August 4, 2025 • 36 mins
In this dynamic episode of Investing in Accessibility, Host Kelvin Crosby introduces a special panel session from the Wawability 2025 Summit, celebrating 35 years of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Titled “Design, Capital, and Impact: The Future of Disability Startups,” the panel is moderated by Co-Host Chris Maher and features three visionary disability tech entrepreneurs:
- Tomer Aharoni – Co-founder & CEO of Nagish, building accessible communication tools for the deaf and hard of hearing.
- Michael Bervell – Co-founder & CEO of TestParty, an AI-powered platform that automates digital accessibility.
- Diego Mariscal – Founder & CEO of 2Gether-International, the largest accelerator supporting disabled entrepreneurs.
Together, they explore:
- Disability as a competitive advantage — How lived experience fosters innovation, resilience, and problem-solving.
- Universal design and market potential — Why accessibility-focused products often lead to better solutions for everyone.
- Navigating regulation — From hacking policy to leveraging new global legislation like the European Accessibility Act.
- Raising capital — Honest reflections on pitching to investors, building trust, and proving the business case for accessibility.
- The power of mentorship and accelerators — How early guidance and ecosystem support helped launch and scale their missions.
The episode closes with an inspiring look toward the future: the panelists share why they're optimistic about accessibility, innovation, and the opportunity to create a world that is not just better for some of us, but for all of us.
Links & Resources:
Video Version with ASL Interpreter: Watch Here
Wawability 2025: Website
Tomer Aharoni: LinkedIn and Company Website
Michael Bervell: LinkedIn and Company Website
Diego Mariscal: LinkedIn and Company Website
COMING SOON!
American Sign Language (ASL) and Captioning for each episode will be provided on our YouTube channel. Go to handle @SamaritanPartners.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kelvin Crosby (00:06):
Welcome to Investing in Accessibility, a
Samaritan Partners podcast.
We're not waiting for change,we're investing in it.
Join us as we speak withentrepreneurs and thought
leaders that are focused oncreating a more accessible world
(00:30):
.
Hey, so good to see you.
Even though I can't see you,it's another beautiful day in
the neighborhood and I'm soexcited that you're here at
Investing in Accessibility.
I'm your host, Kelvin Crosby,and we're going to drop into
Chris Maher's session that hehad at Waw ability 2025 and it's
a celebration of the ADA of 35years.
(00:53):
And I'm excited to drop intothis and how you got to hear how
awesome this panel that Chriswas interviewing and getting
their input.
I tell you you guys are in fora treat.
You guys ready to go on ajourney?
Let's do this.
Chris Maher (01:06):
Hello, welcome to our next session, our panel here
-- Design Capital and Impact: The Future of Disability (01:12):
undefined
Startups.
My name is Chris Maher, I'm thefounder and general partner at
Samaritan Partners and let meintroduce my fellow panelists
today.
Going down the line from myleft on your right, right next
to me is Tomer Aharoni, theco-founder and CEO of Nagish.
(01:33):
Next to him is Michael Bervell,who is the co-founder and CEO
of Test Party, and down at theend is Diego Mariscal, who is
the founder and CEO of 2Gether-International.
Welcome, gentlemen.
Before we get into ourdiscussion, we're all going to
provide a little bit deeperbackground and description of
ourselves, so I will kick thatoff.
(01:55):
As I said, my name is ChrisMaher, founder and general
partner of Samaritan Partners.
I am a middle-aged white male.
I'm about 6'2", with blondehair that is quickly turning
gray, and today I'm wearing ablue blazer and a white collar
shirt with a little bluewindowpane pattern on it, dark
jeans and loafers.
Samaritan Partners is a publicbenefit venture capital fund and
(02:19):
we invest in the disabilitysector, so we invest in
companies that are eitherproviding products and services
to the community and or creatingemployment opportunities.
And my connection to disabilityis that my wife and I have
raised two beautiful daughters,both of whom live with
disabilities.
My oldest daughter has aphysical disability and my
youngest daughter hasintellectual and developmental
disabilities, and let me pass itoff to Tomer.
Tomer Aharoni (02:40):
Thank you, Chris.
Hi everyone, I'm Tomer.
I'm the co-founder and CEO ofNagish, which means accessible
in Hebrew.
What we do is we makecommunication more accessible
for people with hearing loss,people who are deaf and people
with speech disabilities.
Nagish received two FCCcertifications in the last two
years and has raised more than$60 million to date, and I'm
(03:00):
happy to be here today.
Chris Maher (03:01):
Thank you, Tomer.
Michael.
Michael Bervell (03:03):
Awesome.
Hey, I'm Michael Bervell.
I'm the co-founder and CEO ofTestParty.
TestParty is an automateddigital accessibility platform,
so we scan the source code ofwebsites and we use AI to
rewrite the source code to beaccessible as by the Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines.
I'm a black male in my 20s,super handsome, really funny,
(03:25):
extremely smart, yeah, all thedescriptions.
I'm wearing a white button-upwith a navy blue jacket and I'm
excited to be here, excited totalk about capital and impact.
Chris Maher (03:36):
Terrific.
Thank you.
Diego.
Diego Mariscal (03:38):
I will start by saying that was probably my
favorite description.
I'm going to steal that.
My name is Diego, DiegoMariscal.
I'm the founder and CEO of2Gether- International, which is
the largest accelerator forfounders with disabilities.
We've supported over 700founders all across the world
and helped them raise more than$84 million in various forms of
(03:59):
capital.
Excited to be here.
I think this is a veryimportant conversation and, as
for my visual description, I'mnot sure if it's going to be as
great as yours, but I am a30-something-year-old male Latin
wearing my signature red shoesand normally I'm wearing a blue
(04:20):
blue shirt, but I decided todress up for the occasion and so
I'm wearing a white button-downshirt.
So excited to be here and myrelationship with disability is
I have cerebral palsy andexcited to talk about how that
has turned into a competitiveadvantage in my life, but also
(04:42):
for others as well.
Chris Maher (04:45):
Great, terrific, well, thank you, gentlemen, and
that's where we're going to kickoff.
We're going to jump right intothe deep end right off the bat
here.
And Diego, this first questionis for you, because I've seen
you speak several times whereyou talk about disability as a
competitive differentiator.
Can you kick us off andelaborate on that?
Diego Mariscal (05:01):
Absolutely yes, and it's been kind of the
cornerstone of our work, right.
So when you think about it, asdisabled people, we have to
figure out how do we dress, howwe drive, how we communicate,
and that is inherentlyentrepreneurial skills at play,
right, it requires resiliency,it requires creativity.
(05:23):
Just figuring out how I wasgoing to get to the venue
required a certain amount ofadditional thinking.
As I mentioned, I have CP andthat means for me I've literally
fallen thousands of times in mylife and thousands of times
I've had to get back up, andthat has a ripple effect also in
(05:44):
business, right.
I don't know if a thousand, buta hundred times I've made
mistakes and, you know, hadroadblocks, and I've also had to
get back up from a businessperspective.
And so a lot of our work reallylooks at how can we translate
the disability experience andthe lessons that disability
(06:05):
inherently teaches to you andtranslate them into a business
context, whether that isnavigating benefits right and
the complexity of what thatmeans, from navigating
regulatory environments as astartup, navigating a care team
(06:26):
and communicating effectivelyand translating those skills
into communicating effectivelyto your stakeholders and team
members.
So really, the parallelexperiences are very similar and
so a lot of our work hascentered around how do we
capitalize on that, and so far,so good.
Chris Maher (06:41):
Yeah, no, your organization, which we'll get
into more later, does an amazingjob of that.
With my two daughters, wentthrough the same thing.
My oldest daughter, who has aphysical disability, was
constantly falling as a child,and so things that I don't think
people think about is peoplewith disabilities are inherently
really good problem solvers,because you have to do that from
day one and you're resilientand you're adaptable.
(07:03):
And so, Tomer, let's go to youanything you'd like to kind of
dovetail on about that.
Tomer Aharoni (07:07):
Yeah, I think it's true from the other side as
well that solutions for peoplewith disabilities are actually,
in many cases, great tools andbetter tools for people without
disabilities, and we've seenthis ripple effect so much in
the past, where people withdisabilities invent something
for their needs, or people thatare close to people with
disabilities invent somethingfor disability needs, and that
something becomes widely usedanywhere by anyone, because what
(07:30):
benefits people withdisabilities will eventually
benefit the greater good.
