WEBVTT

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Hey everyone, welcome back to Buzzworthy. I'm

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your host, Shlaise Harris. I dive into the rare

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stories entrepreneurs tell about building their

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businesses, but most importantly, themselves.

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Let's get into it. Welcome back to Buzzworthy,

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everyone. I'm your host, Shlaise Harris. And

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today we have a female founder of mine who's

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part of this very tight -knit group, Sydney Robinson

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from Vessel. And she has literally been crushing

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it. over the last year, doing things I know she

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didn't think she would ever be doing. And she's

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here to tell us the story of, you know, building

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Vessel, but also building herself as an entrepreneur

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through this entire journey. So Sydney, the first

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question we love, love, love asking our entrepreneurs

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is, what do you think set you up to be an entrepreneur

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to kickstart the journey of Vessel? prosthetics.

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Well, Shalicia, thank you so much for having

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me. I'm really excited to be here and to have

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this conversation with you. And honestly, I think

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that what helped me start my entrepreneurial

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journey was a sense of open -mindedness. So I

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like to characterize my career journey as really

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just following where the open doors might take

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me or... by trying to keep my doors open, kind

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of both of those. And I think that that really

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wraps up into keeping my mind open. And I started

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doing engineering because I knew it would keep

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my doors open. People tell you it's a very employable

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field. So that was why I went into engineering

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in the first place. I was good at math and science,

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seemed like a good next step. And then I started

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going more into like medical because that was

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really where my passion was, but also because

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I thought that it would keep my doors open. And

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I did a fellowship program at Western University

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that was all about entrepreneurship because I

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was interested in entrepreneurship. And also,

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I thought that the skills that I would get within

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that cohort would really keep my doors open and

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help me develop some soft skills for future career

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opportunities. And little did I know, as you

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kind of hinted at, that I would become so passionate

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about a problem that we were working on at the

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time. It was in the prosthetics industry and

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prosthetics has always had a sweet spot for me.

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So I really honed in on that. And then also on

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the fact that I met someone during that program

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who we worked really well together and he eventually

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became my co -founder. And so it just felt like

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such a gift to being given that in this fellowship

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position. So I feel as though. keeping an open

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mind throughout my academic journey, but then

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also through this fellowship program where we

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were learning about entrepreneurship. That was

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really what helped me start the company. I love

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that. I don't think anyone else has ever really

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started why, you know, answering the question

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of. what they think set them up as an entrepreneur

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in that way. And I think it's so fascinating

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in keeping those doors open. Because when sometimes

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you keep doors open, did you find yourself keeping

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too many doors open? Because then there's like

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decision paralysis. What do you actually choose?

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What is the actual thing that I need to move

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forward with? Because open -mindedness is absolutely

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key in entrepreneurship. And I love that that

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is the focus that you took. But then when you're

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so open, the choices are endless. And when you

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have endless choices, that's a hard place to

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be sometimes. How did you navigate that? Yeah,

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it was even having a list of choices, I think

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would have been really nice. I feel like I didn't

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even have a list of choices. Like I just had

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this blurry blob of of wide open space. Do you

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know what I mean? I was keeping myself so open

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that I didn't even have a clear picture of what

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my options could be. It was just. a vast open

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space of whatever you want your future to look

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like, which is not helpful when you're trying

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to make decisions. So certainly at some points

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it was like, you know, I went into engineering

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and you can choose any discipline within engineering.

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And so when I had too many options on the table,

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I did a little bit more of process of elimination.

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And so I would say, okay, well, I know these

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things over here I definitely don't want to do

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as much as I want to keep my doors open. I don't

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like these doors. And so I'll focus my energy

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over here on things that will keep my options

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open, but I also actually am passionate about.

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I think that's such a good way of actually doing

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it because. I think a lot of people find themselves

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in this place where they're just like, everything

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I do, I don't like. I really don't like it. But

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that's actually a very, very good thing. Because

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in this process, you're just closing all the

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doors that just aren't meant for you if you've

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given it enough of a go. And then once you find

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the doors that are right for you, it's so easy

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to just... walk through them, which you absolutely

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did. And you just let those doors kind of go

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from one door to the next door to the next door,

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which would be like your engineering to, you

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know, being interested in the medical fields

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and then entrepreneurship. and then eventually

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creating Vessel from there. So you were really

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a student in sort of university and a student

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of life in so many ways as well, too. Did you

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ever think it was just too early to become an

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entrepreneur at that age? I think I just didn't

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know any better. So no, the thought didn't really

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cross my mind as much. I think you also see in

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the media. you know, so -and -so was 15 when

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they started the idea of XYZ. So I was exposed

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to media around really young entrepreneurs. So

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I didn't feel intimidated. I had done, by the

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time I started Vessel, scratch that, I did feel

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intimidated. And I still had the naivety to think

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that I could do it myself. You, I had enough

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of a, career in academia behind me that I still

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felt knowledgeable in a lot of areas. And I felt

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as though I knew at least some of what I didn't

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know and could kind of start there on the journey.

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But certainly it was filled with a lot of ups

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and downs and a lot of things that, yeah, I didn't

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know and I had to learn on the fly because I

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was starting from a place where I didn't have

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a deep career background to fall on. Mm -hmm.

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So you just, sometimes it's, you know, hard to

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determine, you know, do you go and find a career

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or do you build a career for yourself and build

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a company for yourself? And that's where you

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found your place. And I just think it's incredible

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because even when you talk about that moment,

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it's... really the root of it comes back to the

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open mindedness of it, right? Because sometimes

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we don't think that that's an option. I remember

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when I graduated university, it was just like,

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just get a great job at one of the, you know,

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big fortune 500 companies within marketing where

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you can do all these crazy fun things. And like

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that was the goal. Starting a company was just

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not in You know, it was not an option for me,

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not because I didn't want it to be an option.

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I just never thought someone coming out of university

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would just be able to just do that. So I'm super

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impressed by, you know, and I think, like you

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said, a bit of naivety is not like that bad of

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a thing. You know, it's I think that little area

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where like courage and curiosity and and that

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risk take and not knowing the weight of the risk

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around it kind of really pushes you to to grow

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exponentially one yourself because you're going

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to learn a hell of a lot and then go into this

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new world and start navigating it. Yeah, oh,

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absolutely. Yeah, I'm glad I didn't know. everything

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I was getting myself into when I started. I like

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to think that I would still have made the same

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choice, but it's, you know, it's not an easy

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journey being an entrepreneur. Yeah. So around,

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you know, the time that you were in the entrepreneurial

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program, you were going through this with your

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co -founder at the time. I mean, your co -founder

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now. What was it about prosthetics and what did

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you find in that program that really sparked

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that opportunity? What was that moment like?

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What were the things you were seeing as themes

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that helped you identify this problem? Because

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every business has to be surrounded by a problem

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in some capacity. Like, Where were you and like,

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how did prosthetics really stand out? Because

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you mentioned it was close to you as well. Yeah,

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for sure. So with the fellowship program that

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we were doing, it was in the medical space, but

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they didn't prescribe a certain problem you had

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to work on. Each year, the team was very different.

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You had engineers, PhD scientists, and doctors

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who would come together to innovate within medicine,

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but you weren't necessarily always getting. orthopedic

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surgeons as the doctors and mechanical engineers

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as the engineers you could have computer engineers

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one year and electrical engineers one year like

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it always changed up so the composition of the

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team was always different and therefore the interests

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of the team the skill sets of the team that was

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also constantly changing so they didn't want

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to prescribe a certain project that you had to

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work on in case the team wasn't well suited to

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that And what that meant was that as the first

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couple months of the program got started, and

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keep in mind, we only had 10. So the first couple

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of months, you really spent those months just

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looking for problems to solve within medicine.

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And we came up after interviewing, you know,

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over 60 clinicians, we came up with a list of

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like 200 different problems that we could work

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on. Because I'm sure as you've noticed, no shortage

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of issues in the Canadian medical. healthcare

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system. But what that meant was we could be really

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creative and explore what we were passionate

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about. So we shadowed a doctor at a diabetes

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clinic in Hamilton, and diabetes is the leading

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cause of leg amputation. And so we met a lot

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of people visiting the clinic that day who had

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leg amputations. And a lot of them were in the

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clinic because their prosthetic leg didn't fit

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properly on their anatomical leg. And we were

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like, that seems... like a really important part

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of having a prosthetic leg is that it fits well.

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I wonder why that hasn't been fixed yet. And

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that took us down this rabbit hole of what was

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currently available and what the current challenges

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were and what a day in the life of an amputee

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is and a day in the life of the prosthetist looks

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like. We interviewed so many different people

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living with the amputation and limb difference

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and also prosthetists and a bunch of other healthcare

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providers like physiotherapists that work with

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people with like amputations and just learned

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so much about the problem. It was very easy to

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become passionate about it and to just fall in

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love with the community that we were working

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with. And it became very clear to us that this

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was a massive global issue that really needed

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solving. Wow. I'm aware that, you know, a lot

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of diabetic patients get eventually, if they're

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not taking care of themselves, can lead to amputation

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of their legs. And like, when you don't have

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mobility, that takes like a huge toll on you.

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mentally, physically, in every capacity. It puts

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a strain on the people around you because of

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the extra support that you would need in so many

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ways. And I can't imagine the life -changing

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experiences that you must hear and these stories

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you hear through meeting with these amputees

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and just trying to do basic things in their lives.

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Absolutely. Yeah. Was there any story that like

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stood out to you? A hundred percent, a hundred

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percent. So you go out for dinner and I don't

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know if you're a beer drinker, I'm not, but you

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know, you drink some beer or you drink some wine

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and you have a nice pizza and it's an artisanal

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pizza, but you know, it's made with North American

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gluten. So you feel a little puffy after and

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you wake up the next morning and you're just

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feeling a little bloated. And for able -bodied

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individuals, You put on some leggings or some

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pants with a tie and it can accommodate for that

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little bit of a puffy feeling. When I was speaking

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to one of the amputees that we were chatting

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with, he was saying that if he has, you know,

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beer and pizza the next morning, he actually

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can't fit his leg into his prospect because it's

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so swollen. You just can't get it on. And I love

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pizza. And I was thinking, oh, my God. So you

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have to watch what you eat. To such an extent,

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because you can't get into your prosthesis the

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next day, or we chatted with another gentleman

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and he would put his leg on in the morning, walk

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around, you know, make breakfast, do do the whole

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thing, get in his car, drive to work. So let's

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call that an hour, maybe total from time awake

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to the time he gets to work. By the time he got

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to work, he had to take his leg off, put a sock

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on and put his leg back on because his leg had

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shrunk. So he needs these socks to kind of make

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up for the extra space inside of his prosthetic

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leg. And that's how people manage it right now.

00:14:53.450 --> 00:14:56.690
Current gold standard. And he had to do that

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as soon as he got to work. He'd only been awake

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for an hour. And so he's carrying these socks

00:15:01.629 --> 00:15:04.870
around with him all day and finding places at

00:15:04.870 --> 00:15:08.379
work where he can stop. excuse himself take his

00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:11.580
leg off put a sock on maybe that's fine for certain

00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:14.000
individuals but there are people that are self

00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:15.679
-conscious and don't really want to take their

00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:20.039
leg off in public or at work and so it just hit

00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:23.460
us how debilitating the problem was frustrating

00:15:23.460 --> 00:15:28.259
the problem was and how inconvenient and and

00:15:28.259 --> 00:15:34.159
honestly a huge burden it can be yeah that I

00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:37.080
can't imagine that because an hour from waking

00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:40.340
up, I'm still going really slow in the kitchen.

