Hey everyone, welcome back to Buzzworthy. I'm
your host, Shlaise Harris. I dive into the rare
stories entrepreneurs tell about building their
businesses, but most importantly, themselves.
Let's get into it. Welcome back to Buzzworthy,
everyone. I'm your host, Shlaise Harris. And
today we have a female founder of mine who's
part of this very tight -knit group, Sydney Robinson
from Vessel. And she has literally been crushing
it. over the last year, doing things I know she
didn't think she would ever be doing. And she's
here to tell us the story of, you know, building
Vessel, but also building herself as an entrepreneur
through this entire journey. So Sydney, the first
question we love, love, love asking our entrepreneurs
is, what do you think set you up to be an entrepreneur
to kickstart the journey of Vessel? prosthetics.
Well, Shalicia, thank you so much for having
me. I'm really excited to be here and to have
this conversation with you. And honestly, I think
that what helped me start my entrepreneurial
journey was a sense of open -mindedness. So I
like to characterize my career journey as really
just following where the open doors might take
me or... by trying to keep my doors open, kind
of both of those. And I think that that really
wraps up into keeping my mind open. And I started
doing engineering because I knew it would keep
my doors open. People tell you it's a very employable
field. So that was why I went into engineering
in the first place. I was good at math and science,
seemed like a good next step. And then I started
going more into like medical because that was
really where my passion was, but also because
I thought that it would keep my doors open. And
I did a fellowship program at Western University
that was all about entrepreneurship because I
was interested in entrepreneurship. And also,
I thought that the skills that I would get within
that cohort would really keep my doors open and
help me develop some soft skills for future career
opportunities. And little did I know, as you
kind of hinted at, that I would become so passionate
about a problem that we were working on at the
time. It was in the prosthetics industry and
prosthetics has always had a sweet spot for me.
So I really honed in on that. And then also on
the fact that I met someone during that program
who we worked really well together and he eventually
became my co -founder. And so it just felt like
such a gift to being given that in this fellowship
position. So I feel as though. keeping an open
mind throughout my academic journey, but then
also through this fellowship program where we
were learning about entrepreneurship. That was
really what helped me start the company. I love
that. I don't think anyone else has ever really
started why, you know, answering the question
of. what they think set them up as an entrepreneur
in that way. And I think it's so fascinating
in keeping those doors open. Because when sometimes
you keep doors open, did you find yourself keeping
too many doors open? Because then there's like
decision paralysis. What do you actually choose?
What is the actual thing that I need to move
forward with? Because open -mindedness is absolutely
key in entrepreneurship. And I love that that
is the focus that you took. But then when you're
so open, the choices are endless. And when you
have endless choices, that's a hard place to
be sometimes. How did you navigate that? Yeah,
it was even having a list of choices, I think
would have been really nice. I feel like I didn't
even have a list of choices. Like I just had
this blurry blob of of wide open space. Do you
know what I mean? I was keeping myself so open
that I didn't even have a clear picture of what
my options could be. It was just. a vast open
space of whatever you want your future to look
like, which is not helpful when you're trying
to make decisions. So certainly at some points
it was like, you know, I went into engineering
and you can choose any discipline within engineering.
And so when I had too many options on the table,
I did a little bit more of process of elimination.
And so I would say, okay, well, I know these
things over here I definitely don't want to do
as much as I want to keep my doors open. I don't
like these doors. And so I'll focus my energy
over here on things that will keep my options
open, but I also actually am passionate about.
I think that's such a good way of actually doing
it because. I think a lot of people find themselves
in this place where they're just like, everything
I do, I don't like. I really don't like it. But
that's actually a very, very good thing. Because
in this process, you're just closing all the
doors that just aren't meant for you if you've
given it enough of a go. And then once you find
the doors that are right for you, it's so easy
to just... walk through them, which you absolutely
did. And you just let those doors kind of go
from one door to the next door to the next door,
which would be like your engineering to, you
know, being interested in the medical fields
and then entrepreneurship. and then eventually
creating Vessel from there. So you were really
a student in sort of university and a student
of life in so many ways as well, too. Did you
ever think it was just too early to become an
entrepreneur at that age? I think I just didn't
know any better. So no, the thought didn't really
cross my mind as much. I think you also see in
the media. you know, so -and -so was 15 when
they started the idea of XYZ. So I was exposed
to media around really young entrepreneurs. So
I didn't feel intimidated. I had done, by the
time I started Vessel, scratch that, I did feel
intimidated. And I still had the naivety to think
that I could do it myself. You, I had enough
of a, career in academia behind me that I still
felt knowledgeable in a lot of areas. And I felt
as though I knew at least some of what I didn't
know and could kind of start there on the journey.
But certainly it was filled with a lot of ups
and downs and a lot of things that, yeah, I didn't
know and I had to learn on the fly because I
was starting from a place where I didn't have
a deep career background to fall on. Mm -hmm.
So you just, sometimes it's, you know, hard to
determine, you know, do you go and find a career
or do you build a career for yourself and build
a company for yourself? And that's where you
found your place. And I just think it's incredible
because even when you talk about that moment,
it's... really the root of it comes back to the
open mindedness of it, right? Because sometimes
we don't think that that's an option. I remember
when I graduated university, it was just like,
just get a great job at one of the, you know,
big fortune 500 companies within marketing where
you can do all these crazy fun things. And like
that was the goal. Starting a company was just
not in You know, it was not an option for me,
not because I didn't want it to be an option.
I just never thought someone coming out of university
would just be able to just do that. So I'm super
impressed by, you know, and I think, like you
said, a bit of naivety is not like that bad of
a thing. You know, it's I think that little area
where like courage and curiosity and and that
risk take and not knowing the weight of the risk
around it kind of really pushes you to to grow
exponentially one yourself because you're going
to learn a hell of a lot and then go into this
new world and start navigating it. Yeah, oh,
absolutely. Yeah, I'm glad I didn't know. everything
I was getting myself into when I started. I like
to think that I would still have made the same
choice, but it's, you know, it's not an easy
journey being an entrepreneur. Yeah. So around,
you know, the time that you were in the entrepreneurial
program, you were going through this with your
co -founder at the time. I mean, your co -founder
now. What was it about prosthetics and what did
you find in that program that really sparked
that opportunity? What was that moment like?
