May 30, 2023 • 18 mins
Today we are speaking with Colby Takeda. Colby is the Co-Founder & CEO of Pear Suite, an organization that has developed a care navigation platform that enables organizations and community health workers to monitor and interact with their patients. Enjoy the show!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:09):
Thank you for visiting the Medi App show brought to you by the Medical Logistics and Transportation Organization,
Medi Apps.
I'm your host,
Ryland Stone.
Today we are speaking with Colby.
Taketa Colby is the co founder and CEO of Pears Suite,
an organization that has developed a care navigation platform that enables organizations and community health workers to monitor and interact with their patients.
(00:32):
I hope you enjoy the show.
Hey,
Colby,
thank you so much for coming on the show today.
I appreciate your time.
I'm excited.
Well,
I'll just kind of jump right into it.
I guess.
Let's go back to your childhood.
Let's see where you kind of started this entrepreneurial journey.
How you took a different path than a lot of people kind of looking over your linkedin.
Looks like you used to be in health care from an aspect of skilled nursing facilities.
(00:55):
What kind of drew you into that area?
And then eventually,
where did you find that entrepreneurship bug?
Yeah,
thanks uh for asking that question.
Um You know,
my childhood started in,
in the island of Oahu,
in Hawaii.
Um So I was born and raised there.
I'm 1/4 generation Japanese American.
I grew up with my grandparents close to home.
Both parents uh grand parents were also on Oahu.
(01:18):
So I had my grandparents close by and you know,
they,
they fed me,
they took me out to great restaurants.
They cooked for me.
They really were my only link to the Japanese culture since I'm 1/4 generation.
I wasn't really connected to my Japanese culture and um really got to understand the,
the history,
the food,
the dance,
the traditions of Japan uh through them.
But they also taught me a lot about um the values of,
(01:40):
of culture,
about never giving up,
really focusing on hard work and,
and respect and,
and helping to care for elders.
And that's just a part of life in Hawaii,
you know,
caring for older adults,
caring for a family um helping them age in place.
Um But interestingly,
during high school,
I actually volunteered at a nearby nursing home and that was my first introduction to health care.
(02:03):
And the health care system is my first uh position ever uh volunteering on a long-term basis.
Uh Every Sunday,
I'd go to the,
the senior uh place and,
and,
you know,
roll people up and down the elevators,
play games with them.
And that was my first introduction to senior care um which eventually ended up being my job.
Uh at 25 I ended up being an administrator of a senior living facility and uh first learned about uh health care and how do we care for older adults in a very respectful?
(02:28):
Uh My boy got you.
And then so through all of your kind of background with working in a skilled nursing facility,
was that where you kind of saw that initial need?
I know.
So we'll get into it.
But you founded Per Suite.
Is that where you initially saw that need?
Yeah,
I think it's interesting,
you know,
all my past positions,
whether it be with nonprofits doing health prevention and,
(02:49):
and outreach uh to engage with healthier communities.
Uh Or I also worked at share care through the Blue Zones project,
helping to build policies around food access and uh well being and physical activity and social connections.
It all kind of helped me understand what are the social determinants of health,
right?
Everyone's talking about them these days.
Uh these factors like um health care access and being able to uh be literate or having education,
(03:13):
transportation um being able to uh navigate the health care system.
Uh These are so important for health care and yet a lot of organizations haven't uh tackled or,
or,
or overcome these barriers in a meaningful way.
And all of this has helped me understand,
you know,
what are the barriers for older adults?
How are they um understanding the health care system,
how are they navigating different resources?
How are overcoming food insecurity and loneliness?
(03:35):
And uh that's really what was the inspiration behind pa suite.
How do we help older adults virtually because this is during the pandemic when people were uh caring for themselves and,
and weren't able to get out and weren't able to bring in outside caregivers and support.
Um Could we provide this care virtually?
And,
and really,
that's where Percy started?
Gotcha.
So give me the like a 32nd elevator pitch on pas suite.
(03:56):
Sure.
Sure.
So parasite is a career navigation platform for the social determinants of health.
And so we are providing our software for community health workers care coordinators,
even in some cases,
volunteers at either community based organizations,
health plans or health providers to better understand the needs of an individual.
There's social strengths,
challenges,
needs and interests and then helping them understand what are some options.