00:15:41.059 --> 00:15:45.340
I'm trying to feed myself. And to have to consider

00:15:45.340 --> 00:15:51.779
all of that, I can see how this is such an incredible

00:15:51.779 --> 00:15:56.000
problem. You know, I'm even more thankful and

00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:00.480
grateful for my legs right now. Never thought

00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:03.259
those words would come out of my mouth. But when

00:16:03.259 --> 00:16:07.480
you see how other people live and the challenges

00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:10.340
that they have, like, it puts everything into

00:16:10.340 --> 00:16:14.820
perspective. And so you seeing that and your

00:16:14.820 --> 00:16:18.419
team being able to identify that as such. a great

00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:22.899
opportunity to help so many people and bring

00:16:22.899 --> 00:16:26.360
them back some time, some comfort, some dignity.

00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:31.940
For sure. Absolutely. And these people that are

00:16:31.940 --> 00:16:34.059
living with limb loss and limb difference, like

00:16:34.059 --> 00:16:36.600
a lot of them live very fulfilling lives, right?

00:16:36.679 --> 00:16:39.379
They've got kids or grandkids, they've got a

00:16:39.379 --> 00:16:41.820
job, like they're, they're moving and shaking.

00:16:41.820 --> 00:16:44.129
They're, you know. they're doing their thing

00:16:44.129 --> 00:16:47.070
and it's amazing. Just like, just like anybody

00:16:47.070 --> 00:16:50.450
else. The thing that really hit home for me was

00:16:50.450 --> 00:16:54.129
here's this, this issue that just doesn't have

00:16:54.129 --> 00:16:56.730
to be there. Like it's so frustrating and annoying

00:16:56.730 --> 00:16:59.490
and uncomfortable. You can get a blister that

00:16:59.490 --> 00:17:01.629
gets infected. You have to stop wearing your

00:17:01.629 --> 00:17:04.450
leg for sometimes weeks while the blister heals.

00:17:06.329 --> 00:17:09.690
That's the part where I was like, okay, they,

00:17:09.809 --> 00:17:12.109
they've got the fulfilling life thing down pat.

00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:16.400
It's this piece that's super annoying and debilitating

00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:19.440
and can lead to poor health outcomes. That's

00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:22.720
what I want to fix. Just because I feel like

00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:28.180
that was the inequity piece of this condition.

00:17:28.859 --> 00:17:33.210
Yeah. Yeah, that's huge. It's incredible to me

00:17:33.210 --> 00:17:37.009
that you were able to, you know, immerse yourself

00:17:37.009 --> 00:17:41.710
in this very new environment and look for problems.

00:17:41.849 --> 00:17:44.769
And I'll challenge you to maybe even go back

00:17:44.769 --> 00:17:48.930
a little more, because not everyone is that curious.

00:17:49.509 --> 00:17:54.569
Do you think your curiosity was developed over

00:17:54.569 --> 00:18:04.529
time? little Sydney from three years old? That

00:18:04.529 --> 00:18:07.789
is a good question, Shalicia. That's a very good

00:18:07.789 --> 00:18:11.730
question. I would say I've always been curious.

00:18:11.849 --> 00:18:14.029
I've definitely always been curious. I don't

00:18:14.029 --> 00:18:18.609
know where curiosity bleeds into like type A,

00:18:18.750 --> 00:18:20.849
I need to know so I can control the situation.

00:18:21.049 --> 00:18:24.069
Like, I don't know where you delineate that.

00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:27.140
Because I certainly had a little mix of both.

00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:29.200
But no, I would say that I've always been very

00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:35.059
curious. And as I've gotten older, I have noticed

00:18:35.059 --> 00:18:38.859
how important it is to me to grow as an individual.

00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:43.180
And I feel as though curiosity is a really important

00:18:43.180 --> 00:18:46.529
part of growth. of personal growth, career growth,

00:18:46.609 --> 00:18:49.029
whatever growth you want to talk about. I have

00:18:49.029 --> 00:18:51.349
been very passionate about personal growth for

00:18:51.349 --> 00:18:54.089
a long time. And I feel as though curiosity is

00:18:54.089 --> 00:18:57.490
a major element of that. So I have fostered it

00:18:57.490 --> 00:19:02.450
as I've grown and I don't want to say aged, but

00:19:02.450 --> 00:19:04.430
as I've moved through life, I've really fostered

00:19:04.430 --> 00:19:08.130
curiosity. And so I think that you're right.

00:19:08.170 --> 00:19:10.369
That is a key ingredient in entrepreneurship.

00:19:11.529 --> 00:19:14.829
Yeah, because anyone, you can put so many people

00:19:14.829 --> 00:19:18.869
into the exact same room, the exact same situation,

00:19:18.869 --> 00:19:23.549
and the questions may not come for everyone.

00:19:23.710 --> 00:19:27.730
And so I think for entrepreneurship, it is such.

00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:31.059
you know, an important thing. And I think for

00:19:31.059 --> 00:19:34.059
a lot of entrepreneurs, it's maybe a little bit

00:19:34.059 --> 00:19:36.640
innate. Maybe we need to do a poll on that or

00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:39.559
something to see, you know, how many entrepreneurs

00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:42.279
feel like they were just sort of born curious

00:19:42.279 --> 00:19:46.099
versus they've developed this curiosity. But

00:19:46.099 --> 00:19:49.119
I do think everyone can develop it. It's just

00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:53.460
about going deeper and deeper and deeper with

00:19:53.460 --> 00:19:56.799
anything that might spark a little bit of your

00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:01.130
interest. Oh, for sure. And for me, it's interesting

00:20:01.130 --> 00:20:03.849
as you were talking and talking about entrepreneurship

00:20:03.849 --> 00:20:09.309
and curiosity. I think that for me, it also overlaps

00:20:09.309 --> 00:20:14.049
with my love of people. I just really love connecting

00:20:14.049 --> 00:20:17.890
with other human beings. And I am a naturally

00:20:17.890 --> 00:20:21.430
curious person, very much a naturally curious

00:20:21.430 --> 00:20:25.579
person in that. part of life and so I think it

00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:28.740
was easy for me once I got curious about well

00:20:28.740 --> 00:20:31.039
what is a day in the life of an amputee like

00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:32.859
what is the day in the life of a prosthetist

00:20:32.859 --> 00:20:36.920
like once I could dive into that kind of curiosity

00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:39.779
of how can I connect with the individual and

00:20:39.779 --> 00:20:42.779
their lived experience then it was really easy

00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:47.140
to want to make a change and innovate and help

00:20:47.140 --> 00:20:49.420
the situation however I can, because now I've

00:20:49.420 --> 00:20:52.079
connected with the individual, which also really

00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:56.980
helps with networking in entrepreneurship. It

00:20:56.980 --> 00:21:00.019
certainly does. It certainly does. So now that

00:21:00.019 --> 00:21:02.779
you've found this problem at this clinic, and

00:21:02.779 --> 00:21:09.779
it is profound, it's a big, big problem. Where

00:21:09.779 --> 00:21:14.029
did you decide that? This should be a business

00:21:14.029 --> 00:21:16.289
because you are just in a fellowship program.

00:21:16.670 --> 00:21:20.410
Nothing has to commercialize. Nothing has to

00:21:20.410 --> 00:21:24.650
translate into real life solution. This is just,

00:21:24.750 --> 00:21:28.490
you know, another sort of academic exercise,

00:21:28.750 --> 00:21:32.670
if you want to put it simply. What made you say,

00:21:32.849 --> 00:21:37.329
let's take this to the real world? Yeah, for

00:21:37.329 --> 00:21:40.890
me, it was I was just talking to another individual

00:21:40.890 --> 00:21:43.950
who I'd met about this exact topic, which was

00:21:43.950 --> 00:21:48.369
I didn't want to regret not trying it. So I had

00:21:48.369 --> 00:21:52.089
and I had de -risked it to a place where I thought

00:21:52.089 --> 00:21:54.529
it made sense. So throughout the fellowship,

00:21:54.809 --> 00:21:57.950
we didn't spend a whole ton of time on the solution.

00:21:58.089 --> 00:22:00.390
Honestly, we didn't really do all that much product

00:22:00.390 --> 00:22:04.460
development or solution. We really focused on

00:22:04.460 --> 00:22:07.079
the problem. So we were trying to identify what

00:22:07.079 --> 00:22:09.519
is the problem? What are the design parameters

00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:12.099
around the problem? So that was what got into

00:22:12.099 --> 00:22:14.680
what's the day in the life like of all the people

00:22:14.680 --> 00:22:17.559
along the patient journey? And how do those pieces

00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:20.960
interact to create constraints around the design

00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:23.299
itself and what that solution will eventually

00:22:23.299 --> 00:22:26.599
look like? And what does the market look like?

00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:28.779
As you identify, this is a profound problem,

00:22:28.980 --> 00:22:32.609
but how profound? Right. How global? How many

00:22:32.609 --> 00:22:36.670
people a year? Where can we make a difference?

00:22:37.049 --> 00:22:39.569
What does the reimbursement structure look like

00:22:39.569 --> 00:22:43.109
both in Canada, in the United States, in Europe?

00:22:43.190 --> 00:22:45.549
Like, let's start exploring what some of the

00:22:45.549 --> 00:22:47.930
business elements of this could look like, because

00:22:47.930 --> 00:22:50.710
we felt as though if we couldn't commercialize

00:22:50.710 --> 00:22:53.529
the product that we were eventually going to

00:22:53.529 --> 00:22:55.630
make, whatever that product looked like, then

00:22:55.630 --> 00:22:57.809
we wouldn't be able to bring this to a solution.

00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:01.539
to anyone anyways. So we wanted to answer some

00:23:01.539 --> 00:23:04.140
of those business questions. So by the time the

00:23:04.140 --> 00:23:07.500
fellowship was coming to an end, I had conviction

00:23:07.500 --> 00:23:10.740
that this was a massive global issue that we

00:23:10.740 --> 00:23:15.039
knew at least some, obviously you're constantly

00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:17.599
learning, but we knew at least some of what those

00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:19.299
design parameters were going to look like and

00:23:19.299 --> 00:23:21.019
what those business parameters were going to

00:23:21.019 --> 00:23:25.000
look like. And I already had the start of a team.

00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:28.680
So I had my co -founder, Alexi. We really liked

00:23:28.680 --> 00:23:31.859
working together. We really liked doing totally

00:23:31.859 --> 00:23:34.880
separate parts of the business. So I never was

00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:38.099
worried about us fighting over doing the same

00:23:38.099 --> 00:23:40.839
jobs and not having anyone to do some of the

00:23:40.839 --> 00:23:44.380
other jobs. We were very clear in what we liked

00:23:44.380 --> 00:23:47.779
to work on. So that was super helpful. And I

00:23:47.779 --> 00:23:52.380
just looked at this and I said to myself, I will

00:23:52.380 --> 00:23:55.799
never have the opportunity again to be supported.