What were the things you were seeing as themes
that helped you identify this problem? Because
every business has to be surrounded by a problem
in some capacity. Like, Where were you and like,
how did prosthetics really stand out? Because
you mentioned it was close to you as well. Yeah,
for sure. So with the fellowship program that
we were doing, it was in the medical space, but
they didn't prescribe a certain problem you had
to work on. Each year, the team was very different.
You had engineers, PhD scientists, and doctors
who would come together to innovate within medicine,
but you weren't necessarily always getting. orthopedic
surgeons as the doctors and mechanical engineers
as the engineers you could have computer engineers
one year and electrical engineers one year like
it always changed up so the composition of the
team was always different and therefore the interests
of the team the skill sets of the team that was
also constantly changing so they didn't want
to prescribe a certain project that you had to
work on in case the team wasn't well suited to
that And what that meant was that as the first
couple months of the program got started, and
keep in mind, we only had 10. So the first couple
of months, you really spent those months just
looking for problems to solve within medicine.
And we came up after interviewing, you know,
over 60 clinicians, we came up with a list of
like 200 different problems that we could work
on. Because I'm sure as you've noticed, no shortage
of issues in the Canadian medical. healthcare
system. But what that meant was we could be really
creative and explore what we were passionate
about. So we shadowed a doctor at a diabetes
clinic in Hamilton, and diabetes is the leading
cause of leg amputation. And so we met a lot
of people visiting the clinic that day who had
leg amputations. And a lot of them were in the
clinic because their prosthetic leg didn't fit
properly on their anatomical leg. And we were
like, that seems... like a really important part
of having a prosthetic leg is that it fits well.
I wonder why that hasn't been fixed yet. And
that took us down this rabbit hole of what was
currently available and what the current challenges
were and what a day in the life of an amputee
is and a day in the life of the prosthetist looks
like. We interviewed so many different people
living with the amputation and limb difference
and also prosthetists and a bunch of other healthcare
providers like physiotherapists that work with
people with like amputations and just learned
so much about the problem. It was very easy to
become passionate about it and to just fall in
love with the community that we were working
with. And it became very clear to us that this
was a massive global issue that really needed
solving. Wow. I'm aware that, you know, a lot
of diabetic patients get eventually, if they're
not taking care of themselves, can lead to amputation
of their legs. And like, when you don't have
mobility, that takes like a huge toll on you.
mentally, physically, in every capacity. It puts
a strain on the people around you because of
the extra support that you would need in so many
ways. And I can't imagine the life -changing
experiences that you must hear and these stories
you hear through meeting with these amputees
and just trying to do basic things in their lives.
Absolutely. Yeah. Was there any story that like
stood out to you? A hundred percent, a hundred
percent. So you go out for dinner and I don't
know if you're a beer drinker, I'm not, but you
know, you drink some beer or you drink some wine
and you have a nice pizza and it's an artisanal
pizza, but you know, it's made with North American
gluten. So you feel a little puffy after and
you wake up the next morning and you're just
feeling a little bloated. And for able -bodied
individuals, You put on some leggings or some
pants with a tie and it can accommodate for that
little bit of a puffy feeling. When I was speaking
to one of the amputees that we were chatting
with, he was saying that if he has, you know,
beer and pizza the next morning, he actually
can't fit his leg into his prospect because it's
so swollen. You just can't get it on. And I love
pizza. And I was thinking, oh, my God. So you
have to watch what you eat. To such an extent,
because you can't get into your prosthesis the
next day, or we chatted with another gentleman
and he would put his leg on in the morning, walk
around, you know, make breakfast, do do the whole
thing, get in his car, drive to work. So let's
call that an hour, maybe total from time awake
to the time he gets to work. By the time he got
to work, he had to take his leg off, put a sock
on and put his leg back on because his leg had
shrunk. So he needs these socks to kind of make
up for the extra space inside of his prosthetic
leg. And that's how people manage it right now.
Current gold standard. And he had to do that
as soon as he got to work. He'd only been awake
for an hour. And so he's carrying these socks
around with him all day and finding places at
work where he can stop. excuse himself take his
leg off put a sock on maybe that's fine for certain
individuals but there are people that are self
-conscious and don't really want to take their
leg off in public or at work and so it just hit
us how debilitating the problem was frustrating
the problem was and how inconvenient and and
honestly a huge burden it can be yeah that I
can't imagine that because an hour from waking
up, I'm still going really slow in the kitchen.
I'm trying to feed myself. And to have to consider
all of that, I can see how this is such an incredible
problem. You know, I'm even more thankful and
grateful for my legs right now. Never thought
those words would come out of my mouth. But when
you see how other people live and the challenges
that they have, like, it puts everything into
perspective. And so you seeing that and your
team being able to identify that as such. a great
opportunity to help so many people and bring
them back some time, some comfort, some dignity.
For sure. Absolutely. And these people that are
living with limb loss and limb difference, like
a lot of them live very fulfilling lives, right?
They've got kids or grandkids, they've got a
job, like they're, they're moving and shaking.
They're, you know. they're doing their thing
and it's amazing. Just like, just like anybody
else. The thing that really hit home for me was
here's this, this issue that just doesn't have
to be there. Like it's so frustrating and annoying
and uncomfortable. You can get a blister that
gets infected. You have to stop wearing your
leg for sometimes weeks while the blister heals.
That's the part where I was like, okay, they,
they've got the fulfilling life thing down pat.
It's this piece that's super annoying and debilitating
and can lead to poor health outcomes. That's
what I want to fix. Just because I feel like
that was the inequity piece of this condition.