Um, and I think that thatripple effect is so important
and should not be underestimated.
Chris Maher (07:38):
Yeah, and so that kind of takes us down a path
that, um, Michael, this questionis going to be directed to you
to start, is where you start toget into the concepts of
universal design and productmarket fit, and so can you speak
to that as it relates to thefounding and the growing of
TestParty.
Michael Bervell (07:59):
Yeah, I mean, I often say that innovation
happens at the edges of the bellcurves, right, that where
there's the extremes is whereyou find the coolest, most
innovative solutions.
And when we think of what abusiness is like, fundamentally,
it's you're solving a problemwith a solution and the pain of
that gap, the gap betweenproblem and solution, is what
(08:19):
you charge Like, that's yourrevenue, that's your price,
right, and so the bigger theproblem, the bigger the solution
.
The more sought after thatproblem is, the more sought
after a solution might be.
And so I think to your point,Diego, like to have a problem
first mindset for your wholelife is what creates like this
area where you can make the bestsolutions right, because
(08:40):
everything you look around,you're like well, I've made this
solution, that solution, thatsolution, and I did it for free.
And now how do I monetize that?
And so it's like almost I thinkit's totally as a superpower,
at least in how Test Party wasbeing created.
The problem that we foundactually came through my
co-founder and he was working atAmazon for Twitch, which is the
live streaming platform, whenTwitch got sued for not being
(09:00):
accessible.
And at that point the commonsolution was hey, if your
company gets sued, go hire aconsultant and they'll manually
audit and give you a PDF.
Then you look at the PDF andyou solve it.
And us, being20-something-year-old guys, who
really were TikTok natives, werelike zillennials.
All the buzzwords.
We were like why are we lookingat a PDF to go somehow solve
(09:23):
accessibility issues, right, ina code base?
And so that's where we thought,like you know, there's all
these security startups likeSNIC and Cernar Cube and
Acunetix that are doing thisthrough automation, where you
can look at a code base andautomatically find security
problems and fix securityproblems, and that's what we
started to do.
So when I think about productmarket fit like the founding
story of TestParty was reallyaround what I would call
(09:46):
adjacencies.
We looked at security as aspace and we said what is the
adjacency of a solution inanother market like
accessibility?
And I was lucky that I had abackground at Google and the UN
in accessibility so it was easyfor me to see that.
But that's where I think trueproduct market fit and growth
comes from, when you're tryingto find a problem and find a
solution to bridge that gap.
Chris Maher (10:05):
Yeah, those are great points, Diego.
I'm going to let you kind ofwrap up this topic, but like,
can you speak to universaldesign and product market fit as
it relates to lived experience?
Diego Mariscal (10:15):
Yeah, and I don't know if we've ever gotten
into this, uh, Chris, but youknow, when we started 2Gether,
it wasn't about supportingfounders, it was about changing
the way people thought aboutdisability, and we did workshops
in schools.
And that didn't work for avariety of reasons that I'm not
(10:38):
gonna get into, and then wefocused on doing advocacy
campaigns and that also didn'twork and finally landed, after
many, many years of trial anderror, on supporting
entrepreneurs with disabilities.
And so when we talk aboutproduct market fit, I often use
our own story as an example ofhey, it took several iterations
(11:00):
and really several versions ofwhat we wanted to see to become
successful, but what was reallyinteresting is that the problem
never, never wavered, right, westarted together or I started
together with this idea of howdo we redefine the way people
thought about disability.
Right, I had the opportunitywhen I was a freshman in college
(11:23):
not too long ago, to go to theUN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities, andthat was the first time ever I
saw a group of leaders, disabledleaders, unapologetically proud
of their disability.
I grew up in Monterrey, Mexico,and I had never encountered
(11:44):
people that were proud and loudabout their disability.
And so, walking out of thatconference, I thought, well, how
do we create that experiencefor the masses, so that not only
the elite that get to go to theUN have the opportunity to have
that transformative experience?
And so that was the impetus for2Gether, and it just so
(12:06):
happened that we do it throughsupporting entrepreneurs.
So I share this, because ourstory is one of hey, the problem
was very clearly defined, theway in which we solve that
problem, we've had to pivot andlearn and shift, but the fact
that the mission has neverwavered, I think, is also
(12:29):
indicative of our success.
Chris Maher (12:30):
Yeah, thank you for sharing that.
You haven't told me that, sothank you.
So for many companies and formany startups, sometimes you
have to navigate the policy andregulatory landscape, and Tomer,
Nagish has been very good atthat and very successful at that
.
Can you share some of theinsights around that experience?
Tomer Aharoni (12:51):
Of course.
So I think that, by design,regulation moves slower than
innovation.
There's really no way forregulation to keep up with
innovation, because innovationhappens in closed rooms.
You cannot know when a designeror an engineer or an
entrepreneur builds something orthinks about something until
(13:11):
it's out there and until it'sactually being used, and it
really doesn't matter so muchuntil it's being widely adopted.
The way we navigated this atNagish is, we said okay, we want
to create a better solution, aprivate phone call solution for
people with hearing loss.
And today, if you look atregulation, regulation doesn't
regulate AI-powered services forcommunication.
(13:32):
They only regulatehuman-powered services for
regulation.
So we have two options.
One was starting to push, asback then we were just two
students at Columbia University.
We can be two students pushingfor regulation.
I don't think it will happenand it will probably be very
expensive.
Or we can go the startup way.
Raise money, don't think aboutregulation.
(13:54):
Put a product out there, buildit with the community, get as
many people as possible to useit and then use the power of the
community.
Show that there is a real need,show that people are actually
going to benefit from usingthese products and go to the
regulators and tell them listen,you're behind, let us help you,
help us, help the community,and it worked pretty well for us
?
Chris Maher (14:14):
Yeah, it certainly has.
That's a really interestingapproach.
Michael, your experience,especially around the EU and
Europe, is different becausesome new regulations have just
rolled out and so can you speakto how Test Party is navigating
that?
Michael Bervell (14:29):
Yeah, I mean, I'll be honest, when we were
fundraising, the number onereason that people passed was
because they thought the marketwas too small.
Right, and if I had a list oflike 200 people that we pitched
and I would write every timesomeone said no, what was the
reason?
And that was the reason about70% of the time.
And so our story that we startedto tell was, hey, there's this
huge regulation coming out inEurope.
(14:50):
it just came out on June 25thof this year and it's the
European Accessibility Act, withthe argument that once it's
required in Europe that websitesare compliant and accessible,
that'll have a bleed-over effectaround the rest of the world,
in the same way that GDPR, theGlobal Data Privacy Regulation,
had a bleed-over effect wherenow we all see except cookies on
(15:10):
our websites, even if we're notdoing business in Europe.
So I think what's interestingabout Tomer versus my story is
you were kind of pushingregulation to happen, whereas
we're kind of benefiting fromregulation overall, and I think
it is a scenario where a risingtide lifts all boats, because
today only 5% of websites areaccessible if you look at their
homepages, and so there's a 95%market and right now all of the
(15:35):
players are trying to push toget that 95% market activated.
So regulation is one great wayto do that, and I think also
there's other innovations that Ican talk about later.
Chris Maher (15:45):
It's both really powerful insights, but from a
very different approach, whichis great.
Before we go on to the nexttopic, Diego, do you have
anything else you would sayaround policy and regulation?
Diego Mariscal (15:55):
Yeah, so you know we're based in DC.
So policy and regulation is abig topic for us.
And I often go back to this ideaof navigating a disability and
(16:16):
the parallels between a business, right.
So I have been a recipient ofMedicaid services and Social
Security and vocationalrehabilitation services, all of
which are government-fundedprograms, at least for now, for
folks with disabilities, right.
Figuring out how to accessthose programs and how to use
(16:42):
them to your advantage, I mean,you require almost the
equivalent of a PhD education.
It's so complex and difficult.
And so when it came time to,okay, set up a business, you
know, set up an EIN number thatwas easy compared to the
(17:02):
nightmare that it is navigatingall of those government programs
and regulations.