00:23:56.619 --> 00:24:00.640
while coming up with an idea like I was I was

00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:04.779
paid to just think of different ideas and explore

00:24:04.779 --> 00:24:07.500
different problems in the medical space I will

00:24:07.500 --> 00:24:10.319
never get that opportunity again and here I have

00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:13.500
a problem that I'm deeply passionate about I

00:24:13.500 --> 00:24:15.460
love the prosthetics industry I've always loved

00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:18.559
it and I have someone who I like working with

00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:22.119
like that is not common and so it just felt for

00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:25.279
me Like it would be a really big wasted opportunity

00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:30.420
if I didn't at least try. Yeah. I think it's

00:24:30.420 --> 00:24:35.519
really profound the way you looked at everything

00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:41.099
and realized this opportunity right in front

00:24:41.099 --> 00:24:46.539
of you. Because you're right. not very many people

00:24:46.539 --> 00:24:51.819
get the opportunity to just sit and look for

00:24:51.819 --> 00:24:55.460
problems and fix it. You know, I have a friend.

00:24:57.529 --> 00:24:59.849
His name's Patel. That's what I call him. And

00:24:59.849 --> 00:25:01.730
he's an engineer as well. And he's just like,

00:25:01.789 --> 00:25:04.630
I just want to build things. I just want to create

00:25:04.630 --> 00:25:08.150
things. But where is that opportunity to actually

00:25:08.150 --> 00:25:11.990
do that, like you said? And it's incredible that

00:25:11.990 --> 00:25:15.150
there was a program you found and was able to

00:25:15.150 --> 00:25:18.950
do this because you're right. And it also put,

00:25:19.089 --> 00:25:21.970
it felt like all of these doors that you were

00:25:21.970 --> 00:25:25.920
closing. put you through this one door where

00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:30.140
everything just sort of fell into place with

00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:33.900
your co -founder. And like you said, it's hard

00:25:33.900 --> 00:25:39.140
finding a co -founder. I know that. I've looked

00:25:39.140 --> 00:25:46.799
for one for years. It's never transpired. And

00:25:46.799 --> 00:25:48.519
you're working on two different parts of the

00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:50.980
business that you love. So there is no competition.

00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:56.019
There's simple cohesiveness, symbiotics. You

00:25:56.019 --> 00:25:58.740
bring different skills to the table. You bring

00:25:58.740 --> 00:26:02.140
different viewpoints and nothing else makes a

00:26:02.140 --> 00:26:06.279
better business than having, you know, two people

00:26:06.279 --> 00:26:10.329
because now you have. 48 hours in a day, you

00:26:10.329 --> 00:26:13.369
have that much more skill, that much more brain

00:26:13.369 --> 00:26:18.690
power. And I think that alone with all the research

00:26:18.690 --> 00:26:21.650
and the deep understanding of the problem really

00:26:21.650 --> 00:26:25.210
set you up for the trajectory that you sort of

00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:29.700
put vessel on like from the very beginning because

00:26:29.700 --> 00:26:33.400
I think a lot of people when they come into entrepreneurship

00:26:33.400 --> 00:26:37.259
they want to be an entrepreneur they really don't

00:26:37.259 --> 00:26:40.519
understand the depths of the problem that they're

00:26:40.519 --> 00:26:43.440
trying to solve and I'm not saying like that's

00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:46.339
a bad thing but the deeper you go the stronger

00:26:46.339 --> 00:26:51.490
your understanding then the better and the more

00:26:51.490 --> 00:26:54.910
curated the customer that you're about to serve.

00:26:55.069 --> 00:26:59.910
And you already knew your customer so well. You

00:26:59.910 --> 00:27:03.869
knew the problem inside out. So then that obviously

00:27:03.869 --> 00:27:09.130
set you up for a fantastic business, which you

00:27:09.130 --> 00:27:12.450
have been doing incredible work on. Thank you.

00:27:12.569 --> 00:27:16.549
Like your fundraising. But before we even get

00:27:16.549 --> 00:27:22.059
there, Talk to us about the design of your solution

00:27:22.059 --> 00:27:25.420
and how you did that. And maybe what were some

00:27:25.420 --> 00:27:28.799
of the challenges coming into this business world

00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:35.180
out of an academic experience? For sure. It was

00:27:35.180 --> 00:27:39.019
certainly a tight knit industry to break into.

00:27:39.220 --> 00:27:41.420
So one of the biggest challenges I would say

00:27:41.420 --> 00:27:45.680
is that prosthetics is a world unto itself. There's,

00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:49.519
you know, a lot of people. know everybody in

00:27:49.519 --> 00:27:54.579
the industry and it's a lot lies with the prosthetist

00:27:54.579 --> 00:27:57.539
they're the experts here so we really had to

00:27:57.539 --> 00:27:59.779
there comes back to that open -mindedness you

00:27:59.779 --> 00:28:02.180
really had to be able to take feedback and listen

00:28:02.180 --> 00:28:04.799
to the experts in the space I'd say that was

00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:07.359
one of the bigger challenges not being a prosthetist

00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:13.480
myself our design relates to that poor socket

00:28:13.480 --> 00:28:15.599
fit I was mentioning, where the leg is changing

00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:18.619
size, whether it's from diet, as I had mentioned

00:28:18.619 --> 00:28:21.200
in my kind of story, or it could be exercise,

00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:24.579
weight fluctuations, the seasons even, like there's

00:28:24.579 --> 00:28:26.359
all these different reasons why a limb would

00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:29.880
change size. And the prosthetic leg is basically

00:28:29.880 --> 00:28:33.440
a carbon fiber or plastic bucket that is custom

00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:35.779
fabricated to the leg, but doesn't change size.

00:28:35.960 --> 00:28:38.819
So you have this dynamic limb inside of a static

00:28:38.819 --> 00:28:41.880
socket. And that is the root cause of the issue.

00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:45.740
And so we created this automatically adjusting

00:28:45.740 --> 00:28:49.940
system. So it relies on custom panels on the

00:28:49.940 --> 00:28:52.119
leg. You can think like cutout windows that are

00:28:52.119 --> 00:28:54.660
able to move in and out against the leg. And

00:28:54.660 --> 00:28:58.680
it's powered by walking motion. So it just uses

00:28:58.680 --> 00:29:02.119
a shock absorber and the step that each amputee

00:29:02.119 --> 00:29:07.319
takes. And it uses that to adjust and tighten

00:29:07.319 --> 00:29:11.740
oftentimes the panels against the leg to a set

00:29:11.740 --> 00:29:14.519
comfort level. So it will always try and maintain

00:29:14.519 --> 00:29:17.880
a consistent level of pressure on the leg. It's

00:29:17.880 --> 00:29:21.000
not about the size, it's about the fit. I'm just

00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:23.240
so mind blown, but this is what engineers do.

00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:28.039
That's what you are. This is what we try and

00:29:28.039 --> 00:29:31.599
do. That's for sure. Yeah. There's so many things

00:29:31.599 --> 00:29:35.440
that like for the inspiration of the solution,

00:29:35.619 --> 00:29:37.480
because obviously we don't want to give away

00:29:37.480 --> 00:29:42.460
your secret sauce. What's the inspiration behind

00:29:42.460 --> 00:29:46.579
finding something like that as a solution? Because

00:29:46.579 --> 00:29:48.859
one, knowing the problem is one thing, but how

00:29:48.859 --> 00:29:53.119
to solve it in a practical way is a whole other

00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:58.029
bucket. For sure. Well, for us, it was as you

00:29:58.029 --> 00:30:00.730
get to know the problem, it starts to become

00:30:00.730 --> 00:30:03.009
obvious what that solution needs to be, or at

00:30:03.009 --> 00:30:05.089
least what the parameters of the solution need

00:30:05.089 --> 00:30:08.650
to be. So we knew that it had to be adjustable

00:30:08.650 --> 00:30:11.549
because you need to be able to keep up with this

00:30:11.549 --> 00:30:14.490
dynamic leg. And we really wanted it to be automatic

00:30:14.490 --> 00:30:18.069
because a lot of the frustration that both prosthetists

00:30:18.069 --> 00:30:21.069
and amputees felt was that they had to stop what

00:30:21.069 --> 00:30:23.779
they were doing. who make an adjustment whether

00:30:23.779 --> 00:30:27.259
that was to adjust an adjustable socket so there

00:30:27.259 --> 00:30:29.259
are manually adjustable sockets on the market

00:30:29.259 --> 00:30:31.819
where you tighten a strap or you twist a dial

00:30:31.819 --> 00:30:35.180
and make the change yourself but that still relies

00:30:35.180 --> 00:30:37.420
on you to make the change so if you've ever gotten

00:30:37.420 --> 00:30:40.660
a blister on your foot you don't often know you've

00:30:40.660 --> 00:30:42.940
gotten the blister until you've gotten the blister

00:30:42.940 --> 00:30:45.460
whereas it would be nice if you could avoid it

00:30:45.460 --> 00:30:50.079
in the first place and so Having the socket adapt

00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:53.220
on its own and not rely on input from the user,

00:30:53.400 --> 00:30:57.380
that was a critical point for us. But we also

00:30:57.380 --> 00:31:00.660
wanted to design with the end user in mind. So

00:31:00.660 --> 00:31:04.180
we didn't want to have some super high -tech

00:31:04.180 --> 00:31:07.779
sensors, batteries, motors that adds all of this

00:31:07.779 --> 00:31:11.779
complexity and reduces the durability and adds

00:31:11.779 --> 00:31:14.759
cost and weight. We wanted something that could

00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:19.049
be simple and elegant. lightweight, could be

00:31:19.049 --> 00:31:21.269
easily integrated into what prosthetists are

00:31:21.269 --> 00:31:24.430
already doing and what amputees didn't need to

00:31:24.430 --> 00:31:27.650
rely on a power source. So they didn't have to

00:31:27.650 --> 00:31:31.349
charge it overnight to avoid it falling off in

00:31:31.349 --> 00:31:33.630
the grocery store the next day. We wanted something

00:31:33.630 --> 00:31:36.630
that would, you know, stand the test of time.

00:31:36.710 --> 00:31:39.930
And so that was an absolute disaster. Right.

00:31:40.289 --> 00:31:45.359
That would not be ideal. Not ideal. So we came

00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:47.099
up with this, you know, well, what if you could

00:31:47.099 --> 00:31:51.119
just power it from movement? Like you're already

00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:54.799
moving. So let's just use that. And then we looked

00:31:54.799 --> 00:31:56.500
at what was already available on the market.

00:31:57.019 --> 00:31:59.579
And, you know, shock absorbers have existed for

00:31:59.579 --> 00:32:03.259
a long time and people really like them. So we're

00:32:03.259 --> 00:32:05.640
like, OK, well, could we use this shock absorbing

00:32:05.640 --> 00:32:09.420
energy from walking motion? Could we use that

00:32:09.420 --> 00:32:11.740
to automatically adapt the socket? And that was

00:32:11.740 --> 00:32:14.720
really where the inspiration came from. Wow.

00:32:15.140 --> 00:32:19.599
I'm so, I'm so impressed. So, so impressed. And

00:32:19.599 --> 00:32:22.279
just so everyone knows, this is the first time

00:32:22.279 --> 00:32:26.630
I'm really learning like the. depths of vessel

00:32:26.630 --> 00:32:30.849
and the prosthetic that they're actually creating.