Yeah. Yeah, that's huge. It's incredible to me
that you were able to, you know, immerse yourself
in this very new environment and look for problems.
And I'll challenge you to maybe even go back
a little more, because not everyone is that curious.
Do you think your curiosity was developed over
time? little Sydney from three years old? That
is a good question, Shalicia. That's a very good
question. I would say I've always been curious.
I've definitely always been curious. I don't
know where curiosity bleeds into like type A,
I need to know so I can control the situation.
Like, I don't know where you delineate that.
Because I certainly had a little mix of both.
But no, I would say that I've always been very
curious. And as I've gotten older, I have noticed
how important it is to me to grow as an individual.
And I feel as though curiosity is a really important
part of growth. of personal growth, career growth,
whatever growth you want to talk about. I have
been very passionate about personal growth for
a long time. And I feel as though curiosity is
a major element of that. So I have fostered it
as I've grown and I don't want to say aged, but
as I've moved through life, I've really fostered
curiosity. And so I think that you're right.
That is a key ingredient in entrepreneurship.
Yeah, because anyone, you can put so many people
into the exact same room, the exact same situation,
and the questions may not come for everyone.
And so I think for entrepreneurship, it is such.
you know, an important thing. And I think for
a lot of entrepreneurs, it's maybe a little bit
innate. Maybe we need to do a poll on that or
something to see, you know, how many entrepreneurs
feel like they were just sort of born curious
versus they've developed this curiosity. But
I do think everyone can develop it. It's just
about going deeper and deeper and deeper with
anything that might spark a little bit of your
interest. Oh, for sure. And for me, it's interesting
as you were talking and talking about entrepreneurship
and curiosity. I think that for me, it also overlaps
with my love of people. I just really love connecting
with other human beings. And I am a naturally
curious person, very much a naturally curious
person in that. part of life and so I think it
was easy for me once I got curious about well
what is a day in the life of an amputee like
what is the day in the life of a prosthetist
like once I could dive into that kind of curiosity
of how can I connect with the individual and
their lived experience then it was really easy
to want to make a change and innovate and help
the situation however I can, because now I've
connected with the individual, which also really
helps with networking in entrepreneurship. It
certainly does. It certainly does. So now that
you've found this problem at this clinic, and
it is profound, it's a big, big problem. Where
did you decide that? This should be a business
because you are just in a fellowship program.
Nothing has to commercialize. Nothing has to
translate into real life solution. This is just,
you know, another sort of academic exercise,
if you want to put it simply. What made you say,
let's take this to the real world? Yeah, for
me, it was I was just talking to another individual
who I'd met about this exact topic, which was
I didn't want to regret not trying it. So I had
and I had de -risked it to a place where I thought
it made sense. So throughout the fellowship,
we didn't spend a whole ton of time on the solution.
Honestly, we didn't really do all that much product
development or solution. We really focused on
the problem. So we were trying to identify what
is the problem? What are the design parameters
around the problem? So that was what got into
what's the day in the life like of all the people
along the patient journey? And how do those pieces
interact to create constraints around the design
itself and what that solution will eventually
look like? And what does the market look like?
As you identify, this is a profound problem,
but how profound? Right. How global? How many
people a year? Where can we make a difference?
What does the reimbursement structure look like
both in Canada, in the United States, in Europe?
Like, let's start exploring what some of the
business elements of this could look like, because
we felt as though if we couldn't commercialize
the product that we were eventually going to
make, whatever that product looked like, then
we wouldn't be able to bring this to a solution.
to anyone anyways. So we wanted to answer some
of those business questions. So by the time the
fellowship was coming to an end, I had conviction
that this was a massive global issue that we
knew at least some, obviously you're constantly
learning, but we knew at least some of what those
design parameters were going to look like and
what those business parameters were going to
look like. And I already had the start of a team.
So I had my co -founder, Alexi. We really liked
working together. We really liked doing totally
separate parts of the business. So I never was
worried about us fighting over doing the same
jobs and not having anyone to do some of the
other jobs. We were very clear in what we liked
to work on. So that was super helpful. And I
just looked at this and I said to myself, I will
never have the opportunity again to be supported.
while coming up with an idea like I was I was
paid to just think of different ideas and explore
different problems in the medical space I will
never get that opportunity again and here I have
a problem that I'm deeply passionate about I
love the prosthetics industry I've always loved
it and I have someone who I like working with
like that is not common and so it just felt for
me Like it would be a really big wasted opportunity
if I didn't at least try. Yeah. I think it's
really profound the way you looked at everything
and realized this opportunity right in front
of you. Because you're right. not very many people
get the opportunity to just sit and look for
problems and fix it. You know, I have a friend.
His name's Patel. That's what I call him. And
he's an engineer as well. And he's just like,
I just want to build things. I just want to create
things. But where is that opportunity to actually
do that, like you said? And it's incredible that
there was a program you found and was able to
do this because you're right. And it also put,
it felt like all of these doors that you were
closing. put you through this one door where
everything just sort of fell into place with
your co -founder. And like you said, it's hard
finding a co -founder. I know that. I've looked
for one for years. It's never transpired. And
you're working on two different parts of the
business that you love. So there is no competition.
There's simple cohesiveness, symbiotics. You
bring different skills to the table. You bring
different viewpoints and nothing else makes a
better business than having, you know, two people
because now you have. 48 hours in a day, you
have that much more skill, that much more brain
power. And I think that alone with all the research
and the deep understanding of the problem really
set you up for the trajectory that you sort of
put vessel on like from the very beginning because
I think a lot of people when they come into entrepreneurship
they want to be an entrepreneur they really don't
understand the depths of the problem that they're
trying to solve and I'm not saying like that's
a bad thing but the deeper you go the stronger
your understanding then the better and the more
curated the customer that you're about to serve.