And so it goes back to thepoint earlier if we are able to
navigate the complexity that isdisability advocacy, we are
certainly able to navigate thecomplexity that is business.
(17:22):
So that's one area.
And then the other piece thatI'll mention and one of my
favorite books is calledRegulatory Hacking, and it talks
about this concept that you canactually find ways to hack
regulations and to figure outthe kind of chain of command and
(17:43):
who you need to talk to to pullregulations in a certain way.
So there is a concept in whichyou can use startup knowledge
and experience to hackregulation.
So, thinking about that as afounder, and how do you use the
(18:04):
challenge that can be regulationto your advantage to make your
processes, your products, moreinnovative is an opportunity
that's often overlooked.
Chris Maher (18:16):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
My youngest daughter turned 18a little while ago and we're
navigating her now being anadult and there is no playbook,
and you're right, you need a PhDto navigate everything in SSI
and SSDI and bank account limits, and that's like a whole other
panel.
So let's shift gears a littlebit.
(18:36):
All of you have been verysuccessful in not only starting
your companies and organizationsbut also scaling them and
growing them, and part of thathas been that you've all been
very successful raising capital.
And so I'd like each of you totake a minute or two to share
about that experience and let'sstart with Tomer and then we'll
work our way down but just talkabout that process, that
(18:59):
experience and any insights thatyou have, and you in particular
have been incredibly successfulraising capital for your
business.
Tomer Aharoni (19:12):
Yeah, so I think for us, similar to Michael, we
had the same issue when westarted meeting with investors.
We had no choice.
As I mentioned, our optionswere trying to figure out
regulations to students orraising money and putting the
product out there to get acommunity to use it.
So we had really no choice butto raise money.
And once we decided to raisemoney, again we had options.
We could have tapped intoGrants, which you need probably
(19:32):
four PhDs to figure out, or wecould have went the classic VC
way, which we decided to do.
And one of the struggles we hadwhen we started is that when you
go to hearing VCs ornon-disabled VCs and you try to
pitch them a solution for deafindividuals, they immediately
think I don't know any deafperson.
It's probably a small market.
So the first thing we needed tofigure out is how to really
(19:56):
make a case for it.
How do we explain to someonewho's a complete ignorant in
everything to do withaccessibility that this is a
massive market and this marketis going to benefit everyone?
There are 40 million Americanswith hearing loss.
To some extent, it doesn't haveto be a binary condition.
It's a really wide range ofneeds.
So that was the first challengethat we needed to navigate.
(20:18):
Once we navigated this, itbecame slightly easier, because
now you have a market, you canactually make a case for the
market.
And then we had to show thatthere is also a business model
here.
I do believe in capitalism whenit comes to making a real change
.
So if you want to actuallyimpact people's lives, yes, you
can do it in non-profit, whereyou can do it with grants, but
(20:40):
if you really want to buildsomething sustainable and make a
long-term impact, you need abusiness model.
You need to make revenue, youneed to grow.
It's not a bad thing.
Having a startup raising money,being profitable, these are not
bad as long as you're actuallyprogressing change.
And I think, once we got intoagreement with people, with
investors, that this is whatwe're doing, that we're building
(21:00):
a very sustainable business onone end, but on the other hand,
we're actually doing well in theworld.
So I love saying, doing good bydoing well or doing well by
doing good, things clicked andwe were able to raise the money.
Chris Maher (21:13):
I think it's a great point and you guys are a
great example.
I love being in this space froman investor standpoint because
all the entrepreneurs I meet,like all of you folks, probably
had a lot of people telling youearly on when you first found
your company oh it's disability,why isn't it a nonprofit?
And I love the fact that youall are adamant about no, no, no
(21:34):
, we're going to build this in afor-profit way because we're
going to create aself-sustaining financial model
to support the social impactthat we are going to scale and
have a positive impact onmillions of lives.
So thank you for that, Tomer,Michael, give us your experience
, because you guys were alsovery successful in that first
big round you raised.
Michael Bervell (21:49):
Yeah, and we raised our round at a time when
it was very difficult tofundraise.
People were not reallyinvesting in anything, let alone
in our industry.
And so I guess the biggest,there's two big takeaways.
I think one is that fundraisingstarts before you, in theory,
have a company, right.
And so my first job out ofcollege is working at Microsoft,
(22:11):
where I then became an investoron behalf of Microsoft into
companies like OpenAI, intocompanies like Kahoot, and so
that was a really interestingexperience to see the other side
of the table.
And there's a lot of insidebaseball that I learned just by
being quote unquote in the game,right.
Now, I guess the way that youwould access that is things like
podcasts.
Right, there's so many podcastsI watch with, like Bill Gurley
(22:34):
or, you know, Paul Graham or anyof the Y Combinator team that
has like all of the quoteunquote secrets that used to
only be understood if you hadworked in the industry.
And understanding that isreally valuable, because when
you go to pitch an investor andthey say a comment like yeah, I
think the traction is not there,there's a hundred things that
that could mean.
And understanding what is in mydata room, what is in that
(22:56):
document I'm sending to them andwhat are they seeing and not
seeing is super valuable.
So that's the first tip.
There's all these resourcesonline to learn about how
investors think, and before youstart pitching, you should
definitely know how they thinkand what they're thinking about.
I think the second thing that wedid differently that actually
really benefited us is we leanedon every angle that we could
(23:17):
that we had as unique to us, andso at the time, I was in
business school, and so I leanedon that business school network
really hard to the point whereone of our lead investors came
from a referral from a woman whoI did three coffee chats with
because she was a mentor at theInnovation Lab, right.
And so who knew that threecoffee chats over the spring and
the summer and the fall willlead to an intro that led to
(23:40):
almost a $2 million check by thewinter?
And that wasn't intentional.
It was just me trying to get toknow people and understand
people, and I leaned heavily onthat network for sure.
We also were super intentionalon fundraise, about raising from
VCs who invest indisability-focused startups,
that invest in black andLatinx-founded startups and just
invest in social impactgenerally.
And so when we built our captable, that was part of the
(24:03):
calculus and I don't thinkthat's a negative.
I think it's actually a prettybig positive.
So those are the two things Getinside the investor's head
before you pitch them,especially if it's a specific
investor, and lean on all ofyour strengths.
Don't feel bad about trying tolean on what you need to do.
It's what adds to the businessand makes it more likely to
succeed.
Chris Maher (24:22):
It's really interesting that you lean on
that, and I know that and, Tomer, we're not going to get into
too much, but I know that youactually went in the opposite
direction.
You went away from socialimpact and disability VCs and
went to traditional folks.
Because if you can prove it tothem, you can prove it to
anybody.
Tomer Aharoni (24:36):
Pretty much.
Yeah, we really wanted to avoidpainting ourselves as a
disability company, even thoughthat's what we are.
We knew that we're going toneed a lot of money to make this
a reality, to actually buildsomething unbelievable, and that
we have to tap beyond just thedisability network, and I think
it was also a bit of a personalchallenge.
(24:57):
Eventually, we leave this world.
I know everyone in our industry.
I spend so much time witheveryone in the industry it's
preaching to the choir and Iwanted to make sure that we get
real people that invest in realstartups, that we compete in the
real world startups, in techstartups, the biggest companies
out there, and not just in thisclose community.
Chris Maher (25:17):
And, truth be told, there's not enough private
capital in the VC spacespecifically for disability.
There's a handful of us, we allknow each other, you guys all
know us which we're trying tochange.
Exactly.
So, Diego, your organization istechnically a nonprofit, but I
know you run it like afor-profit.
But you've also raised asignificant amount of capital
over the years to support yourmission and your business, and
(25:41):
it's been through differentchannels, and so can you speak
to that.
Diego Mariscal (25:45):
Yeah, yeah.
So yeah, it's been a road forsure.
I think people see us now and Ithink they see a lot of success
and, yes, we are verysuccessful.
It's been a 10-year journey,right, 10-year overnight success
.
I think it's still up.
(26:06):
You can find it, I think, onFacebook.
But when we first closed ourfirst round, it was a
crowdfunding campaign and what Idid was I would use Uber Pools
and I would go to nowhere.