00:32:31.069 --> 00:32:34.410
And I know that something like this can easily

00:32:34.410 --> 00:32:38.089
be, you know, translated to like other perhaps

00:32:38.089 --> 00:32:42.970
prosthetics, right? Not just for the leg. But

00:32:42.970 --> 00:32:46.269
Sydney, as you went through all of this, this

00:32:46.269 --> 00:32:53.099
is so much learning for someone, you know, That's

00:32:53.099 --> 00:32:55.680
young, that's never really had a full -time job

00:32:55.680 --> 00:33:00.640
somewhere else. Like, how did you find managing

00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:05.700
yourself and your team and your co -founder as

00:33:05.700 --> 00:33:09.559
you were developing this? Because the creation

00:33:09.559 --> 00:33:13.450
of what you're doing is one thing, but... behind

00:33:13.450 --> 00:33:16.829
the scenes behind the curtain sometimes there's

00:33:16.829 --> 00:33:20.529
so many other things happening like what was

00:33:20.529 --> 00:33:23.150
your mindset going through all these things because

00:33:23.150 --> 00:33:25.990
you're going hurdle after hurdle and like you

00:33:25.990 --> 00:33:28.990
said you were you're in an industry that's pretty

00:33:28.990 --> 00:33:32.890
tight -knit and sometimes often closed off to

00:33:32.890 --> 00:33:36.450
like the very few experts and you not being a

00:33:36.450 --> 00:33:40.509
prostitutes yourself you being like a young student

00:33:41.069 --> 00:33:44.690
out of universities and out of the academic world

00:33:44.690 --> 00:33:49.049
coming in saying, I can do it better. That's

00:33:49.049 --> 00:33:53.950
a hard thing for other people to absorb, right?

00:33:54.349 --> 00:33:58.470
Sometimes there's so much ego involved in, well,

00:33:58.609 --> 00:34:01.490
my solution's better. I'm the expert. I know.

00:34:01.670 --> 00:34:05.109
You weren't the expert. You're just an outsider

00:34:05.109 --> 00:34:10.210
viewing this. How did you, you know, find the

00:34:10.210 --> 00:34:15.150
confidence within yourself to know that your

00:34:15.150 --> 00:34:19.769
solution made sense? And, you know, you can do

00:34:19.769 --> 00:34:23.610
this and you can make a difference in this industry

00:34:23.610 --> 00:34:27.170
and you can penetrate it as well. Yeah, there's

00:34:27.170 --> 00:34:30.889
a lot of questions there that are all so good.

00:34:30.969 --> 00:34:33.809
There's so many ways I could take this. I would

00:34:33.809 --> 00:34:36.510
say in terms of breaking into the industry, what

00:34:36.510 --> 00:34:39.570
was really nice is that our solution is integrated

00:34:39.570 --> 00:34:42.090
into what prosthetists are already doing. So

00:34:42.090 --> 00:34:44.050
they're still the ones that are fabricating the

00:34:44.050 --> 00:34:46.730
socket itself. We're basically an addition to

00:34:46.730 --> 00:34:49.389
what they do. And what's nice about that is that

00:34:49.389 --> 00:34:52.079
I don't have to be the expert because they. are

00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:55.320
the expert. So really we are a tool and a prosthetist

00:34:55.320 --> 00:34:59.159
toolkit that can empower them to, you know, use

00:34:59.159 --> 00:35:02.260
their time in the most effective manner and to

00:35:02.260 --> 00:35:04.440
help more amputees and to help them in the most

00:35:04.440 --> 00:35:07.119
efficient way. So really we're just trying to

00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:10.440
empower prosthetists. They are still definitely

00:35:10.440 --> 00:35:12.940
the experts in this industry. So I think that

00:35:12.940 --> 00:35:14.539
that was really helpful is as you're saying,

00:35:14.599 --> 00:35:17.119
I'm not someone who's coming in being like, this

00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:20.079
is a better way of doing things. I'm coming in

00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:22.960
saying. hey, I've heard that this is really frustrating.

00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:25.940
We've built a tool that can help it not be as

00:35:25.940 --> 00:35:29.219
frustrating. So that was really helpful, I feel.

00:35:30.119 --> 00:35:33.400
In terms of managing yourself and your co -founder

00:35:33.400 --> 00:35:38.000
and your employees, that took a lot of adjustment.

00:35:38.960 --> 00:35:41.639
I would say when you start the company, what

00:35:41.639 --> 00:35:44.320
was really helpful for me was to rely on mentors

00:35:44.320 --> 00:35:48.019
and advisors. Because if you can surround yourself

00:35:48.019 --> 00:35:49.880
with people that have been there, done that,

00:35:50.110 --> 00:35:53.050
And you can listen to their advice. You can avoid

00:35:53.050 --> 00:35:55.809
a ton of pitfalls. You're still going to make

00:35:55.809 --> 00:35:59.389
mistakes. Don't worry. But you at least won't

00:35:59.389 --> 00:36:03.030
make all of them. And so I found that really,

00:36:03.190 --> 00:36:05.570
really helpful. I was able to streamline what

00:36:05.570 --> 00:36:07.550
we were doing and be as efficient as possible.

00:36:07.849 --> 00:36:09.809
We still took too long because everyone takes

00:36:09.809 --> 00:36:13.130
too long. But you avoided a lot of the pitfalls.

00:36:14.110 --> 00:36:17.949
So when managing myself, it was really important

00:36:17.949 --> 00:36:22.570
to have a growth mindset that wasn't too ego

00:36:22.570 --> 00:36:26.170
driven and wasn't too like, oh, this isn't coming

00:36:26.170 --> 00:36:29.190
easily to me, so I'm just going to give up. It

00:36:29.190 --> 00:36:31.349
was, you know what, we're going to figure this

00:36:31.349 --> 00:36:34.210
out. And I don't know it yet because I don't

00:36:34.210 --> 00:36:36.650
know it yet. But I'm going to learn it and then

00:36:36.650 --> 00:36:38.610
we're going to figure it out and go for it and

00:36:38.610 --> 00:36:41.349
go from there. So just having that kind of tenacity

00:36:41.349 --> 00:36:43.630
and resilience was extremely important. That

00:36:43.630 --> 00:36:47.469
growth mindset, having the mindset. Honestly,

00:36:47.610 --> 00:36:49.849
this was the hardest part for me was everything

00:36:49.849 --> 00:36:54.210
is iterative. So you make a pitch deck and then

00:36:54.210 --> 00:36:55.769
you're going to have to make another pitch deck

00:36:55.769 --> 00:36:57.889
a couple months later. And then you're going

00:36:57.889 --> 00:36:59.590
to have to edit it and make another pitch deck

00:36:59.590 --> 00:37:02.539
a couple months later. And I was used to, I don't

00:37:02.539 --> 00:37:04.139
know if you can relate to this, in academia,

00:37:04.340 --> 00:37:08.139
you do a school project and then you're done.

00:37:08.579 --> 00:37:10.739
And then you go and do another thing, right?

00:37:10.780 --> 00:37:15.599
You get a grade, move on. And that's not how

00:37:15.599 --> 00:37:18.980
entrepreneurship works. Everything is an iterative

00:37:18.980 --> 00:37:24.099
process. So that was a big shift for me and took

00:37:24.099 --> 00:37:25.719
me a little bit to get used to that. I would

00:37:25.719 --> 00:37:29.739
say I'm used to it and annoyed, but used to it

00:37:29.739 --> 00:37:35.030
now. But how do you manage it yourself personally?

00:37:35.130 --> 00:37:38.590
Because it's, it's obviously an experience that

00:37:38.590 --> 00:37:41.510
you go through, but like, how does Sydney talk

00:37:41.510 --> 00:37:46.889
herself through, you know, being annoyed by it

00:37:46.889 --> 00:37:50.690
or being focused on that growth mindset to actually

00:37:50.690 --> 00:37:54.989
get you through those? tough moments when you

00:37:54.989 --> 00:37:56.869
just don't want to do the thing that you just

00:37:56.869 --> 00:38:00.269
don't want to do because it's annoying. It's

00:38:00.269 --> 00:38:03.750
hard. You just don't know enough about it. And

00:38:03.750 --> 00:38:07.269
you have to spend that time building those skills.

00:38:08.329 --> 00:38:11.389
Yeah. I mean, how much do you want to know? Like

00:38:11.389 --> 00:38:15.989
I, I went to therapy because I think that that's

00:38:15.989 --> 00:38:18.050
really important for founders. So there were

00:38:18.050 --> 00:38:19.869
times when I was really struggling and I was

00:38:19.869 --> 00:38:24.340
like, I just need some other ideas. to help um

00:38:24.340 --> 00:38:27.820
i read a lot of books i don't like to read non

00:38:27.820 --> 00:38:30.199
-fiction i love to read fiction i don't like

00:38:30.199 --> 00:38:32.099
to read non -fiction but i will often listen

00:38:32.099 --> 00:38:34.760
to an audiobook so while i'm driving i listened

00:38:34.760 --> 00:38:38.260
to for example everything is figureoutable and

00:38:38.260 --> 00:38:42.500
as the title suggests it's a it's just a mindset

00:38:42.500 --> 00:38:44.360
of like you can figure it out have you read it

00:38:45.190 --> 00:38:48.909
Um, no, but I've always just had that thought

00:38:48.909 --> 00:38:51.789
in my mind. That's how I move through the world.

00:38:51.889 --> 00:38:55.309
As long as I've known is that nothing's really

00:38:55.309 --> 00:38:58.610
ever a hurdle. It's just, how do you figure it

00:38:58.610 --> 00:39:00.710
out? We're gonna figure it out. We're gonna figure

00:39:00.710 --> 00:39:03.190
it out. So, well, that's, that's awesome that

00:39:03.190 --> 00:39:04.869
it came naturally to you. It doesn't come as

00:39:04.869 --> 00:39:07.610
naturally to me, but I'm working on it. And that

00:39:07.610 --> 00:39:10.170
was super helpful. Just reading, listening to

00:39:10.170 --> 00:39:15.469
that book. I time block. So. I'm still not great

00:39:15.469 --> 00:39:18.550
at it, but I'm getting better. And what I'll

00:39:18.550 --> 00:39:21.309
do is I'll block off like three hours and that's

00:39:21.309 --> 00:39:25.789
my time to do the hard work, the work that's

00:39:25.789 --> 00:39:28.989
going to take me a while. And I can block off,

00:39:29.030 --> 00:39:31.070
you know, an hour here, two hours there, three

00:39:31.070 --> 00:39:33.409
hours here, just to sit down and do the tough

00:39:33.409 --> 00:39:35.230
work that you're right. I don't want to do, but

00:39:35.230 --> 00:39:37.650
I know I have to do it. So time blocking has

00:39:37.650 --> 00:39:40.590
been really, really helpful for me. Sometimes

00:39:40.590 --> 00:39:44.320
having like a tea. that I can sip while I'm doing

00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:46.300
the hard work, like whatever barriers you can

00:39:46.300 --> 00:39:49.940
remove to make it more enjoyable, I think is

00:39:49.940 --> 00:39:53.639
super helpful. So yeah, that's how I manage myself.

00:39:53.940 --> 00:39:55.920
And then sometimes you just have to talk to yourself

00:39:55.920 --> 00:39:58.480
and tell yourself it's going to be okay in your

00:39:58.480 --> 00:40:02.079
own brain. And that can be helpful too. It's

00:40:02.079 --> 00:40:04.380
true. It's true. I think everyone has to just

00:40:04.380 --> 00:40:07.809
figure out like, what works for them, what gets

00:40:07.809 --> 00:40:11.829
them to maybe a place of calm, or what allows

00:40:11.829 --> 00:40:14.110
them to maybe view the situation differently,

00:40:14.389 --> 00:40:17.230
which I think is interesting that you listen

00:40:17.230 --> 00:40:23.630
to fiction books. Because one of the themes I'm

00:40:23.630 --> 00:40:27.510
seeing in a lot of our entrepreneurial conversations

00:40:27.510 --> 00:40:32.710
this season is having something to do outside

00:40:32.710 --> 00:40:37.300
of your business. allows you to be so much better

00:40:37.300 --> 00:40:43.500
in the business. And so to take yourself not

00:40:43.500 --> 00:40:45.539
just out of your business, but out of the world

00:40:45.539 --> 00:40:50.719
with fiction, just completely disconnect from

00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:54.699
like the entire world. Do you think that sort

00:40:54.699 --> 00:40:57.940
of brings you that calm where you can like re

00:40:57.940 --> 00:41:00.800
-approach the business or whatever challenge

00:41:00.800 --> 00:41:02.840
or maybe even help you see things differently?