And you already knew your customer so well. You
knew the problem inside out. So then that obviously
set you up for a fantastic business, which you
have been doing incredible work on. Thank you.
Like your fundraising. But before we even get
there, Talk to us about the design of your solution
and how you did that. And maybe what were some
of the challenges coming into this business world
out of an academic experience? For sure. It was
certainly a tight knit industry to break into.
So one of the biggest challenges I would say
is that prosthetics is a world unto itself. There's,
you know, a lot of people. know everybody in
the industry and it's a lot lies with the prosthetist
they're the experts here so we really had to
there comes back to that open -mindedness you
really had to be able to take feedback and listen
to the experts in the space I'd say that was
one of the bigger challenges not being a prosthetist
myself our design relates to that poor socket
fit I was mentioning, where the leg is changing
size, whether it's from diet, as I had mentioned
in my kind of story, or it could be exercise,
weight fluctuations, the seasons even, like there's
all these different reasons why a limb would
change size. And the prosthetic leg is basically
a carbon fiber or plastic bucket that is custom
fabricated to the leg, but doesn't change size.
So you have this dynamic limb inside of a static
socket. And that is the root cause of the issue.
And so we created this automatically adjusting
system. So it relies on custom panels on the
leg. You can think like cutout windows that are
able to move in and out against the leg. And
it's powered by walking motion. So it just uses
a shock absorber and the step that each amputee
takes. And it uses that to adjust and tighten
oftentimes the panels against the leg to a set
comfort level. So it will always try and maintain
a consistent level of pressure on the leg. It's
not about the size, it's about the fit. I'm just
so mind blown, but this is what engineers do.
That's what you are. This is what we try and
do. That's for sure. Yeah. There's so many things
that like for the inspiration of the solution,
because obviously we don't want to give away
your secret sauce. What's the inspiration behind
finding something like that as a solution? Because
one, knowing the problem is one thing, but how
to solve it in a practical way is a whole other
bucket. For sure. Well, for us, it was as you
get to know the problem, it starts to become
obvious what that solution needs to be, or at
least what the parameters of the solution need
to be. So we knew that it had to be adjustable
because you need to be able to keep up with this
dynamic leg. And we really wanted it to be automatic
because a lot of the frustration that both prosthetists
and amputees felt was that they had to stop what
they were doing. who make an adjustment whether
that was to adjust an adjustable socket so there
are manually adjustable sockets on the market
where you tighten a strap or you twist a dial
and make the change yourself but that still relies
on you to make the change so if you've ever gotten
a blister on your foot you don't often know you've
gotten the blister until you've gotten the blister
whereas it would be nice if you could avoid it
in the first place and so Having the socket adapt
on its own and not rely on input from the user,
that was a critical point for us. But we also
wanted to design with the end user in mind. So
we didn't want to have some super high -tech
sensors, batteries, motors that adds all of this
complexity and reduces the durability and adds
cost and weight. We wanted something that could
be simple and elegant. lightweight, could be
easily integrated into what prosthetists are
already doing and what amputees didn't need to
rely on a power source. So they didn't have to
charge it overnight to avoid it falling off in
the grocery store the next day. We wanted something
that would, you know, stand the test of time.
And so that was an absolute disaster. Right.
That would not be ideal. Not ideal. So we came
up with this, you know, well, what if you could
just power it from movement? Like you're already
moving. So let's just use that. And then we looked
at what was already available on the market.
And, you know, shock absorbers have existed for
a long time and people really like them. So we're
like, OK, well, could we use this shock absorbing
energy from walking motion? Could we use that
to automatically adapt the socket? And that was
really where the inspiration came from. Wow.
I'm so, I'm so impressed. So, so impressed. And
just so everyone knows, this is the first time
I'm really learning like the. depths of vessel
and the prosthetic that they're actually creating.
And I know that something like this can easily
be, you know, translated to like other perhaps
prosthetics, right? Not just for the leg. But
Sydney, as you went through all of this, this
is so much learning for someone, you know, That's
young, that's never really had a full -time job
somewhere else. Like, how did you find managing
yourself and your team and your co -founder as
you were developing this? Because the creation
of what you're doing is one thing, but... behind
the scenes behind the curtain sometimes there's
so many other things happening like what was
your mindset going through all these things because
you're going hurdle after hurdle and like you
said you were you're in an industry that's pretty
tight -knit and sometimes often closed off to
like the very few experts and you not being a
prostitutes yourself you being like a young student
out of universities and out of the academic world
coming in saying, I can do it better. That's
a hard thing for other people to absorb, right?
Sometimes there's so much ego involved in, well,
my solution's better. I'm the expert. I know.
You weren't the expert. You're just an outsider
viewing this. How did you, you know, find the
confidence within yourself to know that your
solution made sense? And, you know, you can do
this and you can make a difference in this industry
and you can penetrate it as well. Yeah, there's
a lot of questions there that are all so good.
There's so many ways I could take this. I would
say in terms of breaking into the industry, what
was really nice is that our solution is integrated
into what prosthetists are already doing. So
they're still the ones that are fabricating the
socket itself. We're basically an addition to
what they do. And what's nice about that is that
I don't have to be the expert because they. are
the expert. So really we are a tool and a prosthetist
toolkit that can empower them to, you know, use
their time in the most effective manner and to
help more amputees and to help them in the most
efficient way. So really we're just trying to
empower prosthetists. They are still definitely
the experts in this industry. So I think that
that was really helpful is as you're saying,
I'm not someone who's coming in being like, this
is a better way of doing things. I'm coming in
saying. hey, I've heard that this is really frustrating.
We've built a tool that can help it not be as
frustrating. So that was really helpful, I feel.
In terms of managing yourself and your co -founder
and your employees, that took a lot of adjustment.
I would say when you start the company, what
was really helpful for me was to rely on mentors
and advisors. Because if you can surround yourself
with people that have been there, done that,
And you can listen to their advice. You can avoid
a ton of pitfalls. You're still going to make
mistakes. Don't worry. But you at least won't
make all of them. And so I found that really,
really helpful. I was able to streamline what
we were doing and be as efficient as possible.
