did this dude stop? Did he run out of vheda to spread?" No! I'm back.

The early part of our day was spent revising our design documents once more prior to development team turnover. As I mentioned in an earlier post, when you're working on something that you have so much passion for, you'll do whatever you can to make sure its successful. 

We also got a fantastic introduction to who I think is an awesome, just awesome mentor - Theodore Tanner. He hails as the CTO of PokItDoc, an online healthcare marketplace for consumer to access healthcare. This guy is the real deal with an impressive resume to back him up. During his time at Apple, he worked exclusively with Steve Jobs (yes, the Silicon Valley legend and one of my personal heroes) on the iPod. He confirmed Steve's reality distortion field was a true, true, thing! While he's a techie at heart, he knows the ins-and-outs of startups. He commended our entire cohort on the major milestone we've achieved. He continued by saying this is the most fun we'll ever have with our startups because once the commitments from the VC and investors are in, it's game on; there are people to please and results to generate! Vheda is pumped and ready. After an engaging intro, Kate mentioned we would have exclusive 1-on-1s with Ted today and tomorrow to focus on our companies.  

After the day was over, I went back to the apartment to chill out. Our little dude was sleeping so peacefully, but then got up all of a sudden. :( At that point, I was fully wired so I came back down to TIY at 12:45am and started working. The focus was on the pitch I'd be making on behalf of the company at Health 2.0 this fall. After constructing the initial dialogue, I spent the next 45-60 minutes pitching it to an empty IY. It provided a great chance to hear and critique my own words and delivery. At around 2:45am, I was beat. I'll let you know how the pitch goes tomorrow! :)

[vheda]

In Health, the More You Invest Upfront, the Less You Need to Invest Later.

Esther Dyson

[vheda]

Whatever it is you do in life, do it right and make sure you achieve something.

My dad

[vheda]

The Iron Yard Experience - Day 6

It's 2AM and I'm working. This can only mean one thing...no not insomnia; a crying child. The poor guy couldn't go back to sleep, but I was so wide awake I walked down to TIY...

The cohort had its first CEO standup today. The purpose of this session is to gather the company's CEOs for approximately an hour to not only talk through the goals each company has set for the week, but also discuss any challenges teams are facing. For the latter, this is an opportunity to learn how other CEOs have solved similar issues. This was a novel use of our time and will be in the future; thanks Kate and Peter!

We were also fortunate to have two mentor sessions today. The first was Peter Waldschmidt. This guy is a serial entrepreneur who started his first technology company while in college (had a successful exit) and is working on a second and conceptualizing a third! This is what I call supreme dedication. He share some great advice with the team. Although I didn't get to meet with him today, Phil and I will be meeting with him later this week. The second mentor, Frank Williamson, is a managing partner at FourBridgesCapital. This discussion was primary financial focused (i.e. trends in VC money, what to look out for when raising capital, funding environments in different pockets of United States, etc). One question that always crossed my mind was how do VCs feel about a company having a headquarters outside of the home city of the firm? Frank's answer was two-fold:

(a) Location is negotiable so long as reaching a VC partner to get an answer to a question is easy; and 

(b) Convince the VC why your hometown is the right place for your business. If the answer is "I like it here more," you will lose. Instead, rationalize in both your mind and the VCs mind why the location is ideal.

Looking ahead, we've got more mentors coming in. This is one of the best parts of the TIY accelerator: the relationships and learning from the people who've done it before. What's best is their willingness to make themselves available for advice on building our businesses and making us successful. In retrospect, they were in our shoes at one point...so they know a thing or two about how to get things done! :)

[vheda]

The Iron Yard Experience - Day 5

Today was mix of business and pleasure. Hopefully, all our days are like this! First things first, our power was still on...let's hope this a continuing trend given we're in peak summer season. Our team had a tremendous call with the CPHIT. The research physician we spoke to expressed a tremendous interest in our product; so much so that there may be a potential partnership opportunity in the next few months - with Johns Hopkins...one of grande mecca's of American healthcare!

Late morning was dedicated to an exclusive bus tour narrated by the former mayor himself, Bill Barnet. Bill commented on the major revitalization underway in the city and the attempt to make the city center (near Main Street) a welcomed gathering place for people to eat, meet, and enjoy. He pointed out some great sites, including the Chapman Cultural Center, Denny's World Headquarter (yes, it's here in Spartanburg), the Spartanburg health system with a renowned cancer center, and Wofford College arboretum, housing more than 4,500 trees! One special fact about the arboretum is that it boasts every tree from around the world that will grow in the hot, humid climate of South Carolina. Another significant stop was Wofford College's athletic complex, home to the Carolina Panther's training camp. They will be here next week to begin practice! I reviewed the Raven's 2013 schedule and there is only one scheduled game with the team, which is preseason @ M&T bank stadium. The mayor even pointed out a fabulous park in the downtown area (coincidentally, it is named after Bill himself). I tell you, this is a very humble man. What was special about this tour is that Bill made it point to show us both the good and less developed areas of town. The city is making great strides to ensure all citizens have access to great food. One example of this is the new sustainable food garden and farmers market coming to town; groundbreaking is scheduled for this summer. What a great tour, Bill...thank you!

After some lunch, it was back to work. The focus was catching up on some reading, strategic planning, and cleaning out my inbox. You don't realize how hard it is to keep your e-mail straight! The day ended early because of a cocktail party hosted at the mayor's home. It is literally located 2 1/2 blocks from The Iron Yard. You must be thinking how we got there...walked! My son Vishal had the best transportation of all, his Radio Flyer tricycle, complete with a British horn!

