November 11, 2025 • 32 mins
In today's episode, we learn how Latchmi Raghunanan used her background in product development and public sector leadership, to make fertility treatment more compassionate, accessible, and pain-free. Entrepreneurs will learn the trials and triumphs of bringing med-tech to market.
Maman Biomedical is developing the world’s first needle-free microneedle patch for fertility treatment. The flagship product, Maman Patch, will deliver sustained-release hormones through dissolvable microneedles - delivering the same drugs, with fewer risks, and none of the needle trauma. Maman's approach reduces pain, improves compliance, and helps patients feel more in control of their reproductive care.
For more information, visit mamanbiomedical.ca
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello, entrepreneurs and self-starters.
This is Rick Phillips from Yeti,and you're listening to the
Startup Sandwich Podcast, theshow that unpacks the
bread-winning basics,juicy-filled journey, and secret
sauce of entrepreneurship.
Let's go.
Welcome back to the StartupSandwich Podcast.
(00:23):
In today's episode, we learn howDr.
Lachmi Ragunanan is reimaginingmedical treatments by delivering
the drugs with fewer risks andnone of the needle trauma.
Drugs, fewer risks, and none ofthe needle trauma.
This is already beginning to bea very curious episode.
So, Lachmi, tell us a little bitabout, I think we should start
(00:45):
with your business, maybe letpeople know a little bit about
what the business is all about.
SPEAKER_01 (00:50):
Sure.
So Mom and Buy Medical, we're anearly stage medical device
startup.
And what we're doing is we'retaking fertility medications
specifically, reformulating themand repackaging them into
alternative formats.
So right now, the currentstandard of care for infertility
is 20 injections in 13 days.
(01:11):
This sucks if you hate takinginjections.
And we're addressing that burdenthrough our secret source here.
Our product is microneedletechnologies.
So think contraceptive patchesand nicotine patches, but more
advanced than that.
And so we deliver drugs directlyinto the body by passing
(01:31):
bypassing traditionallimitations associated with the
skin barrier to deliver thosedrugs inside of the body.
SPEAKER_00 (01:38):
Okay.
I'm going to ask some generalquestions so our audience can
get a sense of where thebusiness is at as well.
Is this nonprofit or for-profit?
SPEAKER_01 (01:47):
For-profit.
SPEAKER_00 (01:48):
And when did you register it?
SPEAKER_01 (01:50):
We incorporated January 2024.
SPEAKER_00 (01:53):
So pretty new.
At what point, or maybe I shouldask it this way, what made you
decide I'm gonna register andincorporate a business?
This is what I'm going to do?
SPEAKER_01 (02:06):
Um so I went through IVF, so our journey comes from
my own lived experience, mineand my husband's.
And we did two cycles of IVF,and each time I I hated taking
those injections, but the burdenwas more than those injections,
and then our wills collided.
So lived experience.
But here's the thing I'm also amaterial scientist.
(02:26):
I've spent a large chunk of mycareer working and developing
similar technologies.
So when I say it has to bebetter, I wasn't just thinking
it.
I knew that better existed andthat I could make it.
And after about a year ofcomplaining about this, I said,
let's start this.
And within two weeks ofthinking, I can solve this,
(02:47):
let's start this, I said, I'mgonna go all in.
Let's actually get thisincorporated.
So by the end of the month, youknow, when I say I convinced my
husband, can we do this?
Can we do this?
Let's do this.
And then I'm like, okay, weincorporated two weeks later and
jumped both all in, well.
SPEAKER_00 (03:06):
How did you build the team?
Uh, because that's a questionthat a lot a lot of
entrepreneurs have, because asyou know, but as a lot of our
listeners probably know, tostart off, you need to develop a
board, board of directors,right?
And so I think a lot of peopleask themselves, who should I
pick?
Should it be family or friends?
Should it be strangers?
(03:26):
Should it be like a have onedoctor, have one lawyer, have
one accountant?
Like how did you make adecision?
How do you, how do you, how'dyou put your board together?
SPEAKER_01 (03:33):
Aaron Powell So I have a board of advisors, and I
chose people who complementedour skill sets.
Not people who knew what I knew,but people who knew what I
didn't know.
Um and people who knew what Ineeded to know to get to market.
SPEAKER_00 (03:50):
Mm-hmm.
So the board of advisors, forthose that may not know, is is
often an easier step, uh, a muchless complicated, especially
legal, less complicated step tothat can either uh be in lieu of
a board at the beginning or itcan uh complement a board of
directors.
And it's really good advice.
Essentially, you can takementors who are already giving
you free advice and and all thatstuff for people you have a
(04:12):
relationship with and ask themto be a member of your board of
advisory.
Is that essentially what youdid?
SPEAKER_01 (04:16):
Yeah.
So we formalized it.
They get, in our case, we giveequity for this relationship.
And uh we've signed contractsand we expect, you know.
So yes, expectations.
They give uh they get equity inreturn.
SPEAKER_00 (04:30):
It's a win-win, right?
I mean, they're probably goingto give you uh some knowledge
anyway, but by having some skinin the game and by getting some
equity, now they're they'rereally gonna do their best to
help the company grow.
SPEAKER_01 (04:40):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (04:41):
Great, great.
So uh what were the first stepsafter you incorporated and you
said, okay, here we go.
Did you have an idea of uh, youknow, step one, step two, step
three, step four, or was itlike, you know, I'm just gonna
first step is uh announced tothe world, did you build a
website?
Did you talk to hospitals?
Like, what was your first step?
SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
My first step, because I'm coming from this
world and I'm a scientist, and Iknow the product development
roadmap, that was the very firstthing I did.
I built out our productdevelopment roadmap.
Um, the steps that we need totake to see this product
through, what regulatory wouldlook like.
So I knew already at high levelwhat the big milestones were
gonna be.
(05:19):
Build that roadmap and looked atwhere they were in our timeline,
um, and then build thecomplementary business plan to
accompany that.
And while I was doing these,concurrently I was applying to
every accelerator and incubatorthat would, you know, that that
I could find doing the researchbecause those were very, very
early days.
SPEAKER_00 (05:38):
Why did you want to join an incubator or an
accelerator?
SPEAKER_01 (05:41):
Because while I knew technically what needed to be
done to build a product, Ididn't know what needed to be
done to make a company, to builda company and take a product to
market.
SPEAKER_00 (05:52):
And so what did you learn on your journey with the
incubators and accelerators?
SPEAKER_01 (05:55):
Oh, so much um pitching, storytelling, um, all
of these skill sets thatcomplement our own.
And, you know, I've been partof, I've embraced every
opportunity that we could getour hands on.
Um joined a lot of incubators,including the Yeti program.
And throughout all of these, Imake sure that it's focused,
tactic, group.
(06:16):
That you know, it's not the samething that we're doing each and
every time from the differentprograms.
So I go in and I again eyes onthat bigger vision that I have,
that roadmap.
And with each program, where weare in that journey, what's the
next stages upcoming and whatshould we be learning?
SPEAKER_00 (06:34):
It's interesting we talked about the roadmap.
And there are some people whosay, well, I we should have a
five-year business plan, forexample, or some people say,
Well, I need a three-yearfinancial plan.
So there are some people,entrepreneurs or business people
that definitely believe in sometype of roadmap.
Are are you flexible with youris is your roadmap the vision
and you're finding ways tocomplete it, or or is it like a
(06:54):
uh like a business plan and moreof a living document that
changes according to what'shappening in reality?
SPEAKER_01 (06:59):
Aaron Powell I'd say it's a bit of both.
Because we're in the medicalspace, there are things that we
can't negotiate on, like theregulatory.
Is irregulatory, that's fixed.
Um, but there are aspects of ithave been able to move,
restructure, reorganize, becauseum we're very early stage and
I'm thinking strategic.