00:41:03.849 --> 00:41:05.690
For sure. Yeah. There's a lot of ways that I

00:41:05.690 --> 00:41:08.650
like to disconnect. Certainly reading fiction

00:41:08.650 --> 00:41:11.869
is one of them. And I just love to like bury

00:41:11.869 --> 00:41:15.010
my face in a really good book and like sit and

00:41:15.010 --> 00:41:17.989
crawl up on a chair, fold myself into a pretzel

00:41:17.989 --> 00:41:20.489
and read for hours. Like that is my idea of a

00:41:20.489 --> 00:41:23.610
good time. So you're right. It definitely just

00:41:23.610 --> 00:41:26.170
gives you some separation. Like you're shutting

00:41:26.170 --> 00:41:27.789
the brain off. You're bringing it to this other

00:41:27.789 --> 00:41:31.469
thing. It allows me to be more present while

00:41:31.469 --> 00:41:34.030
I am at work. I find that really helpful. I find

00:41:34.030 --> 00:41:36.409
journaling really helpful for that too. Like

00:41:36.409 --> 00:41:39.389
get the thoughts out so you don't have to constantly

00:41:39.389 --> 00:41:41.909
be mulling them over and over and over again

00:41:41.909 --> 00:41:44.849
in your head. And then have some friends, have

00:41:44.849 --> 00:41:48.829
some friends that know what it's like. So they're

00:41:48.829 --> 00:41:51.369
in, you know, that's why we have our female founder

00:41:51.369 --> 00:41:53.369
group. Like have some people that know what it's

00:41:53.369 --> 00:41:55.630
like. So you can go to them and be like, oh my

00:41:55.630 --> 00:41:58.070
gosh, can you believe this? And you can talk

00:41:58.070 --> 00:42:00.659
about it. but also have some friends that don't

00:42:00.659 --> 00:42:03.019
know what it's like because it's nice when they

00:42:03.019 --> 00:42:04.780
can, you know, they ask a question. They're like,

00:42:04.840 --> 00:42:06.699
how's the business? And you're like, it's great.

00:42:06.760 --> 00:42:08.780
Let's move on. And then you don't have to talk

00:42:08.780 --> 00:42:10.960
about work and you can just talk about completely

00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:13.940
unrelated stuff. I find that really important

00:42:13.940 --> 00:42:17.900
too, honestly, is spending time with other people

00:42:17.900 --> 00:42:22.599
outside of work. Yeah. So, so, so important.

00:42:22.780 --> 00:42:27.679
I learned that like two, three years after being

00:42:27.679 --> 00:42:31.130
like, in the business consistently because when

00:42:31.130 --> 00:42:36.269
I hit that wall last year, oh my goodness, did

00:42:36.269 --> 00:42:40.469
I have to really then step back and realize that

00:42:40.469 --> 00:42:45.389
you can't solve problems so close to the wall.

00:42:45.570 --> 00:42:49.869
You have to step back from it. And that was such

00:42:49.869 --> 00:42:52.829
a big learning. And I'm so glad that you've implemented

00:42:52.829 --> 00:42:58.519
that so early on in your journey. I guess it

00:42:58.519 --> 00:43:02.400
shows in so many ways because you are consistent

00:43:02.400 --> 00:43:06.000
with like the energy you bring to talking about

00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:09.019
Vessel all the time, you know, because you have

00:43:09.019 --> 00:43:12.699
that moment to recharge and sort of come back

00:43:12.699 --> 00:43:16.079
and you're just not. You know, pounding the pavement

00:43:16.079 --> 00:43:20.320
at every single hour of the day. Because if you

00:43:20.320 --> 00:43:23.300
aren't in a good place, you aren't doing great.

00:43:23.480 --> 00:43:26.119
How can your business do great when you are the

00:43:26.119 --> 00:43:29.360
driving force behind it? A hundred percent. You

00:43:29.360 --> 00:43:32.179
know, I said something very similar to that when

00:43:32.179 --> 00:43:35.300
I was starting this company. I was very aware

00:43:35.300 --> 00:43:38.400
that people say, you know, you work 24 -7 on

00:43:38.400 --> 00:43:41.199
your company. It's true that you're thinking

00:43:41.199 --> 00:43:43.719
about the company 24 -7. I think there's no real

00:43:43.719 --> 00:43:47.980
way to get away from that. But I knew in advance,

00:43:48.239 --> 00:43:51.699
like at the stage when I was starting it, and

00:43:51.699 --> 00:43:53.000
it's just you and your co -founder, you're like,

00:43:53.079 --> 00:43:57.260
I am the company. And so if I, as you're saying,

00:43:57.320 --> 00:44:00.059
if I'm not doing okay, then the company is not

00:44:00.059 --> 00:44:04.500
doing okay. And saying that, I don't know if

00:44:04.500 --> 00:44:06.840
it's just Queens engineers, but it's... That

00:44:06.840 --> 00:44:08.599
was the friend group that said it all the time.

00:44:08.639 --> 00:44:10.639
We would say, you know, work hard, play hard.

00:44:11.159 --> 00:44:14.460
And we would say work smarter, not harder. So

00:44:14.460 --> 00:44:17.179
I don't want to just be pounding the pavement,

00:44:17.179 --> 00:44:21.139
putting in hours just to put in hours. I want

00:44:21.139 --> 00:44:24.820
to put in hours that are effective and efficient

00:44:24.820 --> 00:44:27.539
and are getting me to my goals. I don't want

00:44:27.539 --> 00:44:29.420
to just work for the sake of working just to

00:44:29.420 --> 00:44:32.260
say that, you know, oh, I stayed up until 3 a

00:44:32.260 --> 00:44:34.960
.m. working. okay, good for you. Did you have

00:44:34.960 --> 00:44:37.559
anything that really came from that? And I've

00:44:37.559 --> 00:44:40.840
been really proud of our team's ability to get

00:44:40.840 --> 00:44:44.239
stuff done in a reasonable amount of time and

00:44:44.239 --> 00:44:46.940
really keep pushing the business forward without

00:44:46.940 --> 00:44:50.840
having to burn the candle at both ends all the

00:44:50.840 --> 00:44:52.639
time. You're certainly burning the candle at

00:44:52.639 --> 00:44:55.079
both ends sometimes. Sometimes. All the time.

00:44:56.300 --> 00:44:59.300
It's absolutely inevitable. And then I think

00:44:59.300 --> 00:45:01.719
when you also look at that, it's all about like

00:45:01.719 --> 00:45:06.400
quality, right? Because I mean, for me personally,

00:45:06.559 --> 00:45:11.760
I'm not a late night owl, but if I was up at

00:45:11.760 --> 00:45:14.420
3 a .m. every single day, the quality of my work

00:45:14.420 --> 00:45:21.440
would suffer completely. And I think for someone

00:45:21.440 --> 00:45:23.920
like yourself, I think that's always, that's

00:45:23.920 --> 00:45:26.099
also a really great thing for you because you

00:45:26.099 --> 00:45:30.719
spent so long pitching and fundraising for this

00:45:30.719 --> 00:45:33.380
business. And even though you're only on stage

00:45:33.380 --> 00:45:36.800
for anywhere like from, you know, one to three

00:45:36.800 --> 00:45:40.869
to 10 minutes pitching, that's a lot of... energy

00:45:40.869 --> 00:45:46.070
you have to exert in such a small amount of time,

00:45:46.150 --> 00:45:49.650
because you're like, laser focus. Tell us about

00:45:49.650 --> 00:45:55.130
your preparation. And was it a year or just just

00:45:55.130 --> 00:45:58.110
about a year you were fundraising? Let's go with

00:45:58.110 --> 00:46:00.869
about a year. I it's funny, because you're always

00:46:00.869 --> 00:46:03.690
like, when does it start when you start having

00:46:03.690 --> 00:46:06.510
conversations when you start saying your round

00:46:06.510 --> 00:46:08.710
is open like what's the start but yeah it was

00:46:08.710 --> 00:46:12.809
like a little bit less than a year how did you

00:46:12.809 --> 00:46:16.650
like mentally prepare for that and knowing that

00:46:16.650 --> 00:46:20.929
the journey of that is gonna be so long and it's

00:46:20.929 --> 00:46:23.309
also really hard to ask for money and then convince

00:46:23.309 --> 00:46:28.840
people to to join something that isn't, you know,

00:46:28.860 --> 00:46:32.360
like out there and already successful, you know,

00:46:32.360 --> 00:46:36.199
like that's hard to do. So how did you prepare

00:46:36.199 --> 00:46:40.059
yourself, Sydney, for that? And then how did

00:46:40.059 --> 00:46:43.460
you prepare the business? I talked to a lot of

00:46:43.460 --> 00:46:46.760
other founders to get their guidance and insights.

00:46:46.940 --> 00:46:49.300
And everybody told me, and thank goodness they

00:46:49.300 --> 00:46:51.380
did. Everyone told me it was going to be the

00:46:51.380 --> 00:46:53.860
worst experience ever. And it was going to be

00:46:53.860 --> 00:46:57.900
so hard. you need to be prepared to hear no over

00:46:57.900 --> 00:47:01.400
and over and over and over again. And that was

00:47:01.400 --> 00:47:04.119
extremely important because then when I did hear

00:47:04.119 --> 00:47:07.500
no over and over and over again, I was expecting

00:47:07.500 --> 00:47:11.559
it. So it wasn't as much of a blow to the ego

00:47:11.559 --> 00:47:14.059
because I already knew it was coming. I was like,

00:47:14.079 --> 00:47:15.659
oh, this is exactly what's supposed to happen,

00:47:15.760 --> 00:47:18.380
right? I didn't feel like something was wrong

00:47:18.380 --> 00:47:20.059
with me or wrong with my business. I was like,

00:47:20.079 --> 00:47:22.210
oh no, this is what's supposed to happen. And

00:47:22.210 --> 00:47:25.010
we were raising in 2024, which, I mean, 2025

00:47:25.010 --> 00:47:27.449
has been also a very tough year to fundraise.

00:47:27.530 --> 00:47:30.829
But 2024 was a nightmare to fundraise in. So

00:47:30.829 --> 00:47:36.489
I had a very, I would say, clear understanding

00:47:36.489 --> 00:47:40.710
of how hard it was going to be, which was very

00:47:40.710 --> 00:47:45.730
helpful. I prepared by getting mentally prepped

00:47:45.730 --> 00:47:49.190
in the way that I just described and by having

00:47:49.190 --> 00:47:52.099
conversations with investors up front. So I had

00:47:52.099 --> 00:47:53.940
a bunch of conversations before we were even

00:47:53.940 --> 00:47:57.539
really fundraising to say, to learn more about

00:47:57.539 --> 00:48:00.820
people's theses, to learn more about what they

00:48:00.820 --> 00:48:03.260
look for in terms of traction at the stage that

00:48:03.260 --> 00:48:06.059
my company was at, so that I could gauge when

00:48:06.059 --> 00:48:08.760
to open the round, what I should have in place

00:48:08.760 --> 00:48:11.739
when I did, and how quickly I would be able to

00:48:11.739 --> 00:48:15.340
move through and who to go to first. So all of

00:48:15.340 --> 00:48:17.880
that was really helpful. I was able to create

00:48:17.880 --> 00:48:20.800
kind of a database of investors that I was going

00:48:20.800 --> 00:48:23.420
to chat with first or reach out to you first.