(04:19):
What are some programs and services that we can help them get connected to and providing that data to then act on it and get them connected to these resources and,
and actually see the impacts of these resources and services is all about what appears to be a lot about.
Very interesting.
It's a very interesting time in health care right now.
Um with everyone going remote and having to navigate that challenge.
(04:42):
And I definitely do see a need for outreach to these seniors that need help accessing food stamps and other programs and making sure that they're actually part of this.
Uh I know in one of your other interviews that I was kind of looking back through,
you mentioned,
there were a couple of regulatory changes that were putting an emphasis on care,
navigation.
Could you speak any any more of that?
(05:02):
Yeah,
it's really exciting to see a shift toward these non uh clinical workers as being this,
this touch point,
this trusted uh navigator and so community health workers,
which I actually first got introduced to in 2020 when I was teaching community health worker courses,
it was a,
I got a little bored during the pandemic and I thought I should teach some courses.
Uh A local community college was hiring and I ended up teaching uh this workforce that ended up being really,
(05:28):
really amazing.
I mean,
these are trusted um people in the community that understand the culture and the language.
Um They have lived experience,
some of them were previously incarcerated or experienced the challenges of migration or immigration.
Uh understanding,
you know,
houses and,
and drug use from a first hand experience or with family and friends um for us to be able to empower them to do work around the social terms of health.
(05:50):
And then,
um now with these policy changes around uh reimbursing them and helping them get funding through MC O contracts with health plans has really been a game changer for a lot of organizations.
So now we're seeing organizations like health plans,
like community based organizations being able to get paid for these laid workers that aren't clinical or licensed in nature uh to be able to get funding for their resource,
(06:14):
navigation for their uh health education for their uh understanding of,
of culture and,
and resources.
Uh It's been really a,
a big,
a big game changer for the industry.
Yeah.
No kidding.
I,
I can imagine that all of those changes are beneficial to you first and foremost.
Uh but then even more so the,
the patients themselves,
uh what's as you've been building this company,
(06:35):
what's been some of your biggest challenges and maybe your biggest wins.
Yeah.
You know,
it,
it sounds simple in nature but coordinating across different sectors and,
and industries is,
is is pretty challenging,
right?
Understanding.
Um For many years,
health care organizations just worked with other health organizations.
But now we're seeing,
you know,
churches and community based organizations and faith based organizations and,
(06:57):
and uh ethnic groups like the Filipino Community Center that working with uh in Hawaii,
uh being able to work with them and also work with health plans and providers.
Uh is quite unique,
right?
Understanding the complexities,
the funding mechanisms,
the technology uh that both these are groups are using uh being able to work together across these different uh organizations with different workflows and different policies and,
(07:21):
and practices.
Uh has been really,
really fascinating but also a fun challenge for us to deal with.
And I think our experience working in the community and having hands on experience working with these groups has been a big advantage for us.
And so being able to understand,
you know,
how does uh um organizations bill for services,
you know,
being able to help a nonprofit build for community based services with CBD Codes and working with health plans to develop a fee for service contracts or value based contracts has been uh a really uh fascinating and challenge for us.
(07:52):
Um But I think it's helping us understand,
you know,
what are the potential business models and how do we make this program sustainable for these organizations?
And uh have really been fascinated by the the uptake and interests of health plans to start working with more of these organizations because they,
they know they,
they can't be experts in housing and food security.
And it's really these groups on the ground,
these uh food banks and these meals and meals providers and home based care providers that are doing the work and,
(08:15):
and have expertise.
Very,
very interesting.
So your main client that you guys are going to would be the health plan themselves?
Yeah.
In some cases,
the health plans are paying us directly to do this work.
Uh We do have a team of community health workers as well.
So we do some tech enabled services,
but we also building that platform that is able to uh sell on a subscription basis to health plans to give out to their providers or work directly with community based organizations that are qualified health centers or other community based providers to do this work and then get paid for it through health plan contracts.
(08:47):
Gotcha.
Can you explain like the journey from a patient perspective?
So let's say I'm a senior and I need to have just some extra help from food stamps perspective.
Is that something like I'm coming to you guys or am I going through my insurance?
How does that look?
Yeah.
Right.
Right.
Now,
I mean,
you know,
they're,
they're kind of stuck.