Um trying to get a lot of thingsdone without funding, with
(07:21):
limited resources.
And so it's where, so you know,big vision, but project
management plan also not workinglinearly.
What can I be doing concurrentlyto maximize time, to accelerate
and you know, basically the riskas much as possible, not just
technically, but commercially,um, strategically as we grow.
(07:43):
So that's where it's reallyflexible and mobile.
But at the same time, we can't,you know, I you figure out your
regulatory roadmap, and that'sset in stone.
SPEAKER_00 (07:54):
There are, I'm gonna speak a bit general as a as a as
a person involved withentrepreneurship myself and with
Yeti.
There are, I find, a lot ofentrepreneurs that we meet that
are in the medical space, in theCanadian healthcare space.
Maybe they've got an app to thethis, maybe they've got a
service for that.
Oftentimes these businesses arevery difficult to come to
fruition because I mean I guessbecause the government is the
(08:18):
government and because thehealthcare system is is uh is
the way it is and it's hard tomove.
So I'd like to know yourexperience with regulatory
aspects of it, or just trying tohave provide a service uh that I
guess complements the healthcaresystem, but dealing with it
because as I said, there's a lotof people with great ideas and
(08:38):
great intentions that that get alot of roadblocks put up when it
comes to the Canadian healthcaresystem.
What's your experience?
SPEAKER_01 (08:45):
Again, because I come from the inside already.
Um and so I've known early onthat you need to have clinical
buy-in.
Um, our problem solves a problemfrom the user perspective, from
the patient perspective.
But I've not lost sight thatit's the doctors who prescribe
(09:06):
this.
So they are still gatekeepers.
I need to have clinics buy intoour products early on.
Um and so that's I thinksomething a lot of people
overlook when they're planningto get their products into
market.
Uh you can build a greatproduct, but if the clinics
aren't implementing it, um thenit goes nowhere.
(09:26):
And it's not just the doctorswho want it, doctors can want
your product, but who'sresponsible for buying?
Who is the signing authority?
What are your roadblocks gettingin their ways?
So you have to be solvingeverybody's problem to get
everybody interested, eventhough at the end of the day
it's a use up button at the endof.
SPEAKER_00 (09:45):
Is this a B2B model, a B2C model, a bit of both,
right?
SPEAKER_01 (09:49):
Yeah, B2B2C.
SPEAKER_00 (09:50):
Yeah, B2B to C.
So you've got to make sure thatthe clinics are happy and they
have buy-in.
You've got to make sure thedoctors are are willing to
essentially sign off on it anduse it.
And you've also got to make surethat the end user, the customer,
the hopeful mothers, I suppose,uh that they would also be
interested in doing that, right?
So when you're creating yourpitching, when you're creating
your business plan, when you'recreating your marketing, you
(10:12):
you've got three differenttarget markets in mind, I guess,
right?
How's that?
SPEAKER_01 (10:15):
For investors.
SPEAKER_00 (10:17):
On investors, of course.
Let's not forget the investors.
So so how do you keep your headstraight about that and make
sure that you're delivering theright message to everyone?
SPEAKER_01 (10:25):
So right now, this is exactly where I'm at right
now because we're we're gettingready to relaunch our
fundraising campaign.
And I've just done this homeworkto segment messaging for
different audiences.
Um and uh it's about so I leadour social media campaigns to um
message in.
(10:46):
Basically, my guiding principleis how can I consolidate these
messages without beingoverwhelming while still
speaking to the unique audienceand keeping that message.
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (10:56):
And I want to just make sure I'm understanding this
right.
Um what I think is that whensomeone's uh creating the
marketing materials and thesocial media materials for their
business, that they're coming upwith uh, you know, we call them
power phrases or common phrasesthat are useful in branding.
And that so the theme of yourbusiness is is everywhere.
However, the sentences and theexact words and stuff might
(11:18):
change according to thedifferent mediums.
Is that correct?
That's correct.
You're trying to find this kindof a brand identity that can be
in all of them, at the same timetargeting it towards the the
investor or the moms or theparents, or should say not just
moms, but the the uh uh parents,uh, et cetera.
SPEAKER_01 (11:32):
I like the term you use your moms to be or the
hopeful mums.
SPEAKER_00 (11:36):
Hopeful mums?
Okay, great.
Um, let's talk a little bitabout the the thing itself.
From needles to patches, or likelet's simplify the product
itself.
You don't have to give anywayany trade secrets or any of
that, but let people know alittle bit more.
I know we talked a little bitabout it at the beginning, but
let's slow down and talk alittle bit more about what is
the unique value that yourproduct is bringing to the
(11:58):
market.
SPEAKER_01 (12:00):
So uh current, if I reset the problem, it's not just
the injections, but and puttingit into context, that 20
injections in 13 days, that wasmy experience.
Some women have to take as manyas 50 injections in this
two-week period.
Many people never even undergofertility treatment because of
the needles.
(12:21):
Or those undergoing it thinkthat this is something they have
to do and go, iron the pricethat you want a baby, this is
the the hard part that you haveto go through.
Um each injection, so yes, nowbesides the injection, each
injection delivers way excesshormones into the body than you
(12:42):
actually clinically need.
And that has to do with thechemistry and biology of the
molecules.
They don't last long once youinject it.
But so that you're not injectingevery 30 minutes.
I mean, 24 hours is a big thingcompared to 30 minutes.
Um, you have to inject that thathuge payload.
Um and so our technologyaddresses this, and it also
(13:03):
addresses when you're doctorsfor doctors and nurses who see
this every day, they don't thinkabout this part of the journey.
Having somebody who has nevergiven themselves an injection,
you have to go home and look atthis needle, and you know,
there's this hype to overcome,to say it's not even if you have
(13:23):
no fear of the needles, to workyourself up, to to stick
yourself, that also takessomething.
And then at each part of that,there's so many points of I've
calculated.
220 points on an entire cycle,at which you can make a mistake
that could ruin that entirecycle.
And remember, women undergoingfertility treatment are often
(13:44):
racing against the clock.
So time is important.
Each of these you pay out ofpocket for, it's expensive.
Medications cost in addition toCN deductors.
Um, so it's a huge burden if youmake a mistake and that cycle
fails.
Thinking about all of those.
So those are the three corepropositions that we addressed
(14:04):
in needles.
The probability that you make amistake that ruins that cycle,
as well as the amount ofhormones that you have to
inject.
And now what we do is instead ofan injection, we're entirely
reformulating that using againmy chemistry background to put
these into our needle-freepatches.
And so you stick a patch on,that's eliminates a lot of the
(14:28):
workflow that's associated withthe needles.
Also, in our reformulation, weeliminate or we reduce the
amount of hormones that you haveto put in.
So we can basically get the sameefficacy with less.
And that's what we're doing.
SPEAKER_00 (14:43):
And it's interesting because I think everyone can
understand that when we saysomething like, oh, so instead
of having a bunch of needles,you have a patch.
Even on that simplistic level.
And then the next question mightbe: hasn't anyone thought of
this before?
SPEAKER_01 (14:56):
And when I say this, it's, you know, it's like I get
asked a lot, like, why doesn'tthis already exist?
Why has no one thought of this?
And even when I did my fertilitytreatment, it was my same
reaction.
Why doesn't this exist?
Because again, like I say, I'veworked on similar technologies
in the past.
I looked across to other areasof medicine that I know,
(15:19):
diabetes.
There's so much innovation inthe diabetes space.
And I I looked back at fertilityand there was no innovation in
the fertility space.
SPEAKER_00 (15:28):
So it was ripe for the taking.
It needed that innovation.
And it's interesting, and thisis maybe a conversation we don't
have to have, but the idea thatin some spaces in the healthcare
there there is this innovation,maybe an openness to it.
In other spaces, there thereisn't.
It's slower.