00:48:23.639 --> 00:48:26.460
So it was a lot of just like frantic outreach

00:48:26.460 --> 00:48:31.480
at all hours of the day for pretty much the whole

00:48:31.480 --> 00:48:34.920
year. But I did have a plan in place in advance

00:48:34.920 --> 00:48:38.820
who I was going after, what that criteria was,

00:48:39.099 --> 00:48:42.219
the conversations that I had early on that informed

00:48:42.219 --> 00:48:45.619
that decision -making process. And that really

00:48:45.619 --> 00:48:49.489
helped prepare me for the year ahead. Yeah, that

00:48:49.489 --> 00:48:52.250
research and you seem to be really good at it.

00:48:52.730 --> 00:48:56.690
Thank you. I try. I tried to be realistic about

00:48:56.690 --> 00:49:00.150
who would actually invest in my company. And

00:49:00.150 --> 00:49:04.170
that was helpful. Yeah. So how did you determine

00:49:04.170 --> 00:49:09.389
who was good for your company? Because it's not

00:49:09.389 --> 00:49:12.360
like you just want anybody with money. At the

00:49:12.360 --> 00:49:14.880
end of the day, yes, that's part of raising money

00:49:14.880 --> 00:49:17.440
because that's the goal of it. But when you bring

00:49:17.440 --> 00:49:20.860
an investor into your business, it's, you know,

00:49:20.860 --> 00:49:24.400
that's a real commitment. That's, you know, now

00:49:24.400 --> 00:49:28.699
someone you're sort of accountable to in some

00:49:28.699 --> 00:49:32.519
respect, but you also want to make sure that's

00:49:32.519 --> 00:49:35.940
a really good relationship for yourself and for

00:49:35.940 --> 00:49:39.949
the business as well. For sure. Yeah. You, you

00:49:39.949 --> 00:49:42.710
were very accountable to these investors once

00:49:42.710 --> 00:49:45.230
they've invested in the company for sure. And

00:49:45.230 --> 00:49:49.630
I feel so blessed with the investors that we

00:49:49.630 --> 00:49:52.449
have in this round. Like they are supportive

00:49:52.449 --> 00:49:56.070
and kind and encouraging and, you know, put our

00:49:56.070 --> 00:49:59.329
feet to the fire sometimes, but in a really good

00:49:59.329 --> 00:50:01.530
way, they really push us. And it's just been

00:50:01.530 --> 00:50:03.809
such a fantastic opportunity working with them.

00:50:04.090 --> 00:50:08.780
I would say I knew. that our story needed to

00:50:08.780 --> 00:50:11.480
resonate with investors in order for them to

00:50:11.480 --> 00:50:14.519
invest. We were raising a pre -seed round. We

00:50:14.519 --> 00:50:16.699
did not have a product that was ready to go to

00:50:16.699 --> 00:50:19.960
market. So we really needed investors that could

00:50:19.960 --> 00:50:23.639
relate to the story and or envision the impact

00:50:23.639 --> 00:50:28.460
and or relate to what we were doing. So I targeted

00:50:28.460 --> 00:50:32.440
three... bins, four really, four bins of people.

00:50:32.820 --> 00:50:36.360
I targeted groups that invested in pre -seed,

00:50:36.360 --> 00:50:39.219
like first check -in kind of thing, because then

00:50:39.219 --> 00:50:43.039
at least they were going to understand where

00:50:43.039 --> 00:50:45.639
I was at from a stage perspective and be comfortable

00:50:45.639 --> 00:50:49.079
with that level of risk. I targeted people that

00:50:49.079 --> 00:50:52.079
were medtech specific, if I could, because they

00:50:52.079 --> 00:50:54.460
would understand what traction is reasonable.

00:50:55.079 --> 00:50:58.460
at my stage of a company because I'm in med tech.

00:50:58.639 --> 00:51:00.579
And then they're interested in medical technology,

00:51:00.739 --> 00:51:02.059
which is good because that's what I'm building.

00:51:02.539 --> 00:51:06.019
I targeted people who were impact focused. Obviously

00:51:06.019 --> 00:51:09.039
working with people with leg amputations is extremely

00:51:09.039 --> 00:51:12.679
impactful and has the opportunity to be globally

00:51:12.679 --> 00:51:15.420
impactful. And my co -founder is Ukrainian. So

00:51:15.420 --> 00:51:17.179
with everything that's going on in Ukraine right

00:51:17.179 --> 00:51:19.800
now, we are very passionate about doing what

00:51:19.800 --> 00:51:22.780
we can to support that country and everything

00:51:22.780 --> 00:51:27.119
that's happening there. Impact needed to be something

00:51:27.119 --> 00:51:30.440
that people were passionate about on the social

00:51:30.440 --> 00:51:32.800
impact side of things, health impact, that kind

00:51:32.800 --> 00:51:35.539
of deal, disability, inclusion, accessibility.

00:51:36.159 --> 00:51:39.039
And then the final bin were female founders.

00:51:39.300 --> 00:51:42.300
Female founders get less than 2 % of investment

00:51:42.300 --> 00:51:47.800
capital still, which is absurd. But I knew that

00:51:47.800 --> 00:51:51.420
I... could speak to people who specifically invested

00:51:51.420 --> 00:51:54.579
and supported female founders. And my story and

00:51:54.579 --> 00:51:56.760
my situation would resonate a lot more with those

00:51:56.760 --> 00:51:58.940
individuals. So that was what I did. I targeted

00:51:58.940 --> 00:52:01.880
those four bins as much overlap as possible,

00:52:01.940 --> 00:52:04.119
right? If someone was investing in pre -seed

00:52:04.119 --> 00:52:06.179
medical technology that had an impact with a

00:52:06.179 --> 00:52:09.840
female founder, I mean, that's awesome. Yeah.

00:52:11.699 --> 00:52:15.670
You didn't often get the... Not trifecta, I guess,

00:52:15.710 --> 00:52:19.389
quadfecta, whatever that term would be. Seems

00:52:19.389 --> 00:52:23.550
reasonable. But any amount of overlap between

00:52:23.550 --> 00:52:25.630
those four categories I thought was really important.

00:52:25.989 --> 00:52:31.289
And I did start to hone the pitch and my targets

00:52:31.289 --> 00:52:33.869
kind of as we went. You know, VCs weren't as

00:52:33.869 --> 00:52:36.269
interested at the stage that we were at. It really

00:52:36.269 --> 00:52:38.690
resonated more with angels and angel groups and

00:52:38.690 --> 00:52:41.210
family offices. So that was who I spent more

00:52:41.210 --> 00:52:43.730
of my time talking to as the fundraise went on.

00:52:44.480 --> 00:52:47.960
And female -founded groups often focus still

00:52:47.960 --> 00:52:53.059
on software or consumer -focused goods. And so

00:52:53.059 --> 00:52:57.500
I didn't put as much of my focus on kind of female

00:52:57.500 --> 00:53:03.340
-oriented angel or VC groups. So I really focused

00:53:03.340 --> 00:53:06.619
more on those med tech and impact kind of pillars

00:53:06.619 --> 00:53:11.519
that I had. Yeah. Wow, that's incredibly methodical.

00:53:11.539 --> 00:53:14.780
And I hope anyone listening and thinking of fundraising,

00:53:15.039 --> 00:53:17.699
they're going to take so much away from just

00:53:17.699 --> 00:53:21.219
like how you just simply thought about the landscape

00:53:21.219 --> 00:53:26.400
and your strategy in approaching it. And one

00:53:26.400 --> 00:53:29.880
of the key things you said is like, you had to

00:53:29.880 --> 00:53:34.280
know these people needed to fall in love with

00:53:34.280 --> 00:53:41.460
your story. How did you curate a story that you

00:53:41.460 --> 00:53:45.980
felt like people would truly fall in love with

00:53:45.980 --> 00:53:49.739
and resonate with? I tried to make it as accessible

00:53:49.739 --> 00:53:53.039
as possible. So I didn't assume that the people

00:53:53.039 --> 00:53:57.860
I was speaking to knew what amputation was or

00:53:57.860 --> 00:53:59.719
had ever met someone living with amputation,

00:53:59.719 --> 00:54:02.480
anything like that. I had never met someone living

00:54:02.480 --> 00:54:04.579
with an amputation before I started the company.

00:54:06.010 --> 00:54:08.949
I was basically pitching to myself several years

00:54:08.949 --> 00:54:12.610
ago. And the story that we came up with that

00:54:12.610 --> 00:54:14.369
I've actually heard a couple of times now in

00:54:14.369 --> 00:54:16.949
the prosthetics industry is imagine you wear

00:54:16.949 --> 00:54:19.190
a pair of shoes that doesn't fit and you get

00:54:19.190 --> 00:54:22.889
blisters. That misfit is the same for people

00:54:22.889 --> 00:54:26.309
living with leg amputations, except that this

00:54:26.309 --> 00:54:28.690
is happening to your leg and it's impacting your

00:54:28.690 --> 00:54:33.480
ability to walk. can really relate to that. We've

00:54:33.480 --> 00:54:35.139
all worn shoes that don't fit. So you're like,

00:54:35.199 --> 00:54:37.559
oh yeah, I know what that feels like. I know

00:54:37.559 --> 00:54:39.460
what it feels like to get a blister. Wow. That

00:54:39.460 --> 00:54:41.340
would really suck if that was the only way I

00:54:41.340 --> 00:54:44.539
could move through the world. So it was easy

00:54:44.539 --> 00:54:47.179
for people to relate to that. And then it's easy

00:54:47.179 --> 00:54:50.659
for people to relate to inequality. Like we've

00:54:50.659 --> 00:54:53.940
all suffered challenges. We've all had to overcome

00:54:53.940 --> 00:54:58.599
things in life and people can resonate with how

00:54:58.599 --> 00:55:03.710
important it is to support people from disadvantaged

00:55:03.710 --> 00:55:06.489
communities so I would say that that really resonated

00:55:06.489 --> 00:55:09.550
with folks as well and then it was interesting

00:55:09.550 --> 00:55:13.090
because you never knew who you were going to

00:55:13.090 --> 00:55:15.869
meet and you would be surprised the number of

00:55:15.869 --> 00:55:18.809
people we met with that you know oh my brother

00:55:18.809 --> 00:55:21.590
has an amputation actually my sister -in -law

00:55:21.590 --> 00:55:24.869
has an amputation actually I you know met this

00:55:24.869 --> 00:55:27.489
person through a friend and they had an amputation

00:55:27.489 --> 00:55:31.039
like a lot of people knew someone Lots of grandparents

00:55:31.039 --> 00:55:34.880
had had had an amputation and they're like, yeah,

00:55:34.960 --> 00:55:38.099
my grandpa fought in World War One or World War

00:55:38.099 --> 00:55:41.039
Two and they had an amputation. So it was interesting

00:55:41.039 --> 00:55:46.019
how many people. Forty, 50 percent knew someone

00:55:46.019 --> 00:55:49.500
or knew of someone that that had an amputation

00:55:49.500 --> 00:55:52.139
and therefore could imagine what this was like,

00:55:52.260 --> 00:55:56.059
or honestly, more often than not, this was something