They don't know where to go.
(09:08):
Right.
They,
they don't understand uh where they can turn to who they can um uh lean on for assistance.
Um Do they talk to their family?
Do they go to the nearby community center?
Do they go to the library where oftentimes there's resources available?
Um So we're essentially building uh a pathway for them to get connected to these resources.
Um Right now they can talk to their health plan and get connected to a community health worker to one,
(09:30):
interview them,
understand their needs and then see what resources might be available.
Uh We also have hotlines with many organizations that we're,
we're working with.
Um Sometimes we have online forms that members can fill out which sometimes for seniors that's not the best equitable accessible option.
So we wanna make it as easy as,
as possible for them to get connected to us.
Um and other contracts that we have.
(09:50):
We also do some outreach.
So we'll essentially get a list of names and numbers for members of an organization.
Maybe they're high interests and high need because they're lonely and socially isolated or have multiple challenges.
Um Both health and,
and social challenges and,
and if we could reach out to them and,
and you know,
ask them the right questions,
we can get insights into their life and help them uh navigate potential solutions and,
(10:13):
and services that may be qualified for.
Yeah,
that's you guys are doing really great work.
I,
I was just talking to my wife yesterday about loneliness in seniors and it's so sad and it's,
it's cool to see that you guys are working to solve a lot of those problems.
Uh As you've been doing all this,
I I know you guys just recently raised a $2.5 million seed fund.
Um Do you wanna tell us same thing about that process what it felt like from an entrepreneurship perspective?
(10:39):
Yeah,
I will say,
you know,
raising funds in this uh current landscape was not easy.
Um We,
we,
I think we spent uh about four months uh doing calls with investors.
We end up speaking to 100 20 investors uh really happy where we landed with the people that we brought on to our cap table.
Um You know,
raising funds from venture capital is also very challenging in the health equity and social impact space and to,
(11:01):
you know,
immediately um they ask you about potential projections and scalability and,
and sometimes working with health equity and,
and social impact.
These aren't,
you know,
common topics that you would discuss because it's hard to work with community based providers and organizations doing work around food and transportation.
Um So,
um but,
you know,
we were all really happy where we landed uh with investors that have aligned visions and missions in us.
(11:24):
Um Some of our investors are impact investors and so really happy to bring on groups like the George Kaiser Family Foundation and Tulsa uh American Heart Association and really focused on social health and equity uh and groups like Mac capital and L A who and really understand how to build strong SAS properties and uh companies and,
and how to scale them.
And so we have a nice mix of,
(11:45):
of a investors,
health care investors and social impact investors.
Got you.
So looking at the next five years with that funding,
what are some goals that you guys have set that you're,
you're working to achieve?
Yeah,
we're really building on our team now,
both on the product and so engineering and R and D um to make our platform really easy to use and,
and scalable.
Um you know,
building a platform for users who maybe aren't necessarily uh the most tech literate and and aren't clinically trained and some of them um haven't even graduate from high school but to be able to use a software that's easy for them and accessible and,
(12:18):
and really supportive of their work flows has been a challenge but also a fun opportunity for us to really uh make a difference in,
in the lives of these individuals.
Um One of our users in,
in uh Honolulu is uh the parking lot attendant,
this individual who didn't graduate from high school.
Um He knows everyone that walks in and out of the,
the Community Health Center and,
but because he has that connection,
(12:39):
he's the great best person to fill out the forms and,
and help them uh navigate potential resources and understand needs as well.
Um So we,
we love the idea that we can build a strong pro product and um have brought on some great uh engineers and designers to help with that.
Uh And the other element of next growth over the next year or so is,
is just expansion.
Um We did a lot of work early on in Hawaii and,
(13:01):
and launched uh efforts in California,
Texas and Florida.
But now we're doing a lot of work in the Heartland,
uh places like Oklahoma and Arkansas and Kansas City and,
and beyond,
you know,
these are areas that a lot of startups don't go to in supporting the needs of the population and being able to provide extra support in rural communities or in tribal nations or areas where,
(13:21):
you know,
these groups typically aren't getting the most assistance or funding.
Has been really empowering for us and,
and,
and we appreciate um their partnership in this work.
I think it's a,
it's a big challenge to overcome things like broadband connectivity and you know,
lack of resources and food deserts.