So now that you have havecreated this, how is the
Canadian healthcare industry interms of the fertility side
(15:49):
taking it?
Are they opening you withwelcome arms?
Are they are they nervous?
How are you approaching that?
SPEAKER_01 (15:55):
I'd say right now the industry is very welcoming
and with so much innovation nowhappening around the space.
So in the drug delivery space,we're the only ones there right
now.
Um but in hormones in general,in all of the associated um
what, spaces around the userexperience, telehealth, lots of
(16:19):
startups in the in the fertilityspace and reproductive space,
you know, that I've seen in thelast two years pop up.
So um basically, I think theindustry is very welcome in for
change.
Yeah, patients want it,consumers, um, the industry
itself, people want change.
SPEAKER_00 (16:37):
Let's talk a bit about where you are where are
you at now with my mom bybiomedical on that roadmap.
So, at what stage are you now?
For example, is this stillmarket research?
Are you in clinical trials?
Are you are you uh doing uhdoing this already?
Are there patients that areusing your treatment?
Let us know a little bit aboutwhere you're at.
SPEAKER_01 (16:54):
So, yeah, um we I've got aggressive plans to bring
our first product to market intwo years.
Now, for medical device startup,I have to say aggressive because
um to bring a product to marketin three years is especially in
our case, we're class two.
Um I get a lot of head stung atme when I say this.
But look at what we've done inthe year and a half since we've
(17:17):
been founded.
I do believe we can bring thisto market in two years.
Patients want it, we candeliver, we're working to
deliver it.
Um so that so that's where weare, and lots of work to get
that first product here.
And so now we're looking atfundraising, at the regulatory
milestones, um, while deliveringon those, at um manufacturing.
(17:41):
So we've developed withprototype, we've got our
prototypes, functionalprototypes, and we're at the
stage now where we're moving andworking on the user features to
move from prototype to lock in aform factor that we can take to
manufacture and say, make thisat the skills now that we want,
that we can go do our studieson, clinical studies, which we
(18:02):
need for FDA applications.
SPEAKER_00 (18:04):
So prototype is very important.
Uh let's talk a bit aboutfundraising.
A lot of entrepreneurs, ofcourse, are thinking about
money.
And a lot of entrepreneurs, Ithink, they kind of have this
idea of if I get a lot of money,whether it's my own or whether I
borrow it or get it or steal itor whatever, if I get a lot of
money, I'll be able to doeverything in the first year.
And they it's almost like, and Idon't want to put words in your
(18:26):
mouth, but I guess I'll speakfrom my experience, it's almost
like a curse.
If if entrepreneurs actually doget a ton of money, whatever
that means according to theirbusiness, in the first year,
they often blow through it inthe first year.
And then they don't have thesales to back up what they
thought they would have, theseamazing sales after year one,
but they they often don't.
And and so in some ways, it'sgood not to have a ton of money
at the beginning, and I'mgeneralizing here.
(18:46):
So I without being too specific,I want to know your experience
with fundraising or with thisidea of, you know, these
discussions with your board.
What are we going to do in termsof uh bootstrapping versus
asking the uh maybe governmentfunding?
Uh there's there's angelinvestors out there, there's
banks, there's BDC.
Let tell us a little bit abouthow you're handling the
(19:07):
fundraising.
SPEAKER_01 (19:08):
We're tapping into all resources.
Right now, we're looking at thebanks um because banks are, I
say right now it's cheap,cheaper money than uh angel or
invest investor money becauseyou give up equity for those
those money.
Um but we are looking toinvestors also, angels
(19:28):
especially, um, or particularlyat our stage, uh, where the
angels come in.
Um in terms of we're verydisciplined in terms of what
what we're raising and whatwe're going to use that money
for.
Because each raise, um,especially well, yeah, it
applies to all sectors, but anylife science, it's capital
(19:51):
intensive.
Um, and like I said, long roadto market.
So our patch is gonna be atleast an eight to ten year um
timeline before we get thatproduct to market, the flagship
product.
Um so very capital intensive.
We're looking at spending over$30 million to commercialize the
flagship product.
(20:11):
Um that's gonna take a lot ofcompany.
We're in terms of equity, we'regonna have to give up a lot of
money.
And so when I say aboutdiscipline, how much we raise
now and what we do with that,and hitting the milestones to
make sure that we have a companythat remains investable at each
round that we invest in requiresthat you're constantly keeping
(20:34):
an eye on the bigger picture.
SPEAKER_00 (20:35):
Aaron Powell And I suppose you always have to have
an idea of your valuation,right?
Because each each time you doget new funding, especially with
investors, uh angel investors orother, there is this idea that
potentially you're gonna have togive up some sort of equity
percentage.
And so you want to have youridea of the valuation.
They've got their idea, justlike we see in these TV shows,
right?
With the entrepreneurs go on andthey're they're asking for X
amount of money for whateverpercentage, and usually the
(20:57):
negotiations over thepercentages.
So do you have someone on yourteam that is really good at uh
the valuation aspect?
Because I think that a lot ofentrepreneurs would worry how do
they create or how do they getan accurate valuation of their
company?
SPEAKER_01 (21:10):
So, no, right, we've learned everything.
Um, you know, I've learned thefinancial aspects, this
valuation part, but there areresources within the ecosystem
to help.
Um I've done, I I so CATA hasbeen a huge huge resource for
myself.
Um, we've done research ummentors' advisors again within
(21:30):
the incubators, they can helppoint you in the right
directions where people canvalidate the assumptions that we
make.
Um I've tied our valuation veryclosely to milestones.
So looking at the expectationsthat investors expect per round,
and that's what you youassociate.
So in my case, right?
(21:51):
So it's not surprising.
I've heard our valuation, youknow, different people speak
already.
Um Equivesto is a platform thatwe're currently using for the
fundraising right now, and theydid the internal validation.
And it came right mark where Itargeted to be.
Nice.
And that's because of themilestones that I set that says,
(22:11):
oh, a precede round, you shouldbe hitting X, Y, Z milestones.
That's what we make sure we'rehitting.
So then when whoever is doingtheir due diligence sees that,
so yeah, it's very outcome-basedon milestones.
SPEAKER_00 (22:27):
It's it's amazing listening to you because you can
clearly hear the business personand the and the planner, right?
And the the operations manager.
You can just you can just hearthat in your voice.
It's amazing.
And it has to be, right?
It's a serious product, you haveto be serious about it.
I want to go back a little bitand ask you, and this is a bit
of a selfish question, but umwhat why did you choose Yeti?
What did you what did you gainfrom Yeti?
(22:47):
What was your experience withYeti?
Let's talk a bit about thatexperience.
SPEAKER_01 (22:51):
Yeti was one of the earlier programs that I did, um,
coming right out of my firstincubator and my first win.
But Yeti was and remainsdifferent to a lot of the other
incubators that I've done since,in that it was very academic.
And by academic, I don't meanit's a bad thing.
I mean that it was sofundamentally deep that, you
(23:14):
know, I'm I'm coming from aresearch background myself.
So I resonated with it.
But for someone who is technicallike myself, going that
in-depth, now I guess what youhear, a lot of what you hear.
Um, so I knew project managementgoing in, but then complement
that with all of the otherthings that we have to keep an
eye on.
(23:34):
It's not just high-levelintroductory to marketing, it's
deep dive into what goes intomarketing and what goes into a
financial plan and thestorytelling aspects and why
storytelling is important.
Um, very deep dives into theselittle, well, big disciplines
that make up a comprehensiveoverview of the business.
SPEAKER_00 (23:55):
Makes sense.
Yeah, there's a lot of educationat Yeti for in different aspects
of of running a business orentrepreneurship.
And and on top of that, there'sthese classmates as well, right?
That you you can people in yourcohort that you can talk to,
alumni, uh, mentors that maybeis through there, and then the
other incubators andaccelerators you attended as
well.