The party was spectacular. We got a chance to meet the fabulous people and investors of the Iron Yard accelerator. Among them:

Bill Barnet - Former Spartanburg mayor

Mike Russ - Johnson Development Corporation Executive

Valerie Barnet - wife of Bill Barnet, whose homemade spinach dip was a hit!

Tom Moore - USC Upstate Chancellor

Marsha Moore - Wife of Tom Moore

Michael Irvin - USC Upstate Vice Chancellor

David Britt

Ed Memett - City of Spartanburg, City Manager

Joseph Kersher - BMW CEO

Philip Ryan - JM Smith Corporation, Corporate VP

Kathy Dunleavy - Mary Black Foundation's CEO

Raymond Dunleavy - Fitesa's Director of Strategy

Molly Talbot-Metz - Mary Black Foundation's VP

I even got a chance to taste some RJ Rocker's authentic Patriot Pale Ale! The brewery is a short block from the working space. Bill, Valerie, and all, thank you the gracious welcome and being such wonderful hosts! We really enjoyed the evening. We won't let you down!

[vheda]

I hope whatever y'all do, you will consider Spartanburg a place to live

Bill Barnet (former Mayor of Spartanburg)...we have a photo with him in one of our first posts.

[vheda]

The Iron Yard Experience - Day 4

I'm still trying to figure out why they call it the Iron Yard. Perhaps I will find out tomorrow, during our personal tour of Spartanburg with the former mayor himself. Bill Barnet! 

I should make mention that we finally got power this morning. It only took four freaking days! Thanks Duke Energy. I've been joking around the Iron Yard that I will be making my case to Bill himself tomorrow during the cocktail party (in case I didn't tell you, he sits on Duke Energy's BOD). I mean how am I supposed to provide an ROI on an investment if I have no power to do work? ;)

Guess what the power company told us? The program manager called this morning. The rep on the other line says all we have to do is reset the breaker outside of the building and you should be fine. Well, that information really would have been helpful 4 days ago!!!! Hence, why I need to give Bill a piece of my mind. 

Anyway, today was a great day for Vheda. We spent nearly two hours on the phone with our development team talking through the crux of our application needs and UI/UX design. This team is one of the most dedicated I have seen in a longtime. The dedication they have to developing stellar products is commendable and I plan on maintaining a long-term relationship with this group as Vheda continues to grow into the conglomerate I hope it does. Our afternoon culminated with the first pitch practice of the accelerator - MyDocTime, ChartSpan, CareIT, and HealthPlotter presented. Chartspan was by far the most impressive. The hook Jon-Michail had was classic...The slide read and I quote, "Your software scares the shit out of me. Oncology physician in the Houston area."

At the conclusion of the day was a sweet surprise - the three wives of the Iron Yard made peach pie for all...just look at all those smiles and pies! And boy were they delicious. Thanks girls (and Vishal)...you rock!

[vheda]

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

Walt Disney

[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 2

"The biggest thing you're going to get out of an accelerator is the network of relationships. Peter and Kate can get you to the door, but its up to you to walk through it." Those were the words of Marty Bauer, CEO of RidePost. He kicked off the morning talking about his experience with The Iron Yard in Greenville; the sister campus. His company, like many others, started with the realization of a problem - he was in Germany completing credits for his international MBA. As part of the immersion, he wanted to visit as many small and big towns as possible, but getting there by train was pricey. Marty noticed local folks were traveling by car, but many with empty seats. He asked if he could catch a ride with them and they willingly accepted. All communication was primarily handled through text message. During his various rides, he had a constant fear of being blindfolded, kidnapped, and killed - we chuckled. To be fair to Marty, however, it was a legitimate concern. Without a scratch on him and memories in mind, he returned to the U.S., and started working on how to monetize empty seats in America. Today, his company has 7 total employees, several university's as customers, and working on furthering enterprise sales - Go RidePost. Phil and I were fortunate to get some time with him talking through product strategy. The guy is approachable and just so down to earth. Did I mention they have a satellite office in DC? Rest assured Vheda will definitely be in touch with Marty and the RidePost team in the not too distant future.

Marty had six key takeaways for us:

1. Start out in a nitch, nail that nitch. Only after nailing it, expand.

2. Make sure your core team has clearly defined roles and responsibilities. 

3. Make sure the team is focused on achieving specific goals.

4. Keep tripling the price with prospective customers, until you get the first no.

5. For each founder, identify how you can make the product every founders "baby."

6. The perception a customer has of a company with a product versus no product is different.

The second part of the day was dedicated to meeting Iron Yard investors and working on vheda requirements and wireframes. Both Phil and I were fortunate to meet folks who may become potential backers of vheda in the near future. This included, but wasn't limited to, George Dean Johnson, Bill Barnet (former Mayor of Spartanburg and whom we also had a photo op with), Mike Russ, and Foster Wallace. Did I mention we're attending a cocktail party at Mr. Barnet's home this Friday? Sweeeet!

Even though its only day 2, Spartanburg is starting to grow on me. What a delightful bunch. As I've mentioned before, the positive energy at the Iron Yard is addictive and I can't wait to see what else is in store for me, Phil, and the Vheda team in the coming weeks and months ahead!

[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!

[vheda]

our first post!

Vheda is excited to be utilizing social media to transform healthcare! We’re not sure how much people know about health informatics, but it is at the heart of how we use healthcare.

Our company name, vheda, is an alternative spelling of the word Veda, which is Sanskrit for ‘knowledge.’ Our mission is to provide universal ‘knowledge’ that simplifies the healthcare experience.

We've set an ambitious goal of connecting 1 billion people around the world with a better healthcare experience by 2020! Are you in? Join us.

We are currently seeking pilot partners for our first initiative. If you’re interested in learning more or partnering with us, send us a note!

e: [email protected]