But uh we're up for the challenge.
Well,
congrats on your future.
(13:42):
I,
I think it looks very bright and it'll be really cool to kind of follow that journey.
Just kind of looking back at how old is Per Suite?
How long have you guys been?
We launched in March of 2021?
Ok.
Gotcha.
Sweet.
So what's been like the,
your favorite thing that's come out of that from a,
from a personal level,
not even just from uh health equity or the entrepreneurship journey.
(14:04):
Just what have you really,
really valued in it,
whether that's your team,
something like that.
Yeah,
I really,
really enjoy,
you know,
just the building community around um health care and the,
the community of,
of investors and partners and purchasers and,
and other entrepreneurs,
you know,
people that are on this uh journey together um building products and,
and services for uh some of our health and,
(14:27):
and just society's biggest challenges.
Um You know,
everyone's support,
everyone wants to help out um being able to,
you know,
share ideas and,
and talk shop about different um you know,
policy changes and,
and funding mechanisms and,
and how we're going to market has been really um um great um you know,
entrepreneurship is,
is a tough journey.
It's,
it's not easy to build a company,
especially in the complicated industry like health care and having people that have done it before and can inspire you.
(14:52):
But also,
um you know,
make mistakes with you and learn from with you.
Uh has been really great for us and,
and our team,
if you could go back in time and give uh Colby founding this company some advice.
what would you,
what would you say?
Yeah,
I,
I think we,
um,
you know,
there's all these entrepreneurship books and they,
they tell you all the things to avoid or,
or uh not do.
(15:12):
So you don't make the mistakes of that others have done before you.
And I probably,
we probably made uh 90% of them already.
So maybe read,
if we had read the books a little sooner,
I'm gonna have helped a little bit.
Um It's funny because we would read the books and then he would talk about a situation or a challenge or a mistake and we're like,
oh,
we made that already and so we,
we can think back and reflect.
(15:32):
But I think it's,
you know,
we've been able to build a lot of resilience from those mistakes and,
and they've learned a lot and,
you know,
I sometimes think that we might not be here if we didn't make those,
uh took those risks and,
you know,
tempted things that we knew.
Uh or now know,
it would have been a failure.
But um so,
yeah,
I,
I,
I think just um knowing that this is a tough journey and not everyone will make it.
(15:53):
But if you persevere and,
and really passionate about something that you're working on and care about the,
the end goal and the,
the vision and mission,
um you can pull through.
Yeah,
I,
I can echo that more and more and I know many other entrepreneurs who would do the exact same thing.
It's a hard journey and it,
it's worth it in the long run.
But you know,
hindsight's always 2020.
So,
(16:13):
yeah,
absolutely.
You just continue and going on and going on.
Uh Well,
for anyone who wants to learn more about pau where can they find that and then where can they find you on social?
Yeah,
absolutely.
Um You know,
have a,
have a emerging and uh uh presence online.
Uh We are pretty present on linkedin and of course,
(16:33):
my personal linkedin is also a great place to connect with me.
Uh I love meeting other entrepreneurs,
love meeting young individuals trying to break into the space and,
and,
you know,
not sure where to get started and how to um you know,
get connected to other entrepreneurs.
Uh This community is,
is growing.
Uh we even have some smaller groups that I meet with.
There's one about entrepreneurs and aging that,
(16:55):
you know,
these young entrepreneurs that meet about 25 of us that we meet on a monthly basis and it's just a great way to build connections,
but also learn from each other.
And,
you know,
we share resources,
we share tips and things like that.
So um if anyone ever wants to uh you know,
learn more about entrepreneurship journey,
I definitely encourage them to reach out to me there.
Um Our website is Paris suite dot com.
Um So we're posting and,
(17:15):
and the website is getting refresh now.
So I look a little different in a month or so,
but uh we're excited to kind of uh really show everyone what we're working on and,
and get it out to more organizations and,
and partners.
Awesome.
Sounds good.
Well,
thank you so much for your conversation today.
I appreciate kind of connecting and learning more about pas suite and your journey.
Yeah,
absolutely.
And,
and thanks so much and,
(17:36):
and we look forward to seeing um how we can better support the social government,
health.