So it sounds like you've you'vereally built a really strong
(24:16):
support system network.
And then I I guess you can youcan use them when you need, so
to speak, and tap them forthings, whether they're advisory
roles or or others, right?
So talk a little bit about yourjourney on building your
network, your professionalnetwork for this business.
SPEAKER_01 (24:31):
Yep, that was a strategic decision.
Um, again.
So we were unique in that wewere not founded or spun out
from any universities.
And you find a lot of deep techstartups um at university
spin-outs, and they have thathead start.
Um, a lot of the science isde-risked by the time they get
(24:52):
to saying we're a real company,and so it's easier to raise
money.
Whereas ours was spun out fromour kitchen countertops.
That's our story.
Um and so it was really hard tocome by opportunities and
resources early on.
And I realized that I needed acommunity behind me.
We I would have I I looked atthe other startups in the
(25:15):
ecosystem and had applied forall of these, you know,
opportunities, funding programs,and realized that I kept seeing,
you know, the same companiesbeing getting those
opportunities.
And I said, I need to become oneof those.
And uh, well, long story short,18 months later, Maman is a very
(25:35):
common or popular name now.
We're well, well grounded withinthe ecosystem.
We've worked hard.
Um, you know, every opportunityis I've been saying yes to every
single thing.
Um so stress visibility has beenimportant, growing a community,
establishing my brand, knowingwhat the company stands for, our
(25:56):
authenticity.
Um and yeah, that thatcommunity.
And so it's not always it's it'shard putting yourself out, yeah.
It's really tough.
Um, but you do it, your com andyour community shows up when you
need them over and over again.
SPEAKER_00 (26:12):
Community is a very important word when we talk
about entrepreneurship too,right?
Whether that's uh people thatwould be your would-be customers
or whether that are peoplegiving advice or feedback, uh
people that support you.
It's amazing that uh to have acommunity because
entrepreneurship is is notreally an easy life, is it?
Right?
A lot of a lot of stress and uhsome ups and downs, right?
SPEAKER_01 (26:33):
Oh yeah.
unknown (26:33):
Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (26:34):
I think if we heard someone talking about it being
really easy, I think we'd we'dboth be skeptical, right?
Right.
And so you you're you're on thisjourney and it sounds like
you're all in, you're you'redoing you're busy, you're doing
things, you're building yourcommunity and your board, you're
uh I want to ask a funnyquestion.
As a technical person, you youyou announced yourself as a
technical person to explore thissoft skills idea of branding and
(26:57):
marketing and sales and pitchingand storytelling.
How was that something likeinteresting?
Was that scary?
Was that difficult?
Because uh there are some timesthat these hard skills and soft
skills really seem to be anocean apart from each other.
SPEAKER_01 (27:10):
It was definitely new to learn.
I didn't it was new.
I wouldn't say difficult andvery intensive.
A lot I picked up along the way.
Um but I'd say the technicalaspects are the way I learn.
So maybe that's driven by mytechnical nature.
(27:31):
Um and the way that we've toldour story, I've always been
insistent that, you know, I'veworked with marketing people.
And I kept fighting with my teamearlier in early days.
Um that's too fluffy.
What is the real story behindthis message?
And that I've I've seen memesthat say it's different when you
speak to a product um um or aproduct manager versus uh a
(27:55):
marketing manager, and how theytell the messaging and their
story.
And I find that a lot of what Iwanted came from the technical
aspect, the product featureaspect.
And so it's not just we're goingto solve the problem for the
world, but it's why or what arewe doing.
Uh every for every message,there's a so what, so what
(28:17):
impact.
And I've heard from ourcommunity um that our story
resonates, uh, our messaging.
Actually, um more than oneperson has told me if this
doesn't work out and I needanother another career, I do
have one in communications.
SPEAKER_00 (28:33):
Nice.
Now you're speaking my language.
Very good.
I think that's so important thatuh entrepreneurs, whatever their
background might be, uhtechnical background or other,
that they understand that theyneed both the hard skills and
the soft skills.
They need that because if ifsomeone pitches a very
technical-oriented base, orlet's say it's an app they're
developing and they're talkingall IT language, but but nobody
(28:55):
understands them.
And by nobody I mean the generalpopulation or the general
investor, the general banker,then that great product may may
never get developed.
And and they're thinking, whyit's such a great product?
Well, because we don'tunderstand what the hell you're
talking about.
And and they may not it's a giftif people will tell you that,
because not everybody will tellyou.
Right?
SPEAKER_01 (29:14):
Yeah, I'd like to jump in here.
Um actually, and as youre-articulated, DI realized this
was unique.
This was a skill I learnedduring my PhD.
Um so my PhD supervisor getsthis credit here.
Uh, because my PhD was not justacademic, it was very industrial
focused.
Um, a lot of stakeholderengagement, but not just with
(29:36):
the technical people who had tobuy in, but we did a lot of
community engagement too.
And I got the opportunity topresent my work as a scientist
to non technical audiences.
SPEAKER_00 (29:48):
Great.
SPEAKER_01 (29:48):
And I had to learn that skill, how to break down
the science so that everyonewill understand.
So that's a skill that stayedwith me over my entire career.
SPEAKER_00 (29:57):
Did you do the 3MT pitch?
The three MT pitch.
You did?
So there it's an inside story,but uh this is something when I
teach at Yeti, I talk about the3MT pitch.
It's not my invention, it's thethree-minute thesis pitch.
It's when students who are goingthrough their master's or PhD uh
need to take three minutes withone static slide and tell a
general audience what theirthesis is all about.
And that's exactly what you hadthe opportunity to do because it
(30:19):
forces people, whether they'restudying the next cure for
cancer or infertility or thebird migration patterns,
whatever it might be, can ageneral audience understand it?
And and the winners go on frominter-universe university to
global competitions.
So that's 3MT pitch or 3MTthesis for those entrepreneurs
that want to see what that's allabout.
Because to me, it's the same.
If an entrepreneur can'tcommunicate simply their idea to
(30:42):
a general audience, then that'ssomething they better, they
better work on.
Great.
I'm gonna start wrapping thisup.
I want to ask a question becausewe are talking about, you know,
the startup sandwich podcast, asyou know, we talk about
sandwiches.
A good sandwich has a goodsauce.
For entrepreneurship, it's uhit's it's innovation or it's a
it's literally a secret sauce, asecret formula.
I know you mentioned a littlebit at the beginning, but I want
to go back to this.
(31:02):
If you had to put your finger onwhat is the the secret sauce of
your business, Maman Medical,what would it be?
SPEAKER_01 (31:08):
I'd say, and this is not boasting, but it's me.
Um it's it's because it's notjust that we know how to solve
this, but it's everything's cometogether at the right time.
I'd say there's a lot in mybackground that's gotten me to
(31:30):
this moment where I'm motivatedto solve this problem.
I know how to solve thisproblem, and now I have all of
these hard skills and softskills to solve this problem.
SPEAKER_00 (31:40):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (31:40):
Uh not just solve this problem, to build this
company successfully.
SPEAKER_00 (31:44):
And sometimes, uh, as Oleg said, time is nothing,
timing is everything.
And maybe that the timing isjust perfect, right?
Very good, Lachmi.
Thank you so much for joiningand chatting.
The last thing I want to do isuh if people want to learn more
about you or Mam and Medical,where can they find you?
SPEAKER_01 (31:59):
So we're on LinkedIn.
Um I yep, find me on LinkedIn,find Mom and Buy Medical on
LinkedIn, our website also, umas as it's pronounced, um mom
and by medical.ca.
Um Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:14):
Great, great.
And I I think that what you'redoing is a wonderful service for
the for the community as well,right?
There's a lot of couples that Ithink are very, very much
looking forward to that 10 yearsto go fast where your product
will be on the market.