We still took too long because everyone takes
too long. But you avoided a lot of the pitfalls.
So when managing myself, it was really important
to have a growth mindset that wasn't too ego
driven and wasn't too like, oh, this isn't coming
easily to me, so I'm just going to give up. It
was, you know what, we're going to figure this
out. And I don't know it yet because I don't
know it yet. But I'm going to learn it and then
we're going to figure it out and go for it and
go from there. So just having that kind of tenacity
and resilience was extremely important. That
growth mindset, having the mindset. Honestly,
this was the hardest part for me was everything
is iterative. So you make a pitch deck and then
you're going to have to make another pitch deck
a couple months later. And then you're going
to have to edit it and make another pitch deck
a couple months later. And I was used to, I don't
know if you can relate to this, in academia,
you do a school project and then you're done.
And then you go and do another thing, right?
You get a grade, move on. And that's not how
entrepreneurship works. Everything is an iterative
process. So that was a big shift for me and took
me a little bit to get used to that. I would
say I'm used to it and annoyed, but used to it
now. But how do you manage it yourself personally?
Because it's, it's obviously an experience that
you go through, but like, how does Sydney talk
herself through, you know, being annoyed by it
or being focused on that growth mindset to actually
get you through those? tough moments when you
just don't want to do the thing that you just
don't want to do because it's annoying. It's
hard. You just don't know enough about it. And
you have to spend that time building those skills.
Yeah. I mean, how much do you want to know? Like
I, I went to therapy because I think that that's
really important for founders. So there were
times when I was really struggling and I was
like, I just need some other ideas. to help um
i read a lot of books i don't like to read non
-fiction i love to read fiction i don't like
to read non -fiction but i will often listen
to an audiobook so while i'm driving i listened
to for example everything is figureoutable and
as the title suggests it's a it's just a mindset
of like you can figure it out have you read it
Um, no, but I've always just had that thought
in my mind. That's how I move through the world.
As long as I've known is that nothing's really
ever a hurdle. It's just, how do you figure it
out? We're gonna figure it out. We're gonna figure
it out. So, well, that's, that's awesome that
it came naturally to you. It doesn't come as
naturally to me, but I'm working on it. And that
was super helpful. Just reading, listening to
that book. I time block. So. I'm still not great
at it, but I'm getting better. And what I'll
do is I'll block off like three hours and that's
my time to do the hard work, the work that's
going to take me a while. And I can block off,
you know, an hour here, two hours there, three
hours here, just to sit down and do the tough
work that you're right. I don't want to do, but
I know I have to do it. So time blocking has
been really, really helpful for me. Sometimes
having like a tea. that I can sip while I'm doing
the hard work, like whatever barriers you can
remove to make it more enjoyable, I think is
super helpful. So yeah, that's how I manage myself.
And then sometimes you just have to talk to yourself
and tell yourself it's going to be okay in your
own brain. And that can be helpful too. It's
true. It's true. I think everyone has to just
figure out like, what works for them, what gets
them to maybe a place of calm, or what allows
them to maybe view the situation differently,
which I think is interesting that you listen
to fiction books. Because one of the themes I'm
seeing in a lot of our entrepreneurial conversations
this season is having something to do outside
of your business. allows you to be so much better
in the business. And so to take yourself not
just out of your business, but out of the world
with fiction, just completely disconnect from
like the entire world. Do you think that sort
of brings you that calm where you can like re
-approach the business or whatever challenge
or maybe even help you see things differently?
For sure. Yeah. There's a lot of ways that I
like to disconnect. Certainly reading fiction
is one of them. And I just love to like bury
my face in a really good book and like sit and
crawl up on a chair, fold myself into a pretzel
and read for hours. Like that is my idea of a
good time. So you're right. It definitely just
gives you some separation. Like you're shutting
the brain off. You're bringing it to this other
thing. It allows me to be more present while
I am at work. I find that really helpful. I find
journaling really helpful for that too. Like
get the thoughts out so you don't have to constantly
be mulling them over and over and over again
in your head. And then have some friends, have
some friends that know what it's like. So they're
in, you know, that's why we have our female founder
group. Like have some people that know what it's
like. So you can go to them and be like, oh my
gosh, can you believe this? And you can talk
about it. but also have some friends that don't
know what it's like because it's nice when they
can, you know, they ask a question. They're like,
how's the business? And you're like, it's great.
Let's move on. And then you don't have to talk
about work and you can just talk about completely
unrelated stuff. I find that really important
too, honestly, is spending time with other people
outside of work. Yeah. So, so, so important.
I learned that like two, three years after being
like, in the business consistently because when
I hit that wall last year, oh my goodness, did
I have to really then step back and realize that
you can't solve problems so close to the wall.
You have to step back from it. And that was such
a big learning. And I'm so glad that you've implemented
that so early on in your journey. I guess it
shows in so many ways because you are consistent
with like the energy you bring to talking about
Vessel all the time, you know, because you have
that moment to recharge and sort of come back
and you're just not. You know, pounding the pavement
at every single hour of the day. Because if you
aren't in a good place, you aren't doing great.
How can your business do great when you are the
driving force behind it? A hundred percent. You
know, I said something very similar to that when
I was starting this company. I was very aware
that people say, you know, you work 24 -7 on
your company. It's true that you're thinking
about the company 24 -7. I think there's no real
way to get away from that. But I knew in advance,
like at the stage when I was starting it, and
it's just you and your co -founder, you're like,
I am the company. And so if I, as you're saying,
if I'm not doing okay, then the company is not
doing okay. And saying that, I don't know if
it's just Queens engineers, but it's... That
was the friend group that said it all the time.
We would say, you know, work hard, play hard.