I would just pick random placesin the city and because Uber
Pool, you used to pick up peoplealong the way, so I would pick
(26:31):
up strangers and pitch themwhile we were driving.
And so, uh, that's how we raisedour first seven thousand
dollars, and you can see my faceon that video like crying
because I was so excited.
Tomer Aharoni (26:52):
You were probably the first Uber pool rider to
actually want more people tocome ride with them.
Diego Mariscal (26:56):
And I also used a lot of SSI, SSD to supplement,
so finding creative ways tofundraise.
But I think what's unique aboutour story, and I encourage all
the founders that we work withto do this, is people think it's
a chicken and the egg.
You either need to have aproduct to raise money or a
(27:19):
service, or you need the moneyto develop whatever you're doing
.
I actually think it's inparallel, right.
One of the things that we havebeen very successful at, and, in
fact, we're right now raisingabout a $40 million round and we
have 20 of that alreadycommitted, which is so exciting.
(27:39):
But our success has come fromalways doing both.
So we've always run programs,even tough that $7,000 was to
support, like five entrepreneurswho were also doing
crowdfunding campaigns right,and so being able to show to
those people hey, this is whatwe did with the funding, right,
(28:02):
and that led to Meetup, and thenthat led to Google seeing our
work and led to more funding,and that has A lot of which is
coming from corporates and largefinancial institutions.
Chris Maher (28:14):
Exactly, they want to support the mission.
Exactly.
Diego Mariscal (28:17):
But the secret to our success has always been
it's never been oh, we needmoney to do this program.
It's we're doing this program,it's having impact, continue to
fund it and continue to scale it.
And I think that's, frankly thereason why we've been so
successful because we haveresults, constant results, to
(28:38):
show for.
So that's what I wouldencourage people to think about.
Michael Bervell (28:42):
And I'll just add to that too.
I often hear too much capitalchasing, not enough good ideas,
and once you have the results,the capital comes.
Chris Maher (28:50):
So we're getting close to our time.
So before we wrap up with somefinal thoughts, there's one last
question that came up when wewere prepping, and you're each
going to get like maybe 60 to 90seconds, so you've got to keep
it super concise.
While we were prepping, all ofyou talked about how important
in the early stages of yourbusiness and even today, as
you're starting now to scale andgrow more rapidly, how
(29:14):
important finding mentors andadvisors were, and also how
valuable it was to participatein accelerator programs in those
early stages as you werebuilding your business.
And so, Diego, let's start withyou and we'll come this way.
You run an accelerator, and sotalk a little bit about that in
terms of what you're doing withthose companies, and then we'll
(29:35):
kind of come down the line here.
Diego Mariscal (29:36):
Yeah, so I mean part of the reason why 2Gether I
think is is is so successful isbecause there wasn't an
accelerator for founders withdisabilities, right, and so I
I'm creating something I wish Ihad when I was, when I was
starting.
So that's on the acceleratorpart.
And then on the mentoring side,I actually have kind of an
(29:58):
unconventional thought on this.
Which is one of my biggestmentors early on was Judith
Heumann, who I think about everyday.
But we had a really interestingrelationship in that she saw me
as a mentor as much as I sawher.
Meaning that she would learnfrom me about technology and
(30:24):
like how to use your phone, howto use FaceTime.
And I would learn obviouslyabout all her knowledge, so
approaching relationships from asymbiotic standpoint you as a
young person, as an entrepreneur, have as much to offer this
mentor as they have to you, andthinking about it that way, I
think, allows you to build moregenuine connections.
Chris Maher (30:47):
That's a great point, and I'm going to actually
jump over Michael and come toTomer, because you actually
talked about your experiencewith people mentoring and
advising you has now turned youinto giving back as a mentor and
advisor, so can you speak tothat?
Tomer Aharoni (30:56):
100%.
Yeah.
So when we started the company,well, we didn't start it as a
company.
We had no intention to start acompany.
One of the things that happenedrelatively quickly is that
Comcast reached out and theysaid they wanted to invest and
invite us to work as part oftheir accelerator in combination
with Techstars.
Now, those who are not familiarwith Techstars, I think it's the
second largest accelerator inthe US by market cap, after Y
(31:18):
Combinator, and their saying isconstantly give first.
It's highly based on mentors.
They have this two-week periodwhen you just start, they call
it mentor madness, where youhave 80 meetings in two weeks
and they basically suit you upwith the best mentors that can
help you.
And through those two weeks weunlocked so much, we learned so
(31:39):
much.
We really accelerated thebusiness in two weeks like we
could have done in two yearswithout those people which made
us do exactly the same thing.
The first thing I did afterleaving Techstars is coming back
to Techstars as a mentor.
So I came back, the next cohortand the next one, and I've been
working with founders sincethen to help them with my
learnings, because the painsthat we're feeling now, someone
felt them a year ago and thepains that someone is feeling
(32:01):
now.
We felt them a year ago, sodefinitely make a difference.
Chris Maher (32:04):
It's a difficult journey.
It is.
That's great, that's awesome,Michael, tell us about your
story.
You've got 70 seconds.
Michael Bervell (32:14):
I have a fun story and it involves you, Chris
.
Chris Maher (32:14):
Then
Michael Bervell (32:21):
started fundraising, I didn't know
really much about the disabilityspace and you were someone who
was willing to open up yournetwork, to even describe and be
on the call with us for like anhour and introduce us to other
investors.
And it starts small.
And I think what we do withmentorship and I still do this
all the time, even today, is Ioftentimes will look where do I
want to be in three months, sixmonths, 12 months, two years,
(32:43):
three years, and I have mentorswho are in that position today,
who are where I want to beeventually.
Like I know, we're going toraise an A in 12 to 18 months.
So now I'm currently andconstantly talking to founders
who have raised their A withinthe last month or two months.
Right, just understanding whatthe process is and what I can
learn.
So there is a sense ofimmediacy to mentorship and a
sense of strategy to it, butthat's one of the biggest things
(33:04):
and so you know I'm trying tobe like you at some point in my
life.
So thank you for being a mentor.
Chris Maher (33:09):
Thank you.
I'll give you that 20 buckslater.
Thank you.
No, it's a great example.
All right.
So, as we wrap up here, andthank you again for the
discussion today, we could go onfor a very long time, but I
think I speak for all of us whenI say that we're all very
bullish on the future ofdisability inclusion and
(33:32):
accessibility and the directionthat it is headed and is going.
And so, as we leave ouraudience, can each of you share
one final thought on why you'refeeling so optimistic about the
future?
And we'll start all the waydown at the end with you, Diego.
Diego Mariscal (33:47):
Why am I feeling so optimistic about the future?
I mean, because we have to be,right.
Like is there another, is thereanother?
People say that I'm an eternaloptimist, but I'm like well, is
there another way to be?
I mean, I think everythingthat's happening right now with
the world is an opportunity toinnovate.
(34:08):
It's an opportunity to reframedisability as a competitive
advantage.
Right, we've long talked aboutdisability from the civil rights
perspective, from this equalaccess, and that obviously has a
time and a place and it'scritical information.
But often the conversationaround innovation is missing,
(34:31):
and I think this moment in timeis particularly important and
there is an opportunity tohighlight the innovation and the
opportunity that comes with thedisability market.
Chris Maher (34:46):
Agreed, well said.
Michael.
Michael Bervell (34:48):
I mean, Diego said it all.
I think the one thing that I'mreally excited about is just
technology.
Like the fact that artificialintelligence allows you to do
more with less data sets.
I think is going to be amassive unlock for people who
are typically not seen in thosedata sets.
So I'll leave it there.
I guess ping me on LinkedIn ifyou want to hear more.
Chris Maher (35:08):
Thank you.
Tomer Aharoni (35:09):
Yeah, I'm doubling down on that.
The tech is out there.
Today you can literallydescribe what you want and AI
will build it for you, and it'sjust the best time ever to build
and to build for more peopleand represent more people, and
I'm really excited.
Chris Maher (35:26):
Yeah, agreed, and they way that I would sum it up,
and all of you touched on it.
I don't think there's ever beena moment in history where we
have an opportunity, if we worktogether, to create a world for
all of us instead of some of us,and so that's super exciting.
Gentlemen, thank you for yourtime today.