Thank you so much, Lachmi, forjoining us.
Really appreciate you joining uson the Startup Sandwich and best
of luck with everything.
Thanks so much, Rick.
Thank you for watching.
And be sure to subscribe onYouTube or wherever you check
out your podcasts.
(32:34):
Until next time, keep turningsmall bites into big wins.
Hello, entrepreneurs and self-starters.
This is Rick Phillips from Yeti,and you're listening to the
Startup Sandwich Podcast, theshow that unpacks the
bread-winning basics,juicy-filled journey, and secret
sauce of entrepreneurship.
Let's go.
Welcome back to the StartupSandwich Podcast.
(00:23):
In today's episode, we learn howDr.
Lachmi Ragunanan is reimaginingmedical treatments by delivering
the drugs with fewer risks andnone of the needle trauma.
Drugs, fewer risks, and none ofthe needle trauma.
This is already beginning to bea very curious episode.
So, Lachmi, tell us a little bitabout, I think we should start
(00:45):
with your business, maybe letpeople know a little bit about
what the business is all about.
SPEAKER_01 (00:50):
Sure.
So Mom and Buy Medical, we're anearly stage medical device
startup.
And what we're doing is we'retaking fertility medications
specifically, reformulating themand repackaging them into
alternative formats.
So right now, the currentstandard of care for infertility
is 20 injections in 13 days.
(01:11):
This sucks if you hate takinginjections.
And we're addressing that burdenthrough our secret source here.
Our product is microneedletechnologies.
So think contraceptive patchesand nicotine patches, but more
advanced than that.
And so we deliver drugs directlyinto the body by passing
(01:31):
bypassing traditionallimitations associated with the
skin barrier to deliver thosedrugs inside of the body.
SPEAKER_00 (01:38):
Okay.
I'm going to ask some generalquestions so our audience can
get a sense of where thebusiness is at as well.
Is this nonprofit or for-profit?
SPEAKER_01 (01:47):
For-profit.
SPEAKER_00 (01:48):
And when did you register it?
SPEAKER_01 (01:50):
We incorporated January 2024.
SPEAKER_00 (01:53):
So pretty new.
At what point, or maybe I shouldask it this way, what made you
decide I'm gonna register andincorporate a business?
This is what I'm going to do?
SPEAKER_01 (02:06):
Um so I went through IVF, so our journey comes from
my own lived experience, mineand my husband's.
And we did two cycles of IVF,and each time I I hated taking
those injections, but the burdenwas more than those injections,
and then our wills collided.
So lived experience.
But here's the thing I'm also amaterial scientist.
(02:26):
I've spent a large chunk of mycareer working and developing
similar technologies.
So when I say it has to bebetter, I wasn't just thinking
it.
I knew that better existed andthat I could make it.
And after about a year ofcomplaining about this, I said,
let's start this.
And within two weeks ofthinking, I can solve this,
(02:47):
let's start this, I said, I'mgonna go all in.
Let's actually get thisincorporated.
So by the end of the month, youknow, when I say I convinced my
husband, can we do this?
Can we do this?
Let's do this.
And then I'm like, okay, weincorporated two weeks later and
jumped both all in, well.
SPEAKER_00 (03:06):
How did you build the team?
Uh, because that's a questionthat a lot a lot of
entrepreneurs have, because asyou know, but as a lot of our
listeners probably know, tostart off, you need to develop a
board, board of directors,right?
And so I think a lot of peopleask themselves, who should I
pick?
Should it be family or friends?
Should it be strangers?
(03:26):
Should it be like a have onedoctor, have one lawyer, have
one accountant?
Like how did you make adecision?
How do you, how do you, how'dyou put your board together?
SPEAKER_01 (03:33):
Aaron Powell So I have a board of advisors, and I
chose people who complementedour skill sets.
Not people who knew what I knew,but people who knew what I
didn't know.
Um and people who knew what Ineeded to know to get to market.
SPEAKER_00 (03:50):
Mm-hmm.
So the board of advisors, forthose that may not know, is is
often an easier step, uh, a muchless complicated, especially
legal, less complicated step tothat can either uh be in lieu of
a board at the beginning or itcan uh complement a board of
directors.
And it's really good advice.
Essentially, you can takementors who are already giving
you free advice and and all thatstuff for people you have a
(04:12):
relationship with and ask themto be a member of your board of
advisory.
Is that essentially what youdid?
SPEAKER_01 (04:16):
Yeah.
So we formalized it.
They get, in our case, we giveequity for this relationship.
And uh we've signed contractsand we expect, you know.
So yes, expectations.
They give uh they get equity inreturn.
SPEAKER_00 (04:30):
It's a win-win, right?
I mean, they're probably goingto give you uh some knowledge
anyway, but by having some skinin the game and by getting some
equity, now they're they'rereally gonna do their best to
help the company grow.
SPEAKER_01 (04:40):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (04:41):
Great, great.
So uh what were the first stepsafter you incorporated and you
said, okay, here we go.
Did you have an idea of uh, youknow, step one, step two, step
three, step four, or was itlike, you know, I'm just gonna
first step is uh announced tothe world, did you build a
website?
Did you talk to hospitals?
Like, what was your first step?
SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
My first step, because I'm coming from this
world and I'm a scientist, and Iknow the product development
roadmap, that was the very firstthing I did.
I built out our productdevelopment roadmap.
Um, the steps that we need totake to see this product
through, what regulatory wouldlook like.
So I knew already at high levelwhat the big milestones were
gonna be.
(05:19):
Build that roadmap and looked atwhere they were in our timeline,
um, and then build thecomplementary business plan to
accompany that.
And while I was doing these,concurrently I was applying to
every accelerator and incubatorthat would, you know, that that
I could find doing the researchbecause those were very, very
early days.
SPEAKER_00 (05:38):
Why did you want to join an incubator or an
accelerator?
SPEAKER_01 (05:41):
Because while I knew technically what needed to be
done to build a product, Ididn't know what needed to be
done to make a company, to builda company and take a product to
market.
SPEAKER_00 (05:52):
And so what did you learn on your journey with the
incubators and accelerators?
SPEAKER_01 (05:55):
Oh, so much um pitching, storytelling, um, all
of these skill sets thatcomplement our own.
And, you know, I've been partof, I've embraced every
opportunity that we could getour hands on.
Um joined a lot of incubators,including the Yeti program.
And throughout all of these, Imake sure that it's focused,
tactic, group.
(06:16):
That you know, it's not the samething that we're doing each and
every time from the differentprograms.
So I go in and I again eyes onthat bigger vision that I have,
that roadmap.
And with each program, where weare in that journey, what's the
next stages upcoming and whatshould we be learning?
SPEAKER_00 (06:34):
It's interesting we talked about the roadmap.
And there are some people whosay, well, I we should have a
five-year business plan, forexample, or some people say,
Well, I need a three-yearfinancial plan.
So there are some people,entrepreneurs or business people
that definitely believe in sometype of roadmap.
Are are you flexible with youris is your roadmap the vision
and you're finding ways tocomplete it, or or is it like a
(06:54):
uh like a business plan and moreof a living document that
changes according to what'shappening in reality?
SPEAKER_01 (06:59):
Aaron Powell I'd say it's a bit of both.
Because we're in the medicalspace, there are things that we
can't negotiate on, like theregulatory.
Is irregulatory, that's fixed.
Um, but there are aspects of ithave been able to move,
restructure, reorganize, becauseum we're very early stage and
I'm thinking strategic.
Um trying to get a lot of thingsdone without funding, with
(07:21):
limited resources.
And so it's where, so you know,big vision, but project
management plan also not workinglinearly.
What can I be doing concurrentlyto maximize time, to accelerate
and you know, basically the riskas much as possible, not just
technically, but commercially,um, strategically as we grow.