And we would say work smarter, not harder. So
I don't want to just be pounding the pavement,
putting in hours just to put in hours. I want
to put in hours that are effective and efficient
and are getting me to my goals. I don't want
to just work for the sake of working just to
say that, you know, oh, I stayed up until 3 a
.m. working. okay, good for you. Did you have
anything that really came from that? And I've
been really proud of our team's ability to get
stuff done in a reasonable amount of time and
really keep pushing the business forward without
having to burn the candle at both ends all the
time. You're certainly burning the candle at
both ends sometimes. Sometimes. All the time.
It's absolutely inevitable. And then I think
when you also look at that, it's all about like
quality, right? Because I mean, for me personally,
I'm not a late night owl, but if I was up at
3 a .m. every single day, the quality of my work
would suffer completely. And I think for someone
like yourself, I think that's always, that's
also a really great thing for you because you
spent so long pitching and fundraising for this
business. And even though you're only on stage
for anywhere like from, you know, one to three
to 10 minutes pitching, that's a lot of... energy
you have to exert in such a small amount of time,
because you're like, laser focus. Tell us about
your preparation. And was it a year or just just
about a year you were fundraising? Let's go with
about a year. I it's funny, because you're always
like, when does it start when you start having
conversations when you start saying your round
is open like what's the start but yeah it was
like a little bit less than a year how did you
like mentally prepare for that and knowing that
the journey of that is gonna be so long and it's
also really hard to ask for money and then convince
people to to join something that isn't, you know,
like out there and already successful, you know,
like that's hard to do. So how did you prepare
yourself, Sydney, for that? And then how did
you prepare the business? I talked to a lot of
other founders to get their guidance and insights.
And everybody told me, and thank goodness they
did. Everyone told me it was going to be the
worst experience ever. And it was going to be
so hard. you need to be prepared to hear no over
and over and over and over again. And that was
extremely important because then when I did hear
no over and over and over again, I was expecting
it. So it wasn't as much of a blow to the ego
because I already knew it was coming. I was like,
oh, this is exactly what's supposed to happen,
right? I didn't feel like something was wrong
with me or wrong with my business. I was like,
oh no, this is what's supposed to happen. And
we were raising in 2024, which, I mean, 2025
has been also a very tough year to fundraise.
But 2024 was a nightmare to fundraise in. So
I had a very, I would say, clear understanding
of how hard it was going to be, which was very
helpful. I prepared by getting mentally prepped
in the way that I just described and by having
conversations with investors up front. So I had
a bunch of conversations before we were even
really fundraising to say, to learn more about
people's theses, to learn more about what they
look for in terms of traction at the stage that
my company was at, so that I could gauge when
to open the round, what I should have in place
when I did, and how quickly I would be able to
move through and who to go to first. So all of
that was really helpful. I was able to create
kind of a database of investors that I was going
to chat with first or reach out to you first.
So it was a lot of just like frantic outreach
at all hours of the day for pretty much the whole
year. But I did have a plan in place in advance
who I was going after, what that criteria was,
the conversations that I had early on that informed
that decision -making process. And that really
helped prepare me for the year ahead. Yeah, that
research and you seem to be really good at it.
Thank you. I try. I tried to be realistic about
who would actually invest in my company. And
that was helpful. Yeah. So how did you determine
who was good for your company? Because it's not
like you just want anybody with money. At the
end of the day, yes, that's part of raising money
because that's the goal of it. But when you bring
an investor into your business, it's, you know,
that's a real commitment. That's, you know, now
someone you're sort of accountable to in some
respect, but you also want to make sure that's
a really good relationship for yourself and for
the business as well. For sure. Yeah. You, you
were very accountable to these investors once
they've invested in the company for sure. And
I feel so blessed with the investors that we
have in this round. Like they are supportive
and kind and encouraging and, you know, put our
feet to the fire sometimes, but in a really good
way, they really push us. And it's just been
such a fantastic opportunity working with them.
I would say I knew. that our story needed to
resonate with investors in order for them to
invest. We were raising a pre -seed round. We
did not have a product that was ready to go to
market. So we really needed investors that could
relate to the story and or envision the impact
and or relate to what we were doing. So I targeted
three... bins, four really, four bins of people.
I targeted groups that invested in pre -seed,
like first check -in kind of thing, because then
at least they were going to understand where
I was at from a stage perspective and be comfortable
with that level of risk. I targeted people that
were medtech specific, if I could, because they
would understand what traction is reasonable.
at my stage of a company because I'm in med tech.
And then they're interested in medical technology,
which is good because that's what I'm building.
I targeted people who were impact focused. Obviously
working with people with leg amputations is extremely
impactful and has the opportunity to be globally
impactful. And my co -founder is Ukrainian. So
with everything that's going on in Ukraine right
now, we are very passionate about doing what
we can to support that country and everything
that's happening there. Impact needed to be something
that people were passionate about on the social
impact side of things, health impact, that kind
of deal, disability, inclusion, accessibility.
And then the final bin were female founders.
Female founders get less than 2 % of investment
capital still, which is absurd. But I knew that
I... could speak to people who specifically invested
and supported female founders. And my story and
my situation would resonate a lot more with those
individuals. So that was what I did. I targeted
those four bins as much overlap as possible,
right? If someone was investing in pre -seed
medical technology that had an impact with a
female founder, I mean, that's awesome. Yeah.
You didn't often get the... Not trifecta, I guess,
quadfecta, whatever that term would be. Seems
reasonable. But any amount of overlap between
those four categories I thought was really important.
And I did start to hone the pitch and my targets
kind of as we went. You know, VCs weren't as
interested at the stage that we were at. It really
resonated more with angels and angel groups and
family offices. So that was who I spent more
of my time talking to as the fundraise went on.
And female -founded groups often focus still
on software or consumer -focused goods. And so
I didn't put as much of my focus on kind of female
-oriented angel or VC groups. So I really focused
more on those med tech and impact kind of pillars
that I had. Yeah. Wow, that's incredibly methodical.