Everybody, thank you forwatching.
(35:48):
We hope you enjoy the rest ofthe summit and we'll see you
soon.
Kelvin Crosby (35:52):
That wraps up Investing in Accessibility.
As I always say, go live beyondyour challenges and we'll see
you in two weeks.
Thank you for listening toInvesting in Accessibility, a
Samaritan Partners podcast,where we invest in change, for
(36:14):
accessibility, not wait forchange.
If you want to follow us, youcan find us on YouTube or
LinkedIn at @Samaritan Partners.
If you would like to invest inSamaritan Partners, email chris
at chris@samaritanpartners.
com.
If you'd like to learn moreabout us, go to www.
samaritanpartners.
com.
You can take the first step ininvesting in change by giving us
(36:37):
five stars and sharing thispodcast with everybody that you
know, so we can spread the word,so that we can give access to
all by Investing inAccessibility.
Welcome to Investing in Accessibility, a
Samaritan Partners podcast.
We're not waiting for change,we're investing in it.
Join us as we speak withentrepreneurs and thought
leaders that are focused oncreating a more accessible world
(00:30):
.
Hey, so good to see you.
Even though I can't see you,it's another beautiful day in
the neighborhood and I'm soexcited that you're here at
Investing in Accessibility.
I'm your host, Kelvin Crosby,and we're going to drop into
Chris Maher's session that hehad at Waw ability 2025 and it's
a celebration of the ADA of 35years.
(00:53):
And I'm excited to drop intothis and how you got to hear how
awesome this panel that Chriswas interviewing and getting
their input.
I tell you you guys are in fora treat.
You guys ready to go on ajourney?
Let's do this.
Chris Maher (01:06):
Hello, welcome to our next session, our panel here
-- Design Capital and Impact: The Future of Disability (01:12):
undefined
Startups.
My name is Chris Maher, I'm thefounder and general partner at
Samaritan Partners and let meintroduce my fellow panelists
today.
Going down the line from myleft on your right, right next
to me is Tomer Aharoni, theco-founder and CEO of Nagish.
(01:33):
Next to him is Michael Bervell,who is the co-founder and CEO
of Test Party, and down at theend is Diego Mariscal, who is
the founder and CEO of 2Gether-International.
Welcome, gentlemen.
Before we get into ourdiscussion, we're all going to
provide a little bit deeperbackground and description of
ourselves, so I will kick thatoff.
(01:55):
As I said, my name is ChrisMaher, founder and general
partner of Samaritan Partners.
I am a middle-aged white male.
I'm about 6'2", with blondehair that is quickly turning
gray, and today I'm wearing ablue blazer and a white collar
shirt with a little bluewindowpane pattern on it, dark
jeans and loafers.
Samaritan Partners is a publicbenefit venture capital fund and
(02:19):
we invest in the disabilitysector, so we invest in
companies that are eitherproviding products and services
to the community and or creatingemployment opportunities.
And my connection to disabilityis that my wife and I have
raised two beautiful daughters,both of whom live with
disabilities.
My oldest daughter has aphysical disability and my
youngest daughter hasintellectual and developmental
disabilities, and let me pass itoff to Tomer.
Tomer Aharoni (02:40):
Thank you, Chris.
Hi everyone, I'm Tomer.
I'm the co-founder and CEO ofNagish, which means accessible
in Hebrew.
What we do is we makecommunication more accessible
for people with hearing loss,people who are deaf and people
with speech disabilities.
Nagish received two FCCcertifications in the last two
years and has raised more than$60 million to date, and I'm
(03:00):
happy to be here today.
Chris Maher (03:01):
Thank you, Tomer.
Michael.
Michael Bervell (03:03):
Awesome.
Hey, I'm Michael Bervell.
I'm the co-founder and CEO ofTestParty.
TestParty is an automateddigital accessibility platform,
so we scan the source code ofwebsites and we use AI to
rewrite the source code to beaccessible as by the Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines.
I'm a black male in my 20s,super handsome, really funny,
(03:25):
extremely smart, yeah, all thedescriptions.
I'm wearing a white button-upwith a navy blue jacket and I'm
excited to be here, excited totalk about capital and impact.
Chris Maher (03:36):
Terrific.
Thank you.
Diego.
Diego Mariscal (03:38):
I will start by saying that was probably my
favorite description.
I'm going to steal that.
My name is Diego, DiegoMariscal.
I'm the founder and CEO of2Gether- International, which is
the largest accelerator forfounders with disabilities.
We've supported over 700founders all across the world
and helped them raise more than$84 million in various forms of
(03:59):
capital.
Excited to be here.
I think this is a veryimportant conversation and, as
for my visual description, I'mnot sure if it's going to be as
great as yours, but I am a30-something-year-old male Latin
wearing my signature red shoesand normally I'm wearing a blue
(04:20):
blue shirt, but I decided todress up for the occasion and so
I'm wearing a white button-downshirt.
So excited to be here and myrelationship with disability is
I have cerebral palsy andexcited to talk about how that
has turned into a competitiveadvantage in my life, but also
(04:42):
for others as well.
Chris Maher (04:45):
Great, terrific, well, thank you, gentlemen, and
that's where we're going to kickoff.
We're going to jump right intothe deep end right off the bat
here.
And Diego, this first questionis for you, because I've seen
you speak several times whereyou talk about disability as a
competitive differentiator.
Can you kick us off andelaborate on that?
Diego Mariscal (05:01):
Absolutely yes, and it's been kind of the
cornerstone of our work, right.
So when you think about it, asdisabled people, we have to
figure out how do we dress, howwe drive, how we communicate,
and that is inherentlyentrepreneurial skills at play,
right, it requires resiliency,it requires creativity.
(05:23):
Just figuring out how I wasgoing to get to the venue
required a certain amount ofadditional thinking.
As I mentioned, I have CP andthat means for me I've literally
fallen thousands of times in mylife and thousands of times
I've had to get back up, andthat has a ripple effect also in
(05:44):
business, right.
I don't know if a thousand, buta hundred times I've made
mistakes and, you know, hadroadblocks, and I've also had to
get back up from a businessperspective.
And so a lot of our work reallylooks at how can we translate
the disability experience andthe lessons that disability
(06:05):
inherently teaches to you andtranslate them into a business
context, whether that isnavigating benefits right and
the complexity of what thatmeans, from navigating
regulatory environments as astartup, navigating a care team
(06:26):
and communicating effectivelyand translating those skills
into communicating effectivelyto your stakeholders and team
members.
So really, the parallelexperiences are very similar and
so a lot of our work hascentered around how do we
capitalize on that, and so far,so good.
Chris Maher (06:41):
Yeah, no, your organization, which we'll get
into more later, does an amazingjob of that.
With my two daughters, wentthrough the same thing.
My oldest daughter, who has aphysical disability, was
constantly falling as a child,and so things that I don't think
people think about is peoplewith disabilities are inherently
really good problem solvers,because you have to do that from
day one and you're resilientand you're adaptable.
(07:03):
And so, Tomer, let's go to youanything you'd like to kind of
dovetail on about that.
Tomer Aharoni (07:07):
Yeah, I think it's true from the other side as
well that solutions for peoplewith disabilities are actually,
in many cases, great tools andbetter tools for people without
disabilities, and we've seenthis ripple effect so much in
the past, where people withdisabilities invent something
for their needs, or people thatare close to people with
disabilities invent somethingfor disability needs, and that
something becomes widely usedanywhere by anyone, because what
(07:30):
benefits people withdisabilities will eventually
benefit the greater good.
Um, and I think that thatripple effect is so important
and should not be underestimated.
Chris Maher (07:38):
Yeah, and so that kind of takes us down a path
that, um, Michael, this questionis going to be directed to you
to start, is where you start toget into the concepts of
universal design and productmarket fit, and so can you speak
to that as it relates to thefounding and the growing of
TestParty.
Michael Bervell (07:59):
Yeah, I mean, I often say that innovation
happens at the edges of the bellcurves, right, that where
there's the extremes is whereyou find the coolest, most
innovative solutions.
And when we think of what abusiness is like, fundamentally,
it's you're solving a problemwith a solution and the pain of
that gap, the gap betweenproblem and solution, is what
(08:19):
you charge Like, that's yourrevenue, that's your price,
right, and so the bigger theproblem, the bigger the solution
.