(07:43):
So that's where it's reallyflexible and mobile.
But at the same time, we can't,you know, I you figure out your
regulatory roadmap, and that'sset in stone.
SPEAKER_00 (07:54):
There are, I'm gonna speak a bit general as a as a as
a person involved withentrepreneurship myself and with
Yeti.
There are, I find, a lot ofentrepreneurs that we meet that
are in the medical space, in theCanadian healthcare space.
Maybe they've got an app to thethis, maybe they've got a
service for that.
Oftentimes these businesses arevery difficult to come to
fruition because I mean I guessbecause the government is the
(08:18):
government and because thehealthcare system is is uh is
the way it is and it's hard tomove.
So I'd like to know yourexperience with regulatory
aspects of it, or just trying tohave provide a service uh that I
guess complements the healthcaresystem, but dealing with it
because as I said, there's a lotof people with great ideas and
(08:38):
great intentions that that get alot of roadblocks put up when it
comes to the Canadian healthcaresystem.
What's your experience?
SPEAKER_01 (08:45):
Again, because I come from the inside already.
Um and so I've known early onthat you need to have clinical
buy-in.
Um, our problem solves a problemfrom the user perspective, from
the patient perspective.
But I've not lost sight thatit's the doctors who prescribe
(09:06):
this.
So they are still gatekeepers.
I need to have clinics buy intoour products early on.
Um and so that's I thinksomething a lot of people
overlook when they're planningto get their products into
market.
Uh you can build a greatproduct, but if the clinics
aren't implementing it, um thenit goes nowhere.
(09:26):
And it's not just the doctorswho want it, doctors can want
your product, but who'sresponsible for buying?
Who is the signing authority?
What are your roadblocks gettingin their ways?
So you have to be solvingeverybody's problem to get
everybody interested, eventhough at the end of the day
it's a use up button at the endof.
SPEAKER_00 (09:45):
Is this a B2B model, a B2C model, a bit of both,
right?
SPEAKER_01 (09:49):
Yeah, B2B2C.
SPEAKER_00 (09:50):
Yeah, B2B to C.
So you've got to make sure thatthe clinics are happy and they
have buy-in.
You've got to make sure thedoctors are are willing to
essentially sign off on it anduse it.
And you've also got to make surethat the end user, the customer,
the hopeful mothers, I suppose,uh that they would also be
interested in doing that, right?
So when you're creating yourpitching, when you're creating
your business plan, when you'recreating your marketing, you
(10:12):
you've got three differenttarget markets in mind, I guess,
right?
How's that?
SPEAKER_01 (10:15):
For investors.
SPEAKER_00 (10:17):
On investors, of course.
Let's not forget the investors.
So so how do you keep your headstraight about that and make
sure that you're delivering theright message to everyone?
SPEAKER_01 (10:25):
So right now, this is exactly where I'm at right
now because we're we're gettingready to relaunch our
fundraising campaign.
And I've just done this homeworkto segment messaging for
different audiences.
Um and uh it's about so I leadour social media campaigns to um
message in.
(10:46):
Basically, my guiding principleis how can I consolidate these
messages without beingoverwhelming while still
speaking to the unique audienceand keeping that message.
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (10:56):
And I want to just make sure I'm understanding this
right.
Um what I think is that whensomeone's uh creating the
marketing materials and thesocial media materials for their
business, that they're coming upwith uh, you know, we call them
power phrases or common phrasesthat are useful in branding.
And that so the theme of yourbusiness is is everywhere.
However, the sentences and theexact words and stuff might
(11:18):
change according to thedifferent mediums.
Is that correct?
That's correct.
You're trying to find this kindof a brand identity that can be
in all of them, at the same timetargeting it towards the the
investor or the moms or theparents, or should say not just
moms, but the the uh uh parents,uh, et cetera.
SPEAKER_01 (11:32):
I like the term you use your moms to be or the
hopeful mums.
SPEAKER_00 (11:36):
Hopeful mums?
Okay, great.
Um, let's talk a little bitabout the the thing itself.
From needles to patches, or likelet's simplify the product
itself.
You don't have to give anywayany trade secrets or any of
that, but let people know alittle bit more.
I know we talked a little bitabout it at the beginning, but
let's slow down and talk alittle bit more about what is
the unique value that yourproduct is bringing to the
(11:58):
market.
SPEAKER_01 (12:00):
So uh current, if I reset the problem, it's not just
the injections, but and puttingit into context, that 20
injections in 13 days, that wasmy experience.
Some women have to take as manyas 50 injections in this
two-week period.
Many people never even undergofertility treatment because of
the needles.
(12:21):
Or those undergoing it thinkthat this is something they have
to do and go, iron the pricethat you want a baby, this is
the the hard part that you haveto go through.
Um each injection, so yes, nowbesides the injection, each
injection delivers way excesshormones into the body than you
(12:42):
actually clinically need.
And that has to do with thechemistry and biology of the
molecules.
They don't last long once youinject it.
But so that you're not injectingevery 30 minutes.
I mean, 24 hours is a big thingcompared to 30 minutes.
Um, you have to inject that thathuge payload.
Um and so our technologyaddresses this, and it also
(13:03):
addresses when you're doctorsfor doctors and nurses who see
this every day, they don't thinkabout this part of the journey.
Having somebody who has nevergiven themselves an injection,
you have to go home and look atthis needle, and you know,
there's this hype to overcome,to say it's not even if you have
(13:23):
no fear of the needles, to workyourself up, to to stick
yourself, that also takessomething.
And then at each part of that,there's so many points of I've
calculated.
220 points on an entire cycle,at which you can make a mistake
that could ruin that entirecycle.
And remember, women undergoingfertility treatment are often
(13:44):
racing against the clock.
So time is important.
Each of these you pay out ofpocket for, it's expensive.
Medications cost in addition toCN deductors.
Um, so it's a huge burden if youmake a mistake and that cycle
fails.
Thinking about all of those.
So those are the three corepropositions that we addressed
(14:04):
in needles.
The probability that you make amistake that ruins that cycle,
as well as the amount ofhormones that you have to
inject.
And now what we do is instead ofan injection, we're entirely
reformulating that using againmy chemistry background to put
these into our needle-freepatches.
And so you stick a patch on,that's eliminates a lot of the
(14:28):
workflow that's associated withthe needles.
Also, in our reformulation, weeliminate or we reduce the
amount of hormones that you haveto put in.
So we can basically get the sameefficacy with less.
And that's what we're doing.
SPEAKER_00 (14:43):
And it's interesting because I think everyone can
understand that when we saysomething like, oh, so instead
of having a bunch of needles,you have a patch.
Even on that simplistic level.
And then the next question mightbe: hasn't anyone thought of
this before?
SPEAKER_01 (14:56):
And when I say this, it's, you know, it's like I get
asked a lot, like, why doesn'tthis already exist?
Why has no one thought of this?
And even when I did my fertilitytreatment, it was my same
reaction.
Why doesn't this exist?
Because again, like I say, I'veworked on similar technologies
in the past.
I looked across to other areasof medicine that I know,
(15:19):
diabetes.
There's so much innovation inthe diabetes space.
And I I looked back at fertilityand there was no innovation in
the fertility space.
SPEAKER_00 (15:28):
So it was ripe for the taking.
It needed that innovation.
And it's interesting, and thisis maybe a conversation we don't
have to have, but the idea thatin some spaces in the healthcare
there there is this innovation,maybe an openness to it.
In other spaces, there thereisn't.
It's slower.
So now that you have havecreated this, how is the
Canadian healthcare industry interms of the fertility side
(15:49):
taking it?
Are they opening you withwelcome arms?
Are they are they nervous?
How are you approaching that?
SPEAKER_01 (15:55):
I'd say right now the industry is very welcoming
and with so much innovation nowhappening around the space.