I think a lot of organizations are,
are struggling in this area and I think we can help in this uh and also help to improve health equity uh from our just society.
Well,
thank you Colby.
Thanks,
darling.
Thank you for visiting the Medi App show brought to you by the Medical Logistics and Transportation Organization,
Medi Apps.
I'm your host,
Ryland Stone.
Today we are speaking with Colby.
Taketa Colby is the co founder and CEO of Pears Suite,
an organization that has developed a care navigation platform that enables organizations and community health workers to monitor and interact with their patients.
(00:32):
I hope you enjoy the show.
Hey,
Colby,
thank you so much for coming on the show today.
I appreciate your time.
I'm excited.
Well,
I'll just kind of jump right into it.
I guess.
Let's go back to your childhood.
Let's see where you kind of started this entrepreneurial journey.
How you took a different path than a lot of people kind of looking over your linkedin.
Looks like you used to be in health care from an aspect of skilled nursing facilities.
(00:55):
What kind of drew you into that area?
And then eventually,
where did you find that entrepreneurship bug?
Yeah,
thanks uh for asking that question.
Um You know,
my childhood started in,
in the island of Oahu,
in Hawaii.
Um So I was born and raised there.
I'm 1/4 generation Japanese American.
I grew up with my grandparents close to home.
Both parents uh grand parents were also on Oahu.
(01:18):
So I had my grandparents close by and you know,
they,
they fed me,
they took me out to great restaurants.
They cooked for me.
They really were my only link to the Japanese culture since I'm 1/4 generation.
I wasn't really connected to my Japanese culture and um really got to understand the,
the history,
the food,
the dance,
the traditions of Japan uh through them.
But they also taught me a lot about um the values of,
(01:40):
of culture,
about never giving up,
really focusing on hard work and,
and respect and,
and helping to care for elders.
And that's just a part of life in Hawaii,
you know,
caring for older adults,
caring for a family um helping them age in place.
Um But interestingly,
during high school,
I actually volunteered at a nearby nursing home and that was my first introduction to health care.
(02:03):
And the health care system is my first uh position ever uh volunteering on a long-term basis.
Uh Every Sunday,
I'd go to the,
the senior uh place and,
and,
you know,
roll people up and down the elevators,
play games with them.
And that was my first introduction to senior care um which eventually ended up being my job.
Uh at 25 I ended up being an administrator of a senior living facility and uh first learned about uh health care and how do we care for older adults in a very respectful?
(02:28):
Uh My boy got you.
And then so through all of your kind of background with working in a skilled nursing facility,
was that where you kind of saw that initial need?
I know.
So we'll get into it.
But you founded Per Suite.
Is that where you initially saw that need?
Yeah,
I think it's interesting,
you know,
all my past positions,
whether it be with nonprofits doing health prevention and,
(02:49):
and outreach uh to engage with healthier communities.
Uh Or I also worked at share care through the Blue Zones project,
helping to build policies around food access and uh well being and physical activity and social connections.
It all kind of helped me understand what are the social determinants of health,
right?
Everyone's talking about them these days.
Uh these factors like um health care access and being able to uh be literate or having education,
(03:13):
transportation um being able to uh navigate the health care system.
Uh These are so important for health care and yet a lot of organizations haven't uh tackled or,
or,
or overcome these barriers in a meaningful way.
And all of this has helped me understand,
you know,
what are the barriers for older adults?
How are they um understanding the health care system,
how are they navigating different resources?
How are overcoming food insecurity and loneliness?
(03:35):
And uh that's really what was the inspiration behind pa suite.
How do we help older adults virtually because this is during the pandemic when people were uh caring for themselves and,
and weren't able to get out and weren't able to bring in outside caregivers and support.
Um Could we provide this care virtually?
And,
and really,
that's where Percy started?
Gotcha.
So give me the like a 32nd elevator pitch on pas suite.
(03:56):
Sure.
Sure.
So parasite is a career navigation platform for the social determinants of health.
And so we are providing our software for community health workers care coordinators,
even in some cases,
volunteers at either community based organizations,
health plans or health providers to better understand the needs of an individual.
There's social strengths,
challenges,
needs and interests and then helping them understand what are some options.
(04:19):
What are some programs and services that we can help them get connected to and providing that data to then act on it and get them connected to these resources and,
and actually see the impacts of these resources and services is all about what appears to be a lot about.