The more sought after thatproblem is, the more sought
after a solution might be.
And so I think to your point,Diego, like to have a problem
first mindset for your wholelife is what creates like this
area where you can make the bestsolutions right, because
(08:40):
everything you look around,you're like well, I've made this
solution, that solution, thatsolution, and I did it for free.
And now how do I monetize that?
And so it's like almost I thinkit's totally as a superpower,
at least in how Test Party wasbeing created.
The problem that we foundactually came through my
co-founder and he was working atAmazon for Twitch, which is the
live streaming platform, whenTwitch got sued for not being
(09:00):
accessible.
And at that point the commonsolution was hey, if your
company gets sued, go hire aconsultant and they'll manually
audit and give you a PDF.
Then you look at the PDF andyou solve it.
And us, being20-something-year-old guys, who
really were TikTok natives, werelike zillennials.
All the buzzwords.
We were like why are we lookingat a PDF to go somehow solve
(09:23):
accessibility issues, right, ina code base?
And so that's where we thought,like you know, there's all
these security startups likeSNIC and Cernar Cube and
Acunetix that are doing thisthrough automation, where you
can look at a code base andautomatically find security
problems and fix securityproblems, and that's what we
started to do.
So when I think about productmarket fit like the founding
story of TestParty was reallyaround what I would call
(09:46):
adjacencies.
We looked at security as aspace and we said what is the
adjacency of a solution inanother market like
accessibility?
And I was lucky that I had abackground at Google and the UN
in accessibility so it was easyfor me to see that.
But that's where I think trueproduct market fit and growth
comes from, when you're tryingto find a problem and find a
solution to bridge that gap.
Chris Maher (10:05):
Yeah, those are great points, Diego.
I'm going to let you kind ofwrap up this topic, but like,
can you speak to universaldesign and product market fit as
it relates to lived experience?
Diego Mariscal (10:15):
Yeah, and I don't know if we've ever gotten
into this, uh, Chris, but youknow, when we started 2Gether,
it wasn't about supportingfounders, it was about changing
the way people thought aboutdisability, and we did workshops
in schools.
And that didn't work for avariety of reasons that I'm not
(10:38):
gonna get into, and then wefocused on doing advocacy
campaigns and that also didn'twork and finally landed, after
many, many years of trial anderror, on supporting
entrepreneurs with disabilities.
And so when we talk aboutproduct market fit, I often use
our own story as an example ofhey, it took several iterations
(11:00):
and really several versions ofwhat we wanted to see to become
successful, but what was reallyinteresting is that the problem
never, never wavered, right, westarted together or I started
together with this idea of howdo we redefine the way people
thought about disability.
Right, I had the opportunitywhen I was a freshman in college
(11:23):
not too long ago, to go to theUN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities, andthat was the first time ever I
saw a group of leaders, disabledleaders, unapologetically proud
of their disability.
I grew up in Monterrey, Mexico,and I had never encountered
(11:44):
people that were proud and loudabout their disability.
And so, walking out of thatconference, I thought, well, how
do we create that experiencefor the masses, so that not only
the elite that get to go to theUN have the opportunity to have
that transformative experience?
And so that was the impetus for2Gether, and it just so
(12:06):
happened that we do it throughsupporting entrepreneurs.
So I share this, because ourstory is one of hey, the problem
was very clearly defined, theway in which we solve that
problem, we've had to pivot andlearn and shift, but the fact
that the mission has neverwavered, I think, is also
(12:29):
indicative of our success.
Chris Maher (12:30):
Yeah, thank you for sharing that.
You haven't told me that, sothank you.
So for many companies and formany startups, sometimes you
have to navigate the policy andregulatory landscape, and Tomer,
Nagish has been very good atthat and very successful at that
.
Can you share some of theinsights around that experience?
Tomer Aharoni (12:51):
Of course.
So I think that, by design,regulation moves slower than
innovation.
There's really no way forregulation to keep up with
innovation, because innovationhappens in closed rooms.
You cannot know when a designeror an engineer or an
entrepreneur builds something orthinks about something until
(13:11):
it's out there and until it'sactually being used, and it
really doesn't matter so muchuntil it's being widely adopted.
The way we navigated this atNagish is, we said okay, we want
to create a better solution, aprivate phone call solution for
people with hearing loss.
And today, if you look atregulation, regulation doesn't
regulate AI-powered services forcommunication.
(13:32):
They only regulatehuman-powered services for
regulation.
So we have two options.
One was starting to push, asback then we were just two
students at Columbia University.
We can be two students pushingfor regulation.
I don't think it will happenand it will probably be very
expensive.
Or we can go the startup way.
Raise money, don't think aboutregulation.
(13:54):
Put a product out there, buildit with the community, get as
many people as possible to useit and then use the power of the
community.
Show that there is a real need,show that people are actually
going to benefit from usingthese products and go to the
regulators and tell them listen,you're behind, let us help you,
help us, help the community,and it worked pretty well for us
?
Chris Maher (14:14):
Yeah, it certainly has.
That's a really interestingapproach.
Michael, your experience,especially around the EU and
Europe, is different becausesome new regulations have just
rolled out and so can you speakto how Test Party is navigating
that?
Michael Bervell (14:29):
Yeah, I mean, I'll be honest, when we were
fundraising, the number onereason that people passed was
because they thought the marketwas too small.
Right, and if I had a list oflike 200 people that we pitched
and I would write every timesomeone said no, what was the
reason?
And that was the reason about70% of the time.
And so our story that we startedto tell was, hey, there's this
huge regulation coming out inEurope.
(14:50):
it just came out on June 25thof this year and it's the
European Accessibility Act, withthe argument that once it's
required in Europe that websitesare compliant and accessible,
that'll have a bleed-over effectaround the rest of the world,
in the same way that GDPR, theGlobal Data Privacy Regulation,
had a bleed-over effect wherenow we all see except cookies on
(15:10):
our websites, even if we're notdoing business in Europe.
So I think what's interestingabout Tomer versus my story is
you were kind of pushingregulation to happen, whereas
we're kind of benefiting fromregulation overall, and I think
it is a scenario where a risingtide lifts all boats, because
today only 5% of websites areaccessible if you look at their
homepages, and so there's a 95%market and right now all of the
(15:35):
players are trying to push toget that 95% market activated.
So regulation is one great wayto do that, and I think also
there's other innovations that Ican talk about later.
Chris Maher (15:45):
It's both really powerful insights, but from a
very different approach, whichis great.
Before we go on to the nexttopic, Diego, do you have
anything else you would sayaround policy and regulation?
Diego Mariscal (15:55):
Yeah, so you know we're based in DC.
So policy and regulation is abig topic for us.
And I often go back to this ideaof navigating a disability and
(16:16):
the parallels between a business, right.
So I have been a recipient ofMedicaid services and Social
Security and vocationalrehabilitation services, all of
which are government-fundedprograms, at least for now, for
folks with disabilities, right.
Figuring out how to accessthose programs and how to use
(16:42):
them to your advantage, I mean,you require almost the
equivalent of a PhD education.
It's so complex and difficult.
And so when it came time to,okay, set up a business, you
know, set up an EIN number thatwas easy compared to the
(17:02):
nightmare that it is navigatingall of those government programs
and regulations.
And so it goes back to thepoint earlier if we are able to
navigate the complexity that isdisability advocacy, we are
certainly able to navigate thecomplexity that is business.
(17:22):
So that's one area.
And then the other piece thatI'll mention and one of my
favorite books is calledRegulatory Hacking, and it talks
about this concept that you canactually find ways to hack
regulations and to figure outthe kind of chain of command and
(17:43):
who you need to talk to to pullregulations in a certain way.
So there is a concept in whichyou can use startup knowledge
and experience to hackregulation.
So, thinking about that as afounder, and how do you use the
(18:04):
challenge that can be regulationto your advantage to make your
processes, your products, moreinnovative is an opportunity
that's often overlooked.
Chris Maher (18:16):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
My youngest daughter turned 18a little while ago and we're
navigating her now being anadult and there is no playbook,
and you're right, you need a PhDto navigate everything in SSI
and SSDI and bank account limits, and that's like a whole other
panel.