And I hope anyone listening and thinking of fundraising,
they're going to take so much away from just
like how you just simply thought about the landscape
and your strategy in approaching it. And one
of the key things you said is like, you had to
know these people needed to fall in love with
your story. How did you curate a story that you
felt like people would truly fall in love with
and resonate with? I tried to make it as accessible
as possible. So I didn't assume that the people
I was speaking to knew what amputation was or
had ever met someone living with amputation,
anything like that. I had never met someone living
with an amputation before I started the company.
I was basically pitching to myself several years
ago. And the story that we came up with that
I've actually heard a couple of times now in
the prosthetics industry is imagine you wear
a pair of shoes that doesn't fit and you get
blisters. That misfit is the same for people
living with leg amputations, except that this
is happening to your leg and it's impacting your
ability to walk. can really relate to that. We've
all worn shoes that don't fit. So you're like,
oh yeah, I know what that feels like. I know
what it feels like to get a blister. Wow. That
would really suck if that was the only way I
could move through the world. So it was easy
for people to relate to that. And then it's easy
for people to relate to inequality. Like we've
all suffered challenges. We've all had to overcome
things in life and people can resonate with how
important it is to support people from disadvantaged
communities so I would say that that really resonated
with folks as well and then it was interesting
because you never knew who you were going to
meet and you would be surprised the number of
people we met with that you know oh my brother
has an amputation actually my sister -in -law
has an amputation actually I you know met this
person through a friend and they had an amputation
like a lot of people knew someone Lots of grandparents
had had had an amputation and they're like, yeah,
my grandpa fought in World War One or World War
Two and they had an amputation. So it was interesting
how many people. Forty, 50 percent knew someone
or knew of someone that that had an amputation
and therefore could imagine what this was like,
or honestly, more often than not, this was something
that they watched that. loved one or friend or
acquaintance go through. Oh, yeah, they talked
about how frustrating this problem was. I saw
how annoying this was. So we didn't have to sell
the story as much to those individuals. And as
you can imagine, a lot of people who did end
up investing in Vessel actually do know someone
or are an amputee themselves. Wow. I think it's
so important, you know, because stories really
resonate and when you're selling something or
when you're building something that is new to
the world, you kind of have to draw parallels
that somebody can experience personally. And
until that really happens, there's still that
gap between the understanding of what you're
trying to do and the impact you're trying to
make because it's not personal. It's interesting
that this is coming from a fundraising side of
things because my company is in the finance world
and it's all about money. And one of the biggest
things with money is that it's personal. And
for fundraising to get money from investors,
it's still personal. It really doesn't change.
Yeah, that's incredible. And now that you've,
you know, oversubscribed on your round, huge
congratulations to that. Thank you. Because you
were the one marching on stages across North
America, selling Vessel, winning the hearts of
investors. And, you know. I've seen some of your
pitches and oh my goodness, they're fantastic.
Yeah. I mean, you've, you've got the charisma,
you've got the attitude, um, and you believe
in what you're doing. And I think anybody looking
to build a business, like if you don't have those
three things and you don't love what you're doing,
like, don't do it. It's too hard. Oh yeah. So,
so yeah, so that's, that's incredible. And so
now that you've gone from fundraising now into
really building the business, because you've
got, you know, the funds, because this is, you
know, MedTech products do take a longer time
to come to market. There's lots more to do when
it comes to commercializing a product that's
safe for, you know, human use, especially from
a medical perspective, lots of checks and balances.
And it takes time. How has it been for you switching
from fundraising mode to let's do business every
day? It's funny. I was explaining it to a mentor
of mine the other day. And it's like, you know,
the company, when you're fundraising, the company
is living or dying. based on how you do like
if you can raise the money the company lives
and if you can't the company dies like it's all
on you obviously you have a team and you've got
co -founders and that's great but really it lives
or dies with you and now i'm not the center of
attention and the company does not live or die
with me now it's on the engineering side like
they're the ones that have to deliver and they're
the ones that have to build a product as you're
saying that is safe for use and can be brought
to the masses and then it's back on me and i
have to actually sell the thing and then again
the company lives or dies with me and my ability
to sell so uh it's it's interesting how it shifts
it definitely is like it was a it was hard to
get into the fundraising mode like that was a
not adaptation something you had to get used
to that's adaptation totally there you go yeah
um you had to like adapt to that um and and the
long hours and the like respond to investors
right away and the pitching all the time telling
your story 17 000 times a day like that took
some getting used to getting used to that was
the phrase i was going for and then you also
have to get used to as you're saying coming off
of the fundraise and so a lot of what i'm doing
now is really prepping for that next phase of
the company which is commercialization and commercial
sales so getting our sales playbook ready figuring
out who are we working with on shipping who are
we working with for distribution what do our
terms of sale look like like all of those minute
details that's really what we're building out
now while the company while the engineering team
builds the product so that when their product
is ready I'm ready with all the paperwork and
the plans and everything to just hit the ground
running and start selling. Yeah. So you've now
sort of like flipped things a little bit with
your co -founder with a little bit more pressure
in his direction versus you. But you're still
obviously working hard day to day because selling
is hard. It's one of the hardest things that
anybody can do. You know, if you can sell, if
you can convince someone to buy your product
once, you're already a good salesperson. So you
raise that round of funding. So pat yourself
on the back. Commercialization is going to be
much easier because you can sell. I hope so.
You already did it once. And once you did it,
once you've done it once, you can do it again.
How hard can it be? How hard can it be? You'll
be telling a new story. That's it. story. So
you're right. Yeah, no, that's, that's amazing
to see that you're able to be so nimble as well.
You know, I think a lot of people use that word
and don't really know what it means. But like,
you know, you've done this huge transition and,
you know, from one phase to another phase and
rather quickly as well, too. And like, that's
what being nimble, I think really means is to
be able to transition without like too much disruption.
And really then start going in that direction,
sort of full speed as as you're doing right now.
