Making Something From Nothing: Margot Nash of MindMetrix On How To Go From Idea To Launch
An Interview With Doug Noll
First, I wish I would have realized that there is no “right way” or even “best way.” It’s easy to get caught up in analysis paralysis or think that others have figured it all out. I found that embracing your team’s individual differences is the best path to discovering their individual strengths, and as a result, so many new methods to achieve our shared goals that I would have never come up with.
As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Margot Nash, MindMetrix.
As the CEO of MindMetrix, Margot brings over 15 years of experience in leading product teams and launching innovative products to help jumpstart the move to informed mental healthcare through comprehensive screening. Before launching MindMetrix, Margot served as the VP of Product Management at The Mom Project where she led product, design, and experience teams. Earlier in her career, she also managed Grubhub’s delivery driver network products and co-founded Hireology, a predictive hiring assessment software company. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
I grew up in the suburbs of Minneapolis with my family. My mom was a school psychologist and emphasized doing the “right thing” rather than the easy thing throughout my life. She put forth the example of helping those who need it by advocating for kids and their families in the public school system.
My dad motivated me to make an impact. I watched him put hard work and effort towards the things he really wanted, and by leading with kindness and integrity, he showed me that you can build something special. I was painfully shy growing up. My grandfather, a shoe salesman turned entrepreneur, taught me not to be timid. He’d say “When someone gets the shoes in black, it never hurts to ask if they also want them in brown.”
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
I am attuned to the often unrealistic expectations of women in the workplace, particularly in leadership roles. Like many other women, I’ve been told that I’m too sensitive AND not nurturing enough, too quiet AND interrupt too often, too collaborative AND not collaborative enough — that as a leader, I should prioritize my work, but as a mom, I should prioritize my family. I used to pay attention to these messages until I learned how to trust myself. And that’s been a journey that therapy has helped me tremendously with.
I think that’s what has always drawn me to work that involves getting a better understanding of humans: there is no “right way” of doing or being. I love celebrating individual differences. This might be an optimistic view, but I believe there is something to be embraced in everyone’s awkwardness, quirks, or conditions. MindMetrix is a manifestation of that belief — that if one can shed light on or find words to describe the challenges they are experiencing- they often feel relief and validation, and ultimately, are better equipped to embrace a proven path forward.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
I love Adam Grant’s book Give and Take. He takes a data-driven approach in asserting that helping others (being a “giver” rather than focusing on what you can get from others “taking”) lays a preferable path to success. This serves as a guidepost for how I strive to be as a leader and the kind of business I want to run.
There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?
I think Michelle Obama said it best in her address at the DNC: you have to “Do something.” There are many reasons not to move forward with a good idea — and some are very valid reasons: time or money required to get something going, knowledge of the very real likelihood of a new business failing, skillset gaps, laws of physics… but many reasons people don’t move from idea into next steps are due to thoughts that can be challenged: fear of failure, focusing on what won’t work, analysis paralysis, etc..
Over time and work experiences, I’ve learned that focusing on the immediate next steps — be it writing a business plan or picking up the phone to make a connection — rather than focusing on the long road ahead helps me overcome my anxiety about what won’t work. I try to keep in mind that sometimes the worst decision is a decision not made. When we started MindMetrix, the first thing I did was schedule a bunch of calls — both with my co-founders AND with people in my network who might be able to guide my next steps.
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
Some Google searching can get you a long way, but you can also do a US patent search. It’s useful to do this, but, there are plenty of cases where multiple companies do a similar thing, but they do it differently. If there is a market segment out there that is experiencing a problem and they have not been able to find a solution that works for them, there is probably some opportunity there. Get out and talk to potential customers — they will tell you.
This type of market research can take the form of surveys, focus groups, or phone calls to interview the people who might be willing to purchase. There are tools available to facilitate this type of contact, too.
For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about things like how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
I’ll start this by saying that no path is exactly the same, and there is no “right way” to do things. In my opinion, the hardest steps come before building the product: Ensuring you are really clear on the problem your product or service is going to solve and who you’re solving it for is critical to informing the rest of the steps. Customer/market research and finding one or two “target customers” who can work with you on writing requirements for your future product can be a tremendous time saver down the line. Then, identifying your one or two early team members — the ones who will design and build the thing and help with day-to-day operations — is critical. Look for folks who like to do more than just one role and who can work through a lot of ambiguity.