Very interesting.
It's a very interesting time in health care right now.
Um with everyone going remote and having to navigate that challenge.
(04:42):
And I definitely do see a need for outreach to these seniors that need help accessing food stamps and other programs and making sure that they're actually part of this.
Uh I know in one of your other interviews that I was kind of looking back through,
you mentioned,
there were a couple of regulatory changes that were putting an emphasis on care,
navigation.
Could you speak any any more of that?
(05:02):
Yeah,
it's really exciting to see a shift toward these non uh clinical workers as being this,
this touch point,
this trusted uh navigator and so community health workers,
which I actually first got introduced to in 2020 when I was teaching community health worker courses,
it was a,
I got a little bored during the pandemic and I thought I should teach some courses.
Uh A local community college was hiring and I ended up teaching uh this workforce that ended up being really,
(05:28):
really amazing.
I mean,
these are trusted um people in the community that understand the culture and the language.
Um They have lived experience,
some of them were previously incarcerated or experienced the challenges of migration or immigration.
Uh understanding,
you know,
houses and,
and drug use from a first hand experience or with family and friends um for us to be able to empower them to do work around the social terms of health.
(05:50):
And then,
um now with these policy changes around uh reimbursing them and helping them get funding through MC O contracts with health plans has really been a game changer for a lot of organizations.
So now we're seeing organizations like health plans,
like community based organizations being able to get paid for these laid workers that aren't clinical or licensed in nature uh to be able to get funding for their resource,
(06:14):
navigation for their uh health education for their uh understanding of,
of culture and,
and resources.
Uh It's been really a,
a big,
a big game changer for the industry.
Yeah.
No kidding.
I,
I can imagine that all of those changes are beneficial to you first and foremost.
Uh but then even more so the,
the patients themselves,
uh what's as you've been building this company,
(06:35):
what's been some of your biggest challenges and maybe your biggest wins.
Yeah.
You know,
it,
it sounds simple in nature but coordinating across different sectors and,
and industries is,
is is pretty challenging,
right?
Understanding.
Um For many years,
health care organizations just worked with other health organizations.
But now we're seeing,
you know,
churches and community based organizations and faith based organizations and,
(06:57):
and uh ethnic groups like the Filipino Community Center that working with uh in Hawaii,
uh being able to work with them and also work with health plans and providers.
Uh is quite unique,
right?
Understanding the complexities,
the funding mechanisms,
the technology uh that both these are groups are using uh being able to work together across these different uh organizations with different workflows and different policies and,
(07:21):
and practices.
Uh has been really,
really fascinating but also a fun challenge for us to deal with.
And I think our experience working in the community and having hands on experience working with these groups has been a big advantage for us.
And so being able to understand,
you know,
how does uh um organizations bill for services,
you know,
being able to help a nonprofit build for community based services with CBD Codes and working with health plans to develop a fee for service contracts or value based contracts has been uh a really uh fascinating and challenge for us.
(07:52):
Um But I think it's helping us understand,
you know,
what are the potential business models and how do we make this program sustainable for these organizations?
And uh have really been fascinated by the the uptake and interests of health plans to start working with more of these organizations because they,
they know they,
they can't be experts in housing and food security.
And it's really these groups on the ground,
these uh food banks and these meals and meals providers and home based care providers that are doing the work and,
(08:15):
and have expertise.
Very,
very interesting.
So your main client that you guys are going to would be the health plan themselves?
Yeah.
In some cases,
the health plans are paying us directly to do this work.
Uh We do have a team of community health workers as well.
So we do some tech enabled services,
but we also building that platform that is able to uh sell on a subscription basis to health plans to give out to their providers or work directly with community based organizations that are qualified health centers or other community based providers to do this work and then get paid for it through health plan contracts.
(08:47):
Gotcha.
Can you explain like the journey from a patient perspective?
So let's say I'm a senior and I need to have just some extra help from food stamps perspective.
Is that something like I'm coming to you guys or am I going through my insurance?
How does that look?
Yeah.
Right.
Right.
Now,
I mean,
you know,
they're,
they're kind of stuck.
They don't know where to go.
(09:08):
Right.
They,
they don't understand uh where they can turn to who they can um uh lean on for assistance.