So in the drug delivery space,we're the only ones there right
now.
Um but in hormones in general,in all of the associated um
what, spaces around the userexperience, telehealth, lots of
(16:19):
startups in the in the fertilityspace and reproductive space,
you know, that I've seen in thelast two years pop up.
So um basically, I think theindustry is very welcome in for
change.
Yeah, patients want it,consumers, um, the industry
itself, people want change.
SPEAKER_00 (16:37):
Let's talk a bit about where you are where are
you at now with my mom bybiomedical on that roadmap.
So, at what stage are you now?
For example, is this stillmarket research?
Are you in clinical trials?
Are you are you uh doing uhdoing this already?
Are there patients that areusing your treatment?
Let us know a little bit aboutwhere you're at.
SPEAKER_01 (16:54):
So, yeah, um we I've got aggressive plans to bring
our first product to market intwo years.
Now, for medical device startup,I have to say aggressive because
um to bring a product to marketin three years is especially in
our case, we're class two.
Um I get a lot of head stung atme when I say this.
But look at what we've done inthe year and a half since we've
(17:17):
been founded.
I do believe we can bring thisto market in two years.
Patients want it, we candeliver, we're working to
deliver it.
Um so that so that's where weare, and lots of work to get
that first product here.
And so now we're looking atfundraising, at the regulatory
milestones, um, while deliveringon those, at um manufacturing.
(17:41):
So we've developed withprototype, we've got our
prototypes, functionalprototypes, and we're at the
stage now where we're moving andworking on the user features to
move from prototype to lock in aform factor that we can take to
manufacture and say, make thisat the skills now that we want,
that we can go do our studieson, clinical studies, which we
(18:02):
need for FDA applications.
SPEAKER_00 (18:04):
So prototype is very important.
Uh let's talk a bit aboutfundraising.
A lot of entrepreneurs, ofcourse, are thinking about
money.
And a lot of entrepreneurs, Ithink, they kind of have this
idea of if I get a lot of money,whether it's my own or whether I
borrow it or get it or steal itor whatever, if I get a lot of
money, I'll be able to doeverything in the first year.
And they it's almost like, and Idon't want to put words in your
(18:26):
mouth, but I guess I'll speakfrom my experience, it's almost
like a curse.
If if entrepreneurs actually doget a ton of money, whatever
that means according to theirbusiness, in the first year,
they often blow through it inthe first year.
And then they don't have thesales to back up what they
thought they would have, theseamazing sales after year one,
but they they often don't.
And and so in some ways, it'sgood not to have a ton of money
at the beginning, and I'mgeneralizing here.
(18:46):
So I without being too specific,I want to know your experience
with fundraising or with thisidea of, you know, these
discussions with your board.
What are we going to do in termsof uh bootstrapping versus
asking the uh maybe governmentfunding?
Uh there's there's angelinvestors out there, there's
banks, there's BDC.
Let tell us a little bit abouthow you're handling the
(19:07):
fundraising.
SPEAKER_01 (19:08):
We're tapping into all resources.
Right now, we're looking at thebanks um because banks are, I
say right now it's cheap,cheaper money than uh angel or
invest investor money becauseyou give up equity for those
those money.
Um but we are looking toinvestors also, angels
(19:28):
especially, um, or particularlyat our stage, uh, where the
angels come in.
Um in terms of we're verydisciplined in terms of what
what we're raising and whatwe're going to use that money
for.
Because each raise, um,especially well, yeah, it
applies to all sectors, but anylife science, it's capital
(19:51):
intensive.
Um, and like I said, long roadto market.
So our patch is gonna be atleast an eight to ten year um
timeline before we get thatproduct to market, the flagship
product.
Um so very capital intensive.
We're looking at spending over$30 million to commercialize the
flagship product.
(20:11):
Um that's gonna take a lot ofcompany.
We're in terms of equity, we'regonna have to give up a lot of
money.
And so when I say aboutdiscipline, how much we raise
now and what we do with that,and hitting the milestones to
make sure that we have a companythat remains investable at each
round that we invest in requiresthat you're constantly keeping
(20:34):
an eye on the bigger picture.
SPEAKER_00 (20:35):
Aaron Powell And I suppose you always have to have
an idea of your valuation,right?
Because each each time you doget new funding, especially with
investors, uh angel investors orother, there is this idea that
potentially you're gonna have togive up some sort of equity
percentage.
And so you want to have youridea of the valuation.
They've got their idea, justlike we see in these TV shows,
right?
With the entrepreneurs go on andthey're they're asking for X
amount of money for whateverpercentage, and usually the
(20:57):
negotiations over thepercentages.
So do you have someone on yourteam that is really good at uh
the valuation aspect?
Because I think that a lot ofentrepreneurs would worry how do
they create or how do they getan accurate valuation of their
company?
SPEAKER_01 (21:10):
So, no, right, we've learned everything.
Um, you know, I've learned thefinancial aspects, this
valuation part, but there areresources within the ecosystem
to help.
Um I've done, I I so CATA hasbeen a huge huge resource for
myself.
Um, we've done research ummentors' advisors again within
(21:30):
the incubators, they can helppoint you in the right
directions where people canvalidate the assumptions that we
make.
Um I've tied our valuation veryclosely to milestones.
So looking at the expectationsthat investors expect per round,
and that's what you youassociate.
So in my case, right?
(21:51):
So it's not surprising.
I've heard our valuation, youknow, different people speak
already.
Um Equivesto is a platform thatwe're currently using for the
fundraising right now, and theydid the internal validation.
And it came right mark where Itargeted to be.
Nice.
And that's because of themilestones that I set that says,
(22:11):
oh, a precede round, you shouldbe hitting X, Y, Z milestones.
That's what we make sure we'rehitting.
So then when whoever is doingtheir due diligence sees that,
so yeah, it's very outcome-basedon milestones.
SPEAKER_00 (22:27):
It's it's amazing listening to you because you can
clearly hear the business personand the and the planner, right?
And the the operations manager.
You can just you can just hearthat in your voice.
It's amazing.
And it has to be, right?
It's a serious product, you haveto be serious about it.
I want to go back a little bitand ask you, and this is a bit
of a selfish question, but umwhat why did you choose Yeti?
What did you what did you gainfrom Yeti?
(22:47):
What was your experience withYeti?
Let's talk a bit about thatexperience.
SPEAKER_01 (22:51):
Yeti was one of the earlier programs that I did, um,
coming right out of my firstincubator and my first win.
But Yeti was and remainsdifferent to a lot of the other
incubators that I've done since,in that it was very academic.
And by academic, I don't meanit's a bad thing.
I mean that it was sofundamentally deep that, you
(23:14):
know, I'm I'm coming from aresearch background myself.
So I resonated with it.
But for someone who is technicallike myself, going that
in-depth, now I guess what youhear, a lot of what you hear.
Um, so I knew project managementgoing in, but then complement
that with all of the otherthings that we have to keep an
eye on.
(23:34):
It's not just high-levelintroductory to marketing, it's
deep dive into what goes intomarketing and what goes into a
financial plan and thestorytelling aspects and why
storytelling is important.
Um, very deep dives into theselittle, well, big disciplines
that make up a comprehensiveoverview of the business.
SPEAKER_00 (23:55):
Makes sense.
Yeah, there's a lot of educationat Yeti for in different aspects
of of running a business orentrepreneurship.
And and on top of that, there'sthese classmates as well, right?
That you you can people in yourcohort that you can talk to,
alumni, uh, mentors that maybeis through there, and then the
other incubators andaccelerators you attended as
well.
So it sounds like you've you'vereally built a really strong
(24:16):
support system network.
And then I I guess you can youcan use them when you need, so
to speak, and tap them forthings, whether they're advisory
roles or or others, right?
So talk a little bit about yourjourney on building your
network, your professionalnetwork for this business.