As far as patents go, there is a cost to going this route and sometimes it’s not worth it. In software development, sometimes an idea has lots of value but it is not patentable or it may not be worth the money to patent it. My suggestion is to consult someone with patent knowledge who can advise on the strategy and not just push forward with securing the patent. If it is worth pursuing a patent, maybe you want to signal to potential competitors. Or if it’s a product that is relatively easy to recreate, you would go forward with it.
In the case of MindMetrix, we decided to move forward with a patent because we wanted space and time to work on perfecting our product while maintaining our first-to-market status.
What are your “3 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
First, I wish I would have realized that there is no “right way” or even “best way.” It’s easy to get caught up in analysis paralysis or think that others have figured it all out. I found that embracing your team’s individual differences is the best path to discovering their individual strengths, and as a result, so many new methods to achieve our shared goals that I would have never come up with.
Sales & distribution are as important as the product itself. Building MindMetrix was, of course, a labor of love to ensure it was as close to perfect as we could get it before launch, but once your product is “perfect,” then what? Prioritizing where your product will go and who is interested in it is just as crucial as the nitty gritty product details.
In healthcare, I wish I had known more about regulatory requirements/regulations. While this lesson isn’t completely transferable to every new company, every industry has its own set of rules, and learning about all of the regulations in your specific field while your product is still being built is essential to avoid any issues down the road.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
I can’t speak to the value they’d provide as I haven’t gone this route. In my experience, aggressive Google searching and talking with connections and potential customers can be so valuable.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
It all depends. There are pros and cons to both approaches in my perspective. I would ask myself a few questions:
Realistically, how much money will it cost to build my business, and how much can I risk losing? Is there a low-cost way I could make money to put into this business while I grow it to stand on its own? Maybe service business?
Do I need the skills and expertise of an experienced VC to help me get the traction I’d need to really grow this?
How might I balance my role/life in a world where I am putting time and effort into fundraising and managing investors?
How might the exposure of VC help me?
What is my end game? Is it to earn a moderate salary but be in control of my future or is it to earn a larger salary for a shorter period of time? Is it to sell the business and cash out or is it to grow it and help as many individuals as possible? (those two things are not exclusive!)
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I am not quite ready to call the present state “success,” but if asked how I try to make the world a better place, I’d say that we are focusing so much energy on building MindMetrix because I truly believe it will help folks find relief where they might have otherwise struggled for years. MindMetrix also does its best to contribute to organizations such as NAMI (without VC funding), and in the future, we plan to make MindMetrix available to non-profit mental health organizations and community centers. On a personal front, I do my best to lead our team with empathy and compassion, and at home, I try to teach my kids the importance of acceptance and helping others.
If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
What I regularly think about is the hidden cost (both physical and emotional/relational) of mental health challenges, and the fact that these challenges are, themselves, often hidden. Even with the growing availability of resources, people struggle to share what they’re going through- and when they do, they often have a long road ahead of them before finding the right diagnosis and treatment. I think the more that people are open about their experiences, the more willingness there will be to seek help and find answers. The more people comfortable “doing something” about it (seeing a therapist, getting on the right meds, addressing their challenges), the more people will have the capacity to care for others.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why?
I don’t know if I get to choose deceased people, but I would want to have lunch with my Grandma Marion. I’d want to tell her about my kids, about what we’re building at MindMetrix, and get a slice of her sense of humor. She taught us all how not to take ourselves so seriously.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
About the Interviewer: Douglas E. Noll, JD, MA was born nearly blind, crippled with club feet, partially deaf, and left-handed. He overcame all of these obstacles to become a successful civil trial lawyer. In 2000, he abandoned his law practice to become a peacemaker. His calling is to serve humanity, and he executes his calling at many levels. He is an award-winning author, teacher, and trainer. He is a highly experienced mediator. Doug’s work carries him from international work to helping people resolve deep interpersonal and ideological conflicts. Doug teaches his innovative de-escalation skill that calms any angry person in 90 seconds or less. With Laurel Kaufer, Doug founded Prison of Peace in 2009. The Prison of Peace project trains life and long terms incarcerated people to be powerful peacemakers and mediators. He has been deeply moved by inmates who have learned and applied deep, empathic listening skills, leadership skills, and problem-solving skills to reduce violence in their prison communities. Their dedication to learning, improving, and serving their communities motivates him to expand the principles of Prison of Peace so that every human wanting to learn the skills of peace may do so. Doug’s awards include California Lawyer Magazine Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America Lawyer of the Year, Purpose Prize Fellow, International Academy of Mediators Syd Leezak Award of Excellence, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals Neutral of the Year. His four books have won a number of awards and commendations. Doug’s podcast, Listen With Leaders, is now accepting guests. Click on this link to learn more and apply.