Yeah, yeah, I think I think startup is like full
speed all the time. You know what I mean? And
yeah, point point the the machine in the right
direction, but the machine is always going full
speed. I feel like that's kind of how it is.
Absolutely, absolutely. So as we wind down, this
has been, you know, such a great conversation,
so much reflection we've done already. But one
of the three questions we ask all of our entrepreneurs
this season is, what is one thing that you're
leaving behind in your entrepreneurial journey
that you've learned so far? What's one thing
you're leaving behind? You just don't want it
to be a part of your life or your entrepreneurial
journey any longer. I want to say self -doubt
and I want to say imposter syndrome, but I think
that there is a level of that that is healthy
and humbling. So I'm leaving behind the paralysis,
that comes from not feeling like you can do it,
but I'm keeping the healthy level of humbleness
that comes with feeling like you're stretching
a little more than you can handle and being okay
with that. But that's real growth. So you're
right. Yeah. I hope so. I hope so. I like that.
I like that. So what are some of these moments
that you feel like truly paralyzed within? the
business? Is it on decision -making? Is it like
when you needed to pivot back? What, what does
that look like for you? Yeah, I would say paralysis
would come from some of the decision -making.
Like sometimes you make a decision and you should
have made it three months earlier, or you make
it and it was the wrong one, or you work with
a, you, you've been thinking about it a long
time. You choose a partner to work with. clearly
you should have gone with the other guys or you
do all of this research and it doesn't work out.
You chose the wrong option. Like all of that
is really frustrating. I wouldn't say that's
the paralysis part. I would say the paralysis
part and I can share, you know, a couple of days
ago, I was talking to a mentor about sales and
we started setting some sales targets and it
hit me that I'm going to have to sell. devices
and that was a uh tough moment for me because
it's not something i've ever done before and
so it's it's those moments of like oh wow okay
um that that you have to bring yourself back
to also you've never done any of these other
things before that you just did so congrats you
can do stuff for the first time you're a human
being but um just just remembering that i think
is good and being humble is good um but the like
paralyzing fear of how am i ever going to sell
something it you know comes back to what you
were saying of you just fundraised that was sales
like putting things in perspective i guess so
there that's what it really is thank you for
boiling that down it is it is not getting sucked
into imposter syndrome that is paralyzing, but
keeping yourself humble and within the right
perspective. That's so good. That's so good,
Sydney. I love that. So what is the biggest challenge
that you have overcome so far in this journey?
I mean, fundraising was probably the biggest
challenge. On the business side, I think it was
fundraising. A lot of startups die with that
first fundraise. Hardware is hard. So hardware
is very hard to fundraise for. And then being
a female founder also puts you at a disadvantage.
So we were up against a lot and we overcame that.
I would say that was the biggest challenge so
far. Yeah. But a challenge you are proud of.
Very proud of, yes. Good. Good. I'm happy you
are. I'm happy. Because that's all challenges
too. It builds that confidence to let you know
when something hard shows up again, I can do
it. Exactly. We've already done everything. Yeah.
Yeah. And the final one is what is something
you're absolutely taking into the future for
yourself or the business? My network. Love my
network. I have so many amazing people that have
supported me to get to where I am today. And
I'm so grateful that I get to bring them along
with me for these next however many years of
running Bessel and building this incredible company
with people that I love building with. So I'm
bringing my team and my network and my mentors
and my supporters with me along the way, which
I feel immense gratitude to be able to do. I
absolutely love that because, you know, there's
a saying, if you want to go fast, you go alone.
But if you want to go the distance, you go together.
And I think that is so representative of that.
I've actually never heard that. And I love quotes.
And I feel like I've heard all of them by now.
And I have not heard that one. That was really
good. Yeah, it's a really good one. And I think
it's a really fundamental one. And that's why
like, I try to make sure that the people around
me are such good people for me in every capacity.
Because, you know, having someone that's not
great for you. can hold you back as well too.
So you have to be sure of like the right people,
you know, the same thing when it comes to like
hiring for your business, like, you know, hire
fast, fire fast, because anyone can tell you
anything on an interview, right? You just don't
know someone until they actually start doing
the work. And if they're just not meeting the
standards, you let them go. So probation's there
for, so, so yeah. 100 % I that was going back
to paralysis hiring our fourth hire we we were
too naive hiring the third hire he worked out
he's absolute absolutely amazing we love him
to pieces um that just worked out like thank
goodness but we didn't know enough to be scared
um and then when we were hiring the next the
next one after after him that was terrifying.
And we spent so long going back and forth, back
and forth. And our hire is phenomenal. Like truly
knock on wood. Every hire that we've made has
just been an absolute game changer for the company.
And I'm so proud of the, of the group that we've
built. That's amazing. That's so amazing. I can't
wait to see where Vessel goes. Just It's going
to change so many people's lives. I think just
looking at your face right now, it's so heartwarming
for me to see you so happy because what you're
doing is so purpose -driven. It has so much impact.
Quality of life is everything. And if you don't
have quality of life, you don't have good health,
which prosthetics can impact significantly. then
what do you really have? So I'm really excited
to see where Vessel goes and I'm excited to see
where you go as Sydney and like the incredible
entrepreneur CEO that you are in every capacity
and you'll do absolutely incredible. Thank you,
Slyce. Thank you so much. Thank you. This has
been such a fun conversation and we went. So
long. And it was so like, I feel like we could
just keep going and going and going and going.
And I really appreciate the opportunity to chat.
And your support really means a lot. And how
you highlight the stories of other founders is
phenomenal. So thank you for everything you do
as well. Thank you so much. It's been such a
pleasure chatting with you and, you know, really
learning your story from like a deeper perspective,
even though we're part of the same group together.
It's just a different lens and it's exciting
to see. So thanks so much again, Sydney, and
we will chat soon. Absolutely. Looking forward
to it. Thanks for tuning in, everyone. We're
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