00:55:56.059 --> 00:55:59.280
that they watched that. loved one or friend or

00:55:59.280 --> 00:56:02.380
acquaintance go through. Oh, yeah, they talked

00:56:02.380 --> 00:56:04.800
about how frustrating this problem was. I saw

00:56:04.800 --> 00:56:09.400
how annoying this was. So we didn't have to sell

00:56:09.400 --> 00:56:12.119
the story as much to those individuals. And as

00:56:12.119 --> 00:56:14.639
you can imagine, a lot of people who did end

00:56:14.639 --> 00:56:18.380
up investing in Vessel actually do know someone

00:56:18.380 --> 00:56:23.559
or are an amputee themselves. Wow. I think it's

00:56:23.559 --> 00:56:25.880
so important, you know, because stories really

00:56:25.880 --> 00:56:29.019
resonate and when you're selling something or

00:56:29.019 --> 00:56:31.940
when you're building something that is new to

00:56:31.940 --> 00:56:34.400
the world, you kind of have to draw parallels

00:56:34.400 --> 00:56:38.980
that somebody can experience personally. And

00:56:38.980 --> 00:56:42.420
until that really happens, there's still that

00:56:42.420 --> 00:56:46.039
gap between the understanding of what you're

00:56:46.039 --> 00:56:48.320
trying to do and the impact you're trying to

00:56:48.320 --> 00:56:53.539
make because it's not personal. It's interesting

00:56:53.539 --> 00:56:57.900
that this is coming from a fundraising side of

00:56:57.900 --> 00:57:01.000
things because my company is in the finance world

00:57:01.000 --> 00:57:04.440
and it's all about money. And one of the biggest

00:57:04.440 --> 00:57:07.280
things with money is that it's personal. And

00:57:07.280 --> 00:57:09.800
for fundraising to get money from investors,

00:57:10.079 --> 00:57:13.079
it's still personal. It really doesn't change.

00:57:15.519 --> 00:57:19.380
Yeah, that's incredible. And now that you've,

00:57:19.480 --> 00:57:22.780
you know, oversubscribed on your round, huge

00:57:22.780 --> 00:57:26.840
congratulations to that. Thank you. Because you

00:57:26.840 --> 00:57:30.760
were the one marching on stages across North

00:57:30.760 --> 00:57:38.079
America, selling Vessel, winning the hearts of

00:57:38.079 --> 00:57:43.389
investors. And, you know. I've seen some of your

00:57:43.389 --> 00:57:46.170
pitches and oh my goodness, they're fantastic.

00:57:46.769 --> 00:57:51.030
Yeah. I mean, you've, you've got the charisma,

00:57:51.070 --> 00:57:54.389
you've got the attitude, um, and you believe

00:57:54.389 --> 00:57:56.989
in what you're doing. And I think anybody looking

00:57:56.989 --> 00:57:59.449
to build a business, like if you don't have those

00:57:59.449 --> 00:58:01.349
three things and you don't love what you're doing,

00:58:01.389 --> 00:58:11.280
like, don't do it. It's too hard. Oh yeah. So,

00:58:11.440 --> 00:58:14.860
so yeah, so that's, that's incredible. And so

00:58:14.860 --> 00:58:17.500
now that you've gone from fundraising now into

00:58:17.500 --> 00:58:20.659
really building the business, because you've

00:58:20.659 --> 00:58:23.340
got, you know, the funds, because this is, you

00:58:23.340 --> 00:58:25.719
know, MedTech products do take a longer time

00:58:25.719 --> 00:58:28.739
to come to market. There's lots more to do when

00:58:28.739 --> 00:58:30.980
it comes to commercializing a product that's

00:58:30.980 --> 00:58:33.699
safe for, you know, human use, especially from

00:58:33.699 --> 00:58:36.820
a medical perspective, lots of checks and balances.

00:58:37.380 --> 00:58:41.929
And it takes time. How has it been for you switching

00:58:41.929 --> 00:58:48.889
from fundraising mode to let's do business every

00:58:48.889 --> 00:58:52.809
day? It's funny. I was explaining it to a mentor

00:58:52.809 --> 00:58:55.510
of mine the other day. And it's like, you know,

00:58:55.510 --> 00:58:58.750
the company, when you're fundraising, the company

00:58:58.750 --> 00:59:03.260
is living or dying. based on how you do like

00:59:03.260 --> 00:59:05.880
if you can raise the money the company lives

00:59:05.880 --> 00:59:08.199
and if you can't the company dies like it's all

00:59:08.199 --> 00:59:11.059
on you obviously you have a team and you've got

00:59:11.059 --> 00:59:13.719
co -founders and that's great but really it lives

00:59:13.719 --> 00:59:16.920
or dies with you and now i'm not the center of

00:59:16.920 --> 00:59:19.460
attention and the company does not live or die

00:59:19.460 --> 00:59:21.480
with me now it's on the engineering side like

00:59:21.480 --> 00:59:23.920
they're the ones that have to deliver and they're

00:59:23.920 --> 00:59:25.480
the ones that have to build a product as you're

00:59:25.480 --> 00:59:28.139
saying that is safe for use and can be brought

00:59:28.139 --> 00:59:32.260
to the masses and then it's back on me and i

00:59:32.260 --> 00:59:34.139
have to actually sell the thing and then again

00:59:34.139 --> 00:59:36.380
the company lives or dies with me and my ability

00:59:36.380 --> 00:59:39.679
to sell so uh it's it's interesting how it shifts

00:59:39.679 --> 00:59:45.239
it definitely is like it was a it was hard to

00:59:45.239 --> 00:59:48.019
get into the fundraising mode like that was a

00:59:48.019 --> 00:59:51.480
not adaptation something you had to get used

00:59:51.480 --> 00:59:56.320
to that's adaptation totally there you go yeah

00:59:56.320 --> 01:00:00.389
um you had to like adapt to that um and and the

01:00:00.389 --> 01:00:02.710
long hours and the like respond to investors

01:00:02.710 --> 01:00:05.949
right away and the pitching all the time telling

01:00:05.949 --> 01:00:09.250
your story 17 000 times a day like that took

01:00:09.250 --> 01:00:11.369
some getting used to getting used to that was

01:00:11.369 --> 01:00:13.530
the phrase i was going for and then you also

01:00:13.530 --> 01:00:16.369
have to get used to as you're saying coming off

01:00:16.369 --> 01:00:18.829
of the fundraise and so a lot of what i'm doing

01:00:18.829 --> 01:00:21.599
now is really prepping for that next phase of

01:00:21.599 --> 01:00:24.119
the company which is commercialization and commercial

01:00:24.119 --> 01:00:27.719
sales so getting our sales playbook ready figuring

01:00:27.719 --> 01:00:30.239
out who are we working with on shipping who are

01:00:30.239 --> 01:00:32.579
we working with for distribution what do our

01:00:32.579 --> 01:00:35.179
terms of sale look like like all of those minute

01:00:35.179 --> 01:00:37.599
details that's really what we're building out

01:00:37.599 --> 01:00:40.420
now while the company while the engineering team

01:00:40.420 --> 01:00:44.500
builds the product so that when their product

01:00:44.500 --> 01:00:46.989
is ready I'm ready with all the paperwork and

01:00:46.989 --> 01:00:49.090
the plans and everything to just hit the ground

01:00:49.090 --> 01:00:52.949
running and start selling. Yeah. So you've now

01:00:52.949 --> 01:00:55.710
sort of like flipped things a little bit with

01:00:55.710 --> 01:00:59.690
your co -founder with a little bit more pressure

01:00:59.690 --> 01:01:04.369
in his direction versus you. But you're still

01:01:04.369 --> 01:01:07.170
obviously working hard day to day because selling

01:01:07.170 --> 01:01:11.449
is hard. It's one of the hardest things that

01:01:11.449 --> 01:01:17.050
anybody can do. You know, if you can sell, if

01:01:17.050 --> 01:01:18.889
you can convince someone to buy your product

01:01:18.889 --> 01:01:22.449
once, you're already a good salesperson. So you

01:01:22.449 --> 01:01:24.550
raise that round of funding. So pat yourself

01:01:24.550 --> 01:01:27.530
on the back. Commercialization is going to be

01:01:27.530 --> 01:01:31.110
much easier because you can sell. I hope so.

01:01:33.429 --> 01:01:36.050
You already did it once. And once you did it,

01:01:36.070 --> 01:01:38.449
once you've done it once, you can do it again.

01:01:38.449 --> 01:01:41.349
How hard can it be? How hard can it be? You'll

01:01:41.349 --> 01:01:45.280
be telling a new story. That's it. story. So

01:01:45.280 --> 01:01:48.719
you're right. Yeah, no, that's, that's amazing

01:01:48.719 --> 01:01:53.579
to see that you're able to be so nimble as well.

01:01:53.860 --> 01:01:57.000
You know, I think a lot of people use that word

01:01:57.000 --> 01:01:59.719
and don't really know what it means. But like,

01:01:59.860 --> 01:02:04.840
you know, you've done this huge transition and,

01:02:04.920 --> 01:02:08.320
you know, from one phase to another phase and

01:02:08.920 --> 01:02:11.760
rather quickly as well, too. And like, that's

01:02:11.760 --> 01:02:14.900
what being nimble, I think really means is to

01:02:14.900 --> 01:02:19.199
be able to transition without like too much disruption.

01:02:20.340 --> 01:02:24.159
And really then start going in that direction,

01:02:24.260 --> 01:02:28.559
sort of full speed as as you're doing right now.

01:02:29.039 --> 01:02:31.820
Yeah, yeah, I think I think startup is like full

01:02:31.820 --> 01:02:33.639
speed all the time. You know what I mean? And

01:02:33.639 --> 01:02:37.110
yeah, point point the the machine in the right

01:02:37.110 --> 01:02:39.369
direction, but the machine is always going full

01:02:39.369 --> 01:02:41.170
speed. I feel like that's kind of how it is.

01:02:42.250 --> 01:02:46.289
Absolutely, absolutely. So as we wind down, this

01:02:46.289 --> 01:02:48.610
has been, you know, such a great conversation,

01:02:48.869 --> 01:02:52.389
so much reflection we've done already. But one

01:02:52.389 --> 01:02:55.750
of the three questions we ask all of our entrepreneurs

01:02:55.750 --> 01:03:00.269
this season is, what is one thing that you're

01:03:00.269 --> 01:03:03.030
leaving behind in your entrepreneurial journey

01:03:03.030 --> 01:03:06.190
that you've learned so far? What's one thing

01:03:06.190 --> 01:03:08.449
you're leaving behind? You just don't want it

01:03:08.449 --> 01:03:13.130
to be a part of your life or your entrepreneurial

01:03:13.130 --> 01:03:18.889
journey any longer. I want to say self -doubt

01:03:18.889 --> 01:03:26.090
and I want to say imposter syndrome, but I think

01:03:26.090 --> 01:03:28.949
that there is a level of that that is healthy

01:03:28.949 --> 01:03:34.329
and humbling. So I'm leaving behind the paralysis,

01:03:35.440 --> 01:03:38.739
that comes from not feeling like you can do it,

01:03:38.760 --> 01:03:43.039
but I'm keeping the healthy level of humbleness

01:03:43.039 --> 01:03:47.380
that comes with feeling like you're stretching

01:03:47.380 --> 01:03:50.440
a little more than you can handle and being okay

01:03:50.440 --> 01:03:53.739
with that. But that's real growth. So you're

01:03:53.739 --> 01:03:58.199
right. Yeah. I hope so. I hope so. I like that.