Um Do they talk to their family?
Do they go to the nearby community center?
Do they go to the library where oftentimes there's resources available?
Um So we're essentially building uh a pathway for them to get connected to these resources.
Um Right now they can talk to their health plan and get connected to a community health worker to one,
(09:30):
interview them,
understand their needs and then see what resources might be available.
Uh We also have hotlines with many organizations that we're,
we're working with.
Um Sometimes we have online forms that members can fill out which sometimes for seniors that's not the best equitable accessible option.
So we wanna make it as easy as,
as possible for them to get connected to us.
Um and other contracts that we have.
(09:50):
We also do some outreach.
So we'll essentially get a list of names and numbers for members of an organization.
Maybe they're high interests and high need because they're lonely and socially isolated or have multiple challenges.
Um Both health and,
and social challenges and,
and if we could reach out to them and,
and you know,
ask them the right questions,
we can get insights into their life and help them uh navigate potential solutions and,
(10:13):
and services that may be qualified for.
Yeah,
that's you guys are doing really great work.
I,
I was just talking to my wife yesterday about loneliness in seniors and it's so sad and it's,
it's cool to see that you guys are working to solve a lot of those problems.
Uh As you've been doing all this,
I I know you guys just recently raised a $2.5 million seed fund.
Um Do you wanna tell us same thing about that process what it felt like from an entrepreneurship perspective?
(10:39):
Yeah,
I will say,
you know,
raising funds in this uh current landscape was not easy.
Um We,
we,
I think we spent uh about four months uh doing calls with investors.
We end up speaking to 100 20 investors uh really happy where we landed with the people that we brought on to our cap table.
Um You know,
raising funds from venture capital is also very challenging in the health equity and social impact space and to,
(11:01):
you know,
immediately um they ask you about potential projections and scalability and,
and sometimes working with health equity and,
and social impact.
These aren't,
you know,
common topics that you would discuss because it's hard to work with community based providers and organizations doing work around food and transportation.
Um So,
um but,
you know,
we were all really happy where we landed uh with investors that have aligned visions and missions in us.
(11:24):
Um Some of our investors are impact investors and so really happy to bring on groups like the George Kaiser Family Foundation and Tulsa uh American Heart Association and really focused on social health and equity uh and groups like Mac capital and L A who and really understand how to build strong SAS properties and uh companies and,
and how to scale them.
And so we have a nice mix of,
(11:45):
of a investors,
health care investors and social impact investors.
Got you.
So looking at the next five years with that funding,
what are some goals that you guys have set that you're,
you're working to achieve?
Yeah,
we're really building on our team now,
both on the product and so engineering and R and D um to make our platform really easy to use and,
and scalable.
Um you know,
building a platform for users who maybe aren't necessarily uh the most tech literate and and aren't clinically trained and some of them um haven't even graduate from high school but to be able to use a software that's easy for them and accessible and,
(12:18):
and really supportive of their work flows has been a challenge but also a fun opportunity for us to really uh make a difference in,
in the lives of these individuals.
Um One of our users in,
in uh Honolulu is uh the parking lot attendant,
this individual who didn't graduate from high school.
Um He knows everyone that walks in and out of the,
the Community Health Center and,
but because he has that connection,
(12:39):
he's the great best person to fill out the forms and,
and help them uh navigate potential resources and understand needs as well.
Um So we,
we love the idea that we can build a strong pro product and um have brought on some great uh engineers and designers to help with that.
Uh And the other element of next growth over the next year or so is,
is just expansion.
Um We did a lot of work early on in Hawaii and,
(13:01):
and launched uh efforts in California,
Texas and Florida.
But now we're doing a lot of work in the Heartland,
uh places like Oklahoma and Arkansas and Kansas City and,
and beyond,
you know,
these are areas that a lot of startups don't go to in supporting the needs of the population and being able to provide extra support in rural communities or in tribal nations or areas where,
(13:21):
you know,
these groups typically aren't getting the most assistance or funding.
Has been really empowering for us and,
and,
and we appreciate um their partnership in this work.
I think it's a,
it's a big challenge to overcome things like broadband connectivity and you know,
lack of resources and food deserts.
But uh we're up for the challenge.
Well,
congrats on your future.