So let's shift gears a littlebit.
(18:36):
All of you have been verysuccessful in not only starting
your companies and organizationsbut also scaling them and
growing them, and part of thathas been that you've all been
very successful raising capital.
And so I'd like each of you totake a minute or two to share
about that experience and let'sstart with Tomer and then we'll
work our way down but just talkabout that process, that
(18:59):
experience and any insights thatyou have, and you in particular
have been incredibly successfulraising capital for your
business.
Tomer Aharoni (19:12):
Yeah, so I think for us, similar to Michael, we
had the same issue when westarted meeting with investors.
We had no choice.
As I mentioned, our optionswere trying to figure out
regulations to students orraising money and putting the
product out there to get acommunity to use it.
So we had really no choice butto raise money.
And once we decided to raisemoney, again we had options.
We could have tapped intoGrants, which you need probably
(19:32):
four PhDs to figure out, or wecould have went the classic VC
way, which we decided to do.
And one of the struggles we hadwhen we started is that when you
go to hearing VCs ornon-disabled VCs and you try to
pitch them a solution for deafindividuals, they immediately
think I don't know any deafperson.
It's probably a small market.
So the first thing we needed tofigure out is how to really
(19:56):
make a case for it.
How do we explain to someonewho's a complete ignorant in
everything to do withaccessibility that this is a
massive market and this marketis going to benefit everyone?
There are 40 million Americanswith hearing loss.
To some extent, it doesn't haveto be a binary condition.
It's a really wide range ofneeds.
So that was the first challengethat we needed to navigate.
(20:18):
Once we navigated this, itbecame slightly easier, because
now you have a market, you canactually make a case for the
market.
And then we had to show thatthere is also a business model
here.
I do believe in capitalism whenit comes to making a real change
.
So if you want to actuallyimpact people's lives, yes, you
can do it in non-profit, whereyou can do it with grants, but
(20:40):
if you really want to buildsomething sustainable and make a
long-term impact, you need abusiness model.
You need to make revenue, youneed to grow.
It's not a bad thing.
Having a startup raising money,being profitable, these are not
bad as long as you're actuallyprogressing change.
And I think, once we got intoagreement with people, with
investors, that this is whatwe're doing, that we're building
(21:00):
a very sustainable business onone end, but on the other hand,
we're actually doing well in theworld.
So I love saying, doing good bydoing well or doing well by
doing good, things clicked andwe were able to raise the money.
Chris Maher (21:13):
I think it's a great point and you guys are a
great example.
I love being in this space froman investor standpoint because
all the entrepreneurs I meet,like all of you folks, probably
had a lot of people telling youearly on when you first found
your company oh it's disability,why isn't it a nonprofit?
And I love the fact that youall are adamant about no, no, no
(21:34):
, we're going to build this in afor-profit way because we're
going to create aself-sustaining financial model
to support the social impactthat we are going to scale and
have a positive impact onmillions of lives.
So thank you for that, Tomer,Michael, give us your experience
, because you guys were alsovery successful in that first
big round you raised.
Michael Bervell (21:49):
Yeah, and we raised our round at a time when
it was very difficult tofundraise.
People were not reallyinvesting in anything, let alone
in our industry.
And so I guess the biggest,there's two big takeaways.
I think one is that fundraisingstarts before you, in theory,
have a company, right.
And so my first job out ofcollege is working at Microsoft,
(22:11):
where I then became an investoron behalf of Microsoft into
companies like OpenAI, intocompanies like Kahoot, and so
that was a really interestingexperience to see the other side
of the table.
And there's a lot of insidebaseball that I learned just by
being quote unquote in the game,right.
Now, I guess the way that youwould access that is things like
podcasts.
Right, there's so many podcastsI watch with, like Bill Gurley
(22:34):
or, you know, Paul Graham or anyof the Y Combinator team that
has like all of the quoteunquote secrets that used to
only be understood if you hadworked in the industry.
And understanding that isreally valuable, because when
you go to pitch an investor andthey say a comment like yeah, I
think the traction is not there,there's a hundred things that
that could mean.
And understanding what is in mydata room, what is in that
(22:56):
document I'm sending to them andwhat are they seeing and not
seeing is super valuable.
So that's the first tip.
There's all these resourcesonline to learn about how
investors think, and before youstart pitching, you should
definitely know how they thinkand what they're thinking about.
I think the second thing that wedid differently that actually
really benefited us is we leanedon every angle that we could
(23:17):
that we had as unique to us, andso at the time, I was in
business school, and so I leanedon that business school network
really hard to the point whereone of our lead investors came
from a referral from a woman whoI did three coffee chats with
because she was a mentor at theInnovation Lab, right.
And so who knew that threecoffee chats over the spring and
the summer and the fall willlead to an intro that led to
(23:40):
almost a $2 million check by thewinter?
And that wasn't intentional.
It was just me trying to get toknow people and understand
people, and I leaned heavily onthat network for sure.
We also were super intentionalon fundraise, about raising from
VCs who invest indisability-focused startups,
that invest in black andLatinx-founded startups and just
invest in social impactgenerally.
And so when we built our captable, that was part of the
(24:03):
calculus and I don't thinkthat's a negative.
I think it's actually a prettybig positive.
So those are the two things Getinside the investor's head
before you pitch them,especially if it's a specific
investor, and lean on all ofyour strengths.
Don't feel bad about trying tolean on what you need to do.
It's what adds to the businessand makes it more likely to
succeed.
Chris Maher (24:22):
It's really interesting that you lean on
that, and I know that and, Tomer, we're not going to get into
too much, but I know that youactually went in the opposite
direction.
You went away from socialimpact and disability VCs and
went to traditional folks.
Because if you can prove it tothem, you can prove it to
anybody.
Tomer Aharoni (24:36):
Pretty much.
Yeah, we really wanted to avoidpainting ourselves as a
disability company, even thoughthat's what we are.
We knew that we're going toneed a lot of money to make this
a reality, to actually buildsomething unbelievable, and that
we have to tap beyond just thedisability network, and I think
it was also a bit of a personalchallenge.
(24:57):
Eventually, we leave this world.
I know everyone in our industry.
I spend so much time witheveryone in the industry it's
preaching to the choir and Iwanted to make sure that we get
real people that invest in realstartups, that we compete in the
real world startups, in techstartups, the biggest companies
out there, and not just in thisclose community.
Chris Maher (25:17):
And, truth be told, there's not enough private
capital in the VC spacespecifically for disability.
There's a handful of us, we allknow each other, you guys all
know us which we're trying tochange.
Exactly.
So, Diego, your organization istechnically a nonprofit, but I
know you run it like afor-profit.
But you've also raised asignificant amount of capital
over the years to support yourmission and your business, and
(25:41):
it's been through differentchannels, and so can you speak
to that.
Diego Mariscal (25:45):
Yeah, yeah.
So yeah, it's been a road forsure.
I think people see us now and Ithink they see a lot of success
and, yes, we are verysuccessful.
It's been a 10-year journey,right, 10-year overnight success
.
I think it's still up.
(26:06):
You can find it, I think, onFacebook.
But when we first closed ourfirst round, it was a
crowdfunding campaign and what Idid was I would use Uber Pools
and I would go to nowhere.
I would just pick random placesin the city and because Uber
Pool, you used to pick up peoplealong the way, so I would pick
(26:31):
up strangers and pitch themwhile we were driving.
And so, uh, that's how we raisedour first seven thousand
dollars, and you can see my faceon that video like crying
because I was so excited.
Tomer Aharoni (26:52):
You were probably the first Uber pool rider to
actually want more people tocome ride with them.
Diego Mariscal (26:56):
And I also used a lot of SSI, SSD to supplement,
so finding creative ways tofundraise.
But I think what's unique aboutour story, and I encourage all
the founders that we work withto do this, is people think it's
a chicken and the egg.
You either need to have aproduct to raise money or a
(27:19):
service, or you need the moneyto develop whatever you're doing
.
I actually think it's inparallel, right.
One of the things that we havebeen very successful at, and, in
fact, we're right now raisingabout a $40 million round and we
have 20 of that alreadycommitted, which is so exciting.