01:03:58.360 --> 01:04:00.639
I like that. So what are some of these moments

01:04:00.639 --> 01:04:05.449
that you feel like truly paralyzed within? the

01:04:05.449 --> 01:04:08.070
business? Is it on decision -making? Is it like

01:04:08.070 --> 01:04:11.389
when you needed to pivot back? What, what does

01:04:11.389 --> 01:04:14.510
that look like for you? Yeah, I would say paralysis

01:04:14.510 --> 01:04:16.309
would come from some of the decision -making.

01:04:16.349 --> 01:04:19.650
Like sometimes you make a decision and you should

01:04:19.650 --> 01:04:22.550
have made it three months earlier, or you make

01:04:22.550 --> 01:04:24.650
it and it was the wrong one, or you work with

01:04:24.650 --> 01:04:26.829
a, you, you've been thinking about it a long

01:04:26.829 --> 01:04:29.369
time. You choose a partner to work with. clearly

01:04:29.369 --> 01:04:32.309
you should have gone with the other guys or you

01:04:32.309 --> 01:04:34.389
do all of this research and it doesn't work out.

01:04:34.429 --> 01:04:36.670
You chose the wrong option. Like all of that

01:04:36.670 --> 01:04:40.510
is really frustrating. I wouldn't say that's

01:04:40.510 --> 01:04:42.449
the paralysis part. I would say the paralysis

01:04:42.449 --> 01:04:46.409
part and I can share, you know, a couple of days

01:04:46.409 --> 01:04:51.010
ago, I was talking to a mentor about sales and

01:04:51.010 --> 01:04:55.090
we started setting some sales targets and it

01:04:55.090 --> 01:05:00.019
hit me that I'm going to have to sell. devices

01:05:00.019 --> 01:05:08.239
and that was a uh tough moment for me because

01:05:08.239 --> 01:05:10.780
it's not something i've ever done before and

01:05:10.780 --> 01:05:15.920
so it's it's those moments of like oh wow okay

01:05:15.920 --> 01:05:18.840
um that that you have to bring yourself back

01:05:18.840 --> 01:05:20.639
to also you've never done any of these other

01:05:20.639 --> 01:05:23.840
things before that you just did so congrats you

01:05:23.840 --> 01:05:26.420
can do stuff for the first time you're a human

01:05:26.420 --> 01:05:30.429
being but um just just remembering that i think

01:05:30.429 --> 01:05:33.949
is good and being humble is good um but the like

01:05:33.949 --> 01:05:36.929
paralyzing fear of how am i ever going to sell

01:05:36.929 --> 01:05:38.789
something it you know comes back to what you

01:05:38.789 --> 01:05:41.949
were saying of you just fundraised that was sales

01:05:41.949 --> 01:05:44.269
like putting things in perspective i guess so

01:05:44.269 --> 01:05:46.030
there that's what it really is thank you for

01:05:46.030 --> 01:05:51.210
boiling that down it is it is not getting sucked

01:05:51.210 --> 01:05:58.550
into imposter syndrome that is paralyzing, but

01:05:58.550 --> 01:06:02.269
keeping yourself humble and within the right

01:06:02.269 --> 01:06:07.010
perspective. That's so good. That's so good,

01:06:07.050 --> 01:06:13.210
Sydney. I love that. So what is the biggest challenge

01:06:13.210 --> 01:06:19.230
that you have overcome so far in this journey?

01:06:22.070 --> 01:06:24.510
I mean, fundraising was probably the biggest

01:06:24.510 --> 01:06:28.920
challenge. On the business side, I think it was

01:06:28.920 --> 01:06:33.300
fundraising. A lot of startups die with that

01:06:33.300 --> 01:06:37.300
first fundraise. Hardware is hard. So hardware

01:06:37.300 --> 01:06:39.940
is very hard to fundraise for. And then being

01:06:39.940 --> 01:06:41.960
a female founder also puts you at a disadvantage.

01:06:42.420 --> 01:06:46.619
So we were up against a lot and we overcame that.

01:06:46.679 --> 01:06:49.280
I would say that was the biggest challenge so

01:06:49.280 --> 01:06:52.599
far. Yeah. But a challenge you are proud of.

01:06:53.440 --> 01:06:57.199
Very proud of, yes. Good. Good. I'm happy you

01:06:57.199 --> 01:07:00.239
are. I'm happy. Because that's all challenges

01:07:00.239 --> 01:07:02.900
too. It builds that confidence to let you know

01:07:02.900 --> 01:07:06.820
when something hard shows up again, I can do

01:07:06.820 --> 01:07:10.179
it. Exactly. We've already done everything. Yeah.

01:07:10.400 --> 01:07:14.900
Yeah. And the final one is what is something

01:07:14.900 --> 01:07:19.280
you're absolutely taking into the future for

01:07:19.280 --> 01:07:25.489
yourself or the business? My network. Love my

01:07:25.489 --> 01:07:28.929
network. I have so many amazing people that have

01:07:28.929 --> 01:07:31.469
supported me to get to where I am today. And

01:07:31.469 --> 01:07:34.570
I'm so grateful that I get to bring them along

01:07:34.570 --> 01:07:38.050
with me for these next however many years of

01:07:38.050 --> 01:07:41.230
running Bessel and building this incredible company

01:07:41.230 --> 01:07:44.349
with people that I love building with. So I'm

01:07:44.349 --> 01:07:47.550
bringing my team and my network and my mentors

01:07:47.550 --> 01:07:50.289
and my supporters with me along the way, which

01:07:50.289 --> 01:07:55.929
I feel immense gratitude to be able to do. I

01:07:55.929 --> 01:07:59.610
absolutely love that because, you know, there's

01:07:59.610 --> 01:08:04.570
a saying, if you want to go fast, you go alone.

01:08:04.829 --> 01:08:08.630
But if you want to go the distance, you go together.

01:08:09.269 --> 01:08:12.969
And I think that is so representative of that.

01:08:13.929 --> 01:08:16.630
I've actually never heard that. And I love quotes.

01:08:16.729 --> 01:08:18.350
And I feel like I've heard all of them by now.

01:08:18.409 --> 01:08:19.989
And I have not heard that one. That was really

01:08:19.989 --> 01:08:24.489
good. Yeah, it's a really good one. And I think

01:08:24.489 --> 01:08:26.850
it's a really fundamental one. And that's why

01:08:26.850 --> 01:08:30.609
like, I try to make sure that the people around

01:08:30.609 --> 01:08:35.529
me are such good people for me in every capacity.

01:08:36.890 --> 01:08:39.529
Because, you know, having someone that's not

01:08:39.529 --> 01:08:42.689
great for you. can hold you back as well too.

01:08:42.850 --> 01:08:46.670
So you have to be sure of like the right people,

01:08:46.789 --> 01:08:49.069
you know, the same thing when it comes to like

01:08:49.069 --> 01:08:52.310
hiring for your business, like, you know, hire

01:08:52.310 --> 01:08:55.970
fast, fire fast, because anyone can tell you

01:08:55.970 --> 01:08:58.550
anything on an interview, right? You just don't

01:08:58.550 --> 01:09:00.590
know someone until they actually start doing

01:09:00.590 --> 01:09:03.390
the work. And if they're just not meeting the

01:09:03.390 --> 01:09:06.069
standards, you let them go. So probation's there

01:09:06.069 --> 01:09:14.069
for, so, so yeah. 100 % I that was going back

01:09:14.069 --> 01:09:18.409
to paralysis hiring our fourth hire we we were

01:09:18.409 --> 01:09:20.689
too naive hiring the third hire he worked out

01:09:20.689 --> 01:09:23.869
he's absolute absolutely amazing we love him

01:09:23.869 --> 01:09:26.930
to pieces um that just worked out like thank

01:09:26.930 --> 01:09:29.609
goodness but we didn't know enough to be scared

01:09:29.609 --> 01:09:32.289
um and then when we were hiring the next the

01:09:32.289 --> 01:09:36.180
next one after after him that was terrifying.

01:09:36.279 --> 01:09:39.380
And we spent so long going back and forth, back

01:09:39.380 --> 01:09:44.079
and forth. And our hire is phenomenal. Like truly

01:09:44.079 --> 01:09:46.819
knock on wood. Every hire that we've made has

01:09:46.819 --> 01:09:50.380
just been an absolute game changer for the company.

01:09:50.460 --> 01:09:53.119
And I'm so proud of the, of the group that we've

01:09:53.119 --> 01:09:57.579
built. That's amazing. That's so amazing. I can't

01:09:57.579 --> 01:10:02.979
wait to see where Vessel goes. Just It's going

01:10:02.979 --> 01:10:08.000
to change so many people's lives. I think just

01:10:08.000 --> 01:10:13.260
looking at your face right now, it's so heartwarming

01:10:13.260 --> 01:10:17.720
for me to see you so happy because what you're

01:10:17.720 --> 01:10:21.600
doing is so purpose -driven. It has so much impact.

01:10:22.279 --> 01:10:26.779
Quality of life is everything. And if you don't

01:10:26.779 --> 01:10:29.100
have quality of life, you don't have good health,

01:10:29.279 --> 01:10:34.689
which prosthetics can impact significantly. then

01:10:34.689 --> 01:10:39.770
what do you really have? So I'm really excited

01:10:39.770 --> 01:10:42.789
to see where Vessel goes and I'm excited to see

01:10:42.789 --> 01:10:46.029
where you go as Sydney and like the incredible

01:10:46.029 --> 01:10:51.489
entrepreneur CEO that you are in every capacity

01:10:51.489 --> 01:10:55.869
and you'll do absolutely incredible. Thank you,

01:10:55.869 --> 01:10:58.430
Slyce. Thank you so much. Thank you. This has

01:10:58.430 --> 01:11:02.260
been such a fun conversation and we went. So

01:11:02.260 --> 01:11:05.239
long. And it was so like, I feel like we could

01:11:05.239 --> 01:11:06.920
just keep going and going and going and going.

01:11:06.979 --> 01:11:09.359
And I really appreciate the opportunity to chat.

01:11:09.380 --> 01:11:12.260
And your support really means a lot. And how

01:11:12.260 --> 01:11:14.100
you highlight the stories of other founders is

01:11:14.100 --> 01:11:16.359
phenomenal. So thank you for everything you do

01:11:16.359 --> 01:11:19.600
as well. Thank you so much. It's been such a

01:11:19.600 --> 01:11:21.939
pleasure chatting with you and, you know, really

01:11:21.939 --> 01:11:25.859
learning your story from like a deeper perspective,

01:11:25.939 --> 01:11:28.439
even though we're part of the same group together.

01:11:29.359 --> 01:11:32.079
It's just a different lens and it's exciting

01:11:32.079 --> 01:11:35.199
to see. So thanks so much again, Sydney, and

01:11:35.199 --> 01:11:38.359
we will chat soon. Absolutely. Looking forward

01:11:38.359 --> 01:11:41.369
to it. Thanks for tuning in, everyone. We're

01:11:41.369 --> 01:11:43.890
so glad to have you as part of our Buzzworthy

01:11:43.890 --> 01:11:47.449
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01:11:47.449 --> 01:11:50.649
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01:12:07.590 --> 01:12:11.750
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01:12:22.170 --> 01:12:26.109
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01:12:29.609 --> 01:12:30.869
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