(13:42):
I,
I think it looks very bright and it'll be really cool to kind of follow that journey.
Just kind of looking back at how old is Per Suite?
How long have you guys been?
We launched in March of 2021?
Ok.
Gotcha.
Sweet.
So what's been like the,
your favorite thing that's come out of that from a,
from a personal level,
not even just from uh health equity or the entrepreneurship journey.
(14:04):
Just what have you really,
really valued in it,
whether that's your team,
something like that.
Yeah,
I really,
really enjoy,
you know,
just the building community around um health care and the,
the community of,
of investors and partners and purchasers and,
and other entrepreneurs,
you know,
people that are on this uh journey together um building products and,
and services for uh some of our health and,
(14:27):
and just society's biggest challenges.
Um You know,
everyone's support,
everyone wants to help out um being able to,
you know,
share ideas and,
and talk shop about different um you know,
policy changes and,
and funding mechanisms and,
and how we're going to market has been really um um great um you know,
entrepreneurship is,
is a tough journey.
It's,
it's not easy to build a company,
especially in the complicated industry like health care and having people that have done it before and can inspire you.
(14:52):
But also,
um you know,
make mistakes with you and learn from with you.
Uh has been really great for us and,
and our team,
if you could go back in time and give uh Colby founding this company some advice.
what would you,
what would you say?
Yeah,
I,
I think we,
um,
you know,
there's all these entrepreneurship books and they,
they tell you all the things to avoid or,
or uh not do.
(15:12):
So you don't make the mistakes of that others have done before you.
And I probably,
we probably made uh 90% of them already.
So maybe read,
if we had read the books a little sooner,
I'm gonna have helped a little bit.
Um It's funny because we would read the books and then he would talk about a situation or a challenge or a mistake and we're like,
oh,
we made that already and so we,
we can think back and reflect.
(15:32):
But I think it's,
you know,
we've been able to build a lot of resilience from those mistakes and,
and they've learned a lot and,
you know,
I sometimes think that we might not be here if we didn't make those,
uh took those risks and,
you know,
tempted things that we knew.
Uh or now know,
it would have been a failure.
But um so,
yeah,
I,
I,
I think just um knowing that this is a tough journey and not everyone will make it.
(15:53):
But if you persevere and,
and really passionate about something that you're working on and care about the,
the end goal and the,
the vision and mission,
um you can pull through.
Yeah,
I,
I can echo that more and more and I know many other entrepreneurs who would do the exact same thing.
It's a hard journey and it,
it's worth it in the long run.
But you know,
hindsight's always 2020.
So,
(16:13):
yeah,
absolutely.
You just continue and going on and going on.
Uh Well,
for anyone who wants to learn more about pau where can they find that and then where can they find you on social?
Yeah,
absolutely.
Um You know,
have a,
have a emerging and uh uh presence online.
Uh We are pretty present on linkedin and of course,
(16:33):
my personal linkedin is also a great place to connect with me.
Uh I love meeting other entrepreneurs,
love meeting young individuals trying to break into the space and,
and,
you know,
not sure where to get started and how to um you know,
get connected to other entrepreneurs.
Uh This community is,
is growing.
Uh we even have some smaller groups that I meet with.
There's one about entrepreneurs and aging that,
(16:55):
you know,
these young entrepreneurs that meet about 25 of us that we meet on a monthly basis and it's just a great way to build connections,
but also learn from each other.
And,
you know,
we share resources,
we share tips and things like that.
So um if anyone ever wants to uh you know,
learn more about entrepreneurship journey,
I definitely encourage them to reach out to me there.
Um Our website is Paris suite dot com.
Um So we're posting and,
(17:15):
and the website is getting refresh now.
So I look a little different in a month or so,
but uh we're excited to kind of uh really show everyone what we're working on and,
and get it out to more organizations and,
and partners.
Awesome.
Sounds good.
Well,
thank you so much for your conversation today.
I appreciate kind of connecting and learning more about pas suite and your journey.
Yeah,
absolutely.
And,
and thanks so much and,
(17:36):
and we look forward to seeing um how we can better support the social government,
health.
I think a lot of organizations are,
are struggling in this area and I think we can help in this uh and also help to improve health equity uh from our just society.
Well,
thank you Colby.
Thanks,
darling.
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