(27:39):
But our success has come fromalways doing both.
So we've always run programs,even tough that $7,000 was to
support, like five entrepreneurswho were also doing
crowdfunding campaigns right,and so being able to show to
those people hey, this is whatwe did with the funding, right,
(28:02):
and that led to Meetup, and thenthat led to Google seeing our
work and led to more funding,and that has A lot of which is
coming from corporates and largefinancial institutions.
Chris Maher (28:14):
Exactly, they want to support the mission.
Exactly.
Diego Mariscal (28:17):
But the secret to our success has always been
it's never been oh, we needmoney to do this program.
It's we're doing this program,it's having impact, continue to
fund it and continue to scale it.
And I think that's, frankly thereason why we've been so
successful because we haveresults, constant results, to
(28:38):
show for.
So that's what I wouldencourage people to think about.
Michael Bervell (28:42):
And I'll just add to that too.
I often hear too much capitalchasing, not enough good ideas,
and once you have the results,the capital comes.
Chris Maher (28:50):
So we're getting close to our time.
So before we wrap up with somefinal thoughts, there's one last
question that came up when wewere prepping, and you're each
going to get like maybe 60 to 90seconds, so you've got to keep
it super concise.
While we were prepping, all ofyou talked about how important
in the early stages of yourbusiness and even today, as
you're starting now to scale andgrow more rapidly, how
(29:14):
important finding mentors andadvisors were, and also how
valuable it was to participatein accelerator programs in those
early stages as you werebuilding your business.
And so, Diego, let's start withyou and we'll come this way.
You run an accelerator, and sotalk a little bit about that in
terms of what you're doing withthose companies, and then we'll
(29:35):
kind of come down the line here.
Diego Mariscal (29:36):
Yeah, so I mean part of the reason why 2Gether I
think is is is so successful isbecause there wasn't an
accelerator for founders withdisabilities, right, and so I
I'm creating something I wish Ihad when I was, when I was
starting.
So that's on the acceleratorpart.
And then on the mentoring side,I actually have kind of an
(29:58):
unconventional thought on this.
Which is one of my biggestmentors early on was Judith
Heumann, who I think about everyday.
But we had a really interestingrelationship in that she saw me
as a mentor as much as I sawher.
Meaning that she would learnfrom me about technology and
(30:24):
like how to use your phone, howto use FaceTime.
And I would learn obviouslyabout all her knowledge, so
approaching relationships from asymbiotic standpoint you as a
young person, as an entrepreneur, have as much to offer this
mentor as they have to you, andthinking about it that way, I
think, allows you to build moregenuine connections.
Chris Maher (30:47):
That's a great point, and I'm going to actually
jump over Michael and come toTomer, because you actually
talked about your experiencewith people mentoring and
advising you has now turned youinto giving back as a mentor and
advisor, so can you speak tothat?
Tomer Aharoni (30:56):
100%.
Yeah.
So when we started the company,well, we didn't start it as a
company.
We had no intention to start acompany.
One of the things that happenedrelatively quickly is that
Comcast reached out and theysaid they wanted to invest and
invite us to work as part oftheir accelerator in combination
with Techstars.
Now, those who are not familiarwith Techstars, I think it's the
second largest accelerator inthe US by market cap, after Y
(31:18):
Combinator, and their saying isconstantly give first.
It's highly based on mentors.
They have this two-week periodwhen you just start, they call
it mentor madness, where youhave 80 meetings in two weeks
and they basically suit you upwith the best mentors that can
help you.
And through those two weeks weunlocked so much, we learned so
(31:39):
much.
We really accelerated thebusiness in two weeks like we
could have done in two yearswithout those people which made
us do exactly the same thing.
The first thing I did afterleaving Techstars is coming back
to Techstars as a mentor.
So I came back, the next cohortand the next one, and I've been
working with founders sincethen to help them with my
learnings, because the painsthat we're feeling now, someone
felt them a year ago and thepains that someone is feeling
(32:01):
now.
We felt them a year ago, sodefinitely make a difference.
Chris Maher (32:04):
It's a difficult journey.
It is.
That's great, that's awesome,Michael, tell us about your
story.
You've got 70 seconds.
Michael Bervell (32:14):
I have a fun story and it involves you, Chris
.
Chris Maher (32:14):
Then
Michael Bervell (32:21):
started fundraising, I didn't know
really much about the disabilityspace and you were someone who
was willing to open up yournetwork, to even describe and be
on the call with us for like anhour and introduce us to other
investors.
And it starts small.
And I think what we do withmentorship and I still do this
all the time, even today, is Ioftentimes will look where do I
want to be in three months, sixmonths, 12 months, two years,
(32:43):
three years, and I have mentorswho are in that position today,
who are where I want to beeventually.
Like I know, we're going toraise an A in 12 to 18 months.
So now I'm currently andconstantly talking to founders
who have raised their A withinthe last month or two months.
Right, just understanding whatthe process is and what I can
learn.
So there is a sense ofimmediacy to mentorship and a
sense of strategy to it, butthat's one of the biggest things
(33:04):
and so you know I'm trying tobe like you at some point in my
life.
So thank you for being a mentor.
Chris Maher (33:09):
Thank you.
I'll give you that 20 buckslater.
Thank you.
No, it's a great example.
All right.
So, as we wrap up here, andthank you again for the
discussion today, we could go onfor a very long time, but I
think I speak for all of us whenI say that we're all very
bullish on the future ofdisability inclusion and
(33:32):
accessibility and the directionthat it is headed and is going.
And so, as we leave ouraudience, can each of you share
one final thought on why you'refeeling so optimistic about the
future?
And we'll start all the waydown at the end with you, Diego.
Diego Mariscal (33:47):
Why am I feeling so optimistic about the future?
I mean, because we have to be,right.
Like is there another, is thereanother?
People say that I'm an eternaloptimist, but I'm like well, is
there another way to be?
I mean, I think everythingthat's happening right now with
the world is an opportunity toinnovate.
(34:08):
It's an opportunity to reframedisability as a competitive
advantage.
Right, we've long talked aboutdisability from the civil rights
perspective, from this equalaccess, and that obviously has a
time and a place and it'scritical information.
But often the conversationaround innovation is missing,
(34:31):
and I think this moment in timeis particularly important and
there is an opportunity tohighlight the innovation and the
opportunity that comes with thedisability market.
Chris Maher (34:46):
Agreed, well said.
Michael.
Michael Bervell (34:48):
I mean, Diego said it all.
I think the one thing that I'mreally excited about is just
technology.
Like the fact that artificialintelligence allows you to do
more with less data sets.
I think is going to be amassive unlock for people who
are typically not seen in thosedata sets.
So I'll leave it there.
I guess ping me on LinkedIn ifyou want to hear more.
Chris Maher (35:08):
Thank you.
Tomer Aharoni (35:09):
Yeah, I'm doubling down on that.
The tech is out there.
Today you can literallydescribe what you want and AI
will build it for you, and it'sjust the best time ever to build
and to build for more peopleand represent more people, and
I'm really excited.
Chris Maher (35:26):
Yeah, agreed, and they way that I would sum it up,
and all of you touched on it.
I don't think there's ever beena moment in history where we
have an opportunity, if we worktogether, to create a world for
all of us instead of some of us,and so that's super exciting.
Gentlemen, thank you for yourtime today.
Everybody, thank you forwatching.
(35:48):
We hope you enjoy the rest ofthe summit and we'll see you
soon.
Kelvin Crosby (35:52):
That wraps up Investing in Accessibility.
As I always say, go live beyondyour challenges and we'll see
you in two weeks.
Thank you for listening toInvesting in Accessibility, a
Samaritan Partners podcast,where we invest in change, for
(36:14):
accessibility, not wait forchange.
If you want to follow us, youcan find us on YouTube or
LinkedIn at @Samaritan Partners.
If you would like to invest inSamaritan Partners, email chris
at chris@samaritanpartners.
com.
If you'd like to learn moreabout us, go to www.
samaritanpartners.
com.
You can take the first step ininvesting in change by giving us
(36:37):
five stars and sharing thispodcast with everybody that you
know, so we can spread the word,so that we can give access to
all by Investing inAccessibility.
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