SPEAKER_01 (24:31):
Yep, that was a strategic decision.
Um, again.
So we were unique in that wewere not founded or spun out
from any universities.
And you find a lot of deep techstartups um at university
spin-outs, and they have thathead start.
Um, a lot of the science isde-risked by the time they get
(24:52):
to saying we're a real company,and so it's easier to raise
money.
Whereas ours was spun out fromour kitchen countertops.
That's our story.
Um and so it was really hard tocome by opportunities and
resources early on.
And I realized that I needed acommunity behind me.
We I would have I I looked atthe other startups in the
(25:15):
ecosystem and had applied forall of these, you know,
opportunities, funding programs,and realized that I kept seeing,
you know, the same companiesbeing getting those
opportunities.
And I said, I need to become oneof those.
And uh, well, long story short,18 months later, Maman is a very
(25:35):
common or popular name now.
We're well, well grounded withinthe ecosystem.
We've worked hard.
Um, you know, every opportunityis I've been saying yes to every
single thing.
Um so stress visibility has beenimportant, growing a community,
establishing my brand, knowingwhat the company stands for, our
(25:56):
authenticity.
Um and yeah, that thatcommunity.
And so it's not always it's it'shard putting yourself out, yeah.
It's really tough.
Um, but you do it, your com andyour community shows up when you
need them over and over again.
SPEAKER_00 (26:12):
Community is a very important word when we talk
about entrepreneurship too,right?
Whether that's uh people thatwould be your would-be customers
or whether that are peoplegiving advice or feedback, uh
people that support you.
It's amazing that uh to have acommunity because
entrepreneurship is is notreally an easy life, is it?
Right?
A lot of a lot of stress and uhsome ups and downs, right?
SPEAKER_01 (26:33):
Oh yeah.
unknown (26:33):
Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (26:34):
I think if we heard someone talking about it being
really easy, I think we'd we'dboth be skeptical, right?
Right.
And so you you're you're on thisjourney and it sounds like
you're all in, you're you'redoing you're busy, you're doing
things, you're building yourcommunity and your board, you're
uh I want to ask a funnyquestion.
As a technical person, you youyou announced yourself as a
technical person to explore thissoft skills idea of branding and
(26:57):
marketing and sales and pitchingand storytelling.
How was that something likeinteresting?
Was that scary?
Was that difficult?
Because uh there are some timesthat these hard skills and soft
skills really seem to be anocean apart from each other.
SPEAKER_01 (27:10):
It was definitely new to learn.
I didn't it was new.
I wouldn't say difficult andvery intensive.
A lot I picked up along the way.
Um but I'd say the technicalaspects are the way I learn.
So maybe that's driven by mytechnical nature.
(27:31):
Um and the way that we've toldour story, I've always been
insistent that, you know, I'veworked with marketing people.
And I kept fighting with my teamearlier in early days.
Um that's too fluffy.
What is the real story behindthis message?
And that I've I've seen memesthat say it's different when you
speak to a product um um or aproduct manager versus uh a
(27:55):
marketing manager, and how theytell the messaging and their
story.
And I find that a lot of what Iwanted came from the technical
aspect, the product featureaspect.
And so it's not just we're goingto solve the problem for the
world, but it's why or what arewe doing.
Uh every for every message,there's a so what, so what
(28:17):
impact.
And I've heard from ourcommunity um that our story
resonates, uh, our messaging.
Actually, um more than oneperson has told me if this
doesn't work out and I needanother another career, I do
have one in communications.
SPEAKER_00 (28:33):
Nice.
Now you're speaking my language.
Very good.
I think that's so important thatuh entrepreneurs, whatever their
background might be, uhtechnical background or other,
that they understand that theyneed both the hard skills and
the soft skills.
They need that because if ifsomeone pitches a very
technical-oriented base, orlet's say it's an app they're
developing and they're talkingall IT language, but but nobody
(28:55):
understands them.
And by nobody I mean the generalpopulation or the general
investor, the general banker,then that great product may may
never get developed.
And and they're thinking, whyit's such a great product?
Well, because we don'tunderstand what the hell you're
talking about.
And and they may not it's a giftif people will tell you that,
because not everybody will tellyou.
Right?
SPEAKER_01 (29:14):
Yeah, I'd like to jump in here.
Um actually, and as youre-articulated, DI realized this
was unique.
This was a skill I learnedduring my PhD.
Um so my PhD supervisor getsthis credit here.
Uh, because my PhD was not justacademic, it was very industrial
focused.
Um, a lot of stakeholderengagement, but not just with
(29:36):
the technical people who had tobuy in, but we did a lot of
community engagement too.
And I got the opportunity topresent my work as a scientist
to non technical audiences.
SPEAKER_00 (29:48):
Great.
SPEAKER_01 (29:48):
And I had to learn that skill, how to break down
the science so that everyonewill understand.
So that's a skill that stayedwith me over my entire career.
SPEAKER_00 (29:57):
Did you do the 3MT pitch?
The three MT pitch.
You did?
So there it's an inside story,but uh this is something when I
teach at Yeti, I talk about the3MT pitch.
It's not my invention, it's thethree-minute thesis pitch.
It's when students who are goingthrough their master's or PhD uh
need to take three minutes withone static slide and tell a
general audience what theirthesis is all about.
And that's exactly what you hadthe opportunity to do because it
(30:19):
forces people, whether they'restudying the next cure for
cancer or infertility or thebird migration patterns,
whatever it might be, can ageneral audience understand it?
And and the winners go on frominter-universe university to
global competitions.
So that's 3MT pitch or 3MTthesis for those entrepreneurs
that want to see what that's allabout.
Because to me, it's the same.
If an entrepreneur can'tcommunicate simply their idea to
(30:42):
a general audience, then that'ssomething they better, they
better work on.
Great.
I'm gonna start wrapping thisup.
I want to ask a question becausewe are talking about, you know,
the startup sandwich podcast, asyou know, we talk about
sandwiches.
A good sandwich has a goodsauce.
For entrepreneurship, it's uhit's it's innovation or it's a
it's literally a secret sauce, asecret formula.
I know you mentioned a littlebit at the beginning, but I want
to go back to this.
(31:02):
If you had to put your finger onwhat is the the secret sauce of
your business, Maman Medical,what would it be?
SPEAKER_01 (31:08):
I'd say, and this is not boasting, but it's me.
Um it's it's because it's notjust that we know how to solve
this, but it's everything's cometogether at the right time.
I'd say there's a lot in mybackground that's gotten me to
(31:30):
this moment where I'm motivatedto solve this problem.
I know how to solve thisproblem, and now I have all of
these hard skills and softskills to solve this problem.
SPEAKER_00 (31:40):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (31:40):
Uh not just solve this problem, to build this
company successfully.
SPEAKER_00 (31:44):
And sometimes, uh, as Oleg said, time is nothing,
timing is everything.
And maybe that the timing isjust perfect, right?
Very good, Lachmi.
Thank you so much for joiningand chatting.
The last thing I want to do isuh if people want to learn more
about you or Mam and Medical,where can they find you?
SPEAKER_01 (31:59):
So we're on LinkedIn.
Um I yep, find me on LinkedIn,find Mom and Buy Medical on
LinkedIn, our website also, umas as it's pronounced, um mom
and by medical.ca.
Um Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:14):
Great, great.
And I I think that what you'redoing is a wonderful service for
the for the community as well,right?
There's a lot of couples that Ithink are very, very much
looking forward to that 10 yearsto go fast where your product
will be on the market.
Thank you so much, Lachmi, forjoining us.
Really appreciate you joining uson the Startup Sandwich and best
of luck with everything.
Thanks so much, Rick.
Thank you for watching.
And be sure to subscribe onYouTube or wherever you check
out your podcasts.
(32:34):
Until next time, keep turningsmall bites into big wins.
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