Building Ventures from Home: Behind the Scenes with Accelerator Teams
This spring, Tsai CITY’s Accelerator cohort has been attending skill-building workshops, hearing from mentors, holding team meetings, and otherwise working to develop their ventures and projects — all from their own homes. We caught up with some of these student teams to take a behind-the-scenes look at what building a venture while social distancing has looked like for them.
As Yale prepared to move fully online in March, students found themselves needing to adjust from working in the campus’ many libraries, studios, and labs to working in their homes. For AbodeCo, a team working to smoothly and sustainably provide Toronto homeowners with custom backyard homes, this shift was particularly relevant. As architecture students, co-founders Nicole Ratajczak and Sean Yang think a lot about space and how it shapes interactions.
“If we are being completely honest, it has been difficult working from home. As architects we really value our workspace and the resources we have access to through the university. When we brainstorm and collaborate as partners or with mentors we like to do it in a space that is designed to support creative work. The Tsai CITY team has been very supportive in the transition to Zoom and we appreciate all the work they have put into making our experience in the Accelerator as fruitful as possible.” — AbodeCo
Other teams have needed to adapt to remote communication, as they seek to stay in touch with each other and with partners. Gabriel Malek and Katrina White, the co-founders of Green Retirement Initiative (which aims to develop a toolkit to allow young professionals to advocate for environmentally-friendly retirement plans), have used Zoom, email, and even quick text messages reminding each other of their shared passion for the natural environment to stay connected.
“COVID-19 has forced us to work remotely, which has disrupted our typical in-person brainstorming sessions. We work most efficiently when we meet face-to-face, so we had to adjust to technical and communication difficulties that arose over Zoom. At the onset of the pandemic, we also worried that our primary stakeholders would not have the bandwidth or interest to speak with us about GRI, as attention turned towards public health. Unexpectedly, however, we have found that the investment professionals and climate lobbyists we have interviewed still appreciate our proposal. Coronavirus has given us more hope that our idea is viable.” — Green Retirement Initiative
Many teams have needed to change the goals and plans they outlined at the start of the Accelerator, putting elements like physical prototyping or customer visits on hold and spending this time taking calls with experts, conducting user research, and other project elements that can be done remotely. For some teams, this has led to unexpected insights. Elekron founder Hemdeep Dulthummon, for example, has pivoted from his planned focus on meeting with customers on the ground in Mauritius.
“Prior, the main focus had been on transforming existing buildings toward becoming more energy efficient by combining passive design features with smart and sustainable technologies. Around the beginning of the year, I realized this type of impact required me to spend more time on the ground in Mauritius to visit customer buildings….[Then] the COVID-19 crisis eliminated the possibility of visiting any customers. We shifted to the original intent of designing net zero energy buildings as a product. We had moved away from that original idea because the target market was larger when addressing existing buildings. Given the constraints, the idea of productizing net zero energy buildings and selling them to people in the market for constructing a new building is appropriate. It is a great platform for me to apply what I am learning about smart and sustainable development as well.
The crisis slowed down the construction progress of a local real estate developer, and gave me the opportunity to discuss designing the one-bedroom apartment on their top floor for them. They receive a free design and I have a project that I can showcase to future prospective customers. It is also a great way to test the possibility of getting to net zero energy and work through the issues that come up during the implementation.” — Elekron
Beamlak Ashenafi and Daniel Lin, who co-founded Agrivengers with the aim of using nanotechnology to build a global network of healthy food supplies, have run into obstacles with their planned pilot, but have learned how to use online tools for market research in the meantime.
“The COVID-19 crisis has mainly affected the researching and nanotech application development part, as we were originally going to start researching and piloting our program this semester. Along with that, the pandemic has hindered communication with stakeholders in the supply chain from letting us conduct effective market research. The unexpected takeaways have been that despite work from home being a challenge at first, we have developed essential skills in virtual collaboration with project members and mentors. It has also allowed us to fully utilize online resources with our market research.” — Agrivengers
Bezet’s Reed Miller and Pooja Mathur, who are working on a credit-card sized solution to public restroom stalls that just won’t close and don’t have hooks for bags or jackets, are limited in their ability to fabricate prototypes and do “field research” in public restrooms — but they have started wondering about whether their product could help limit the spread of germs.
“We had planned to survey public restrooms to make door measurements and record how often we encountered ‘bad stalls.’ Of course, staying at home limits that! In reaching out to contacts, there’s often a longer delay in communication. Prototyping has also been stalled as facilities and software are less available. Reflecting on the public health crisis, we’ve realized that our design could help limit germ transmission in restrooms, so there might be more appeal as folks are more focused on sanitation than ever.” — Bezet
Similarly, Tony Cisneros, who is producing vegetable-forward dehydrated meals for adventurers with Mesa Foods, has put product development on hold, but has found opportunities to focus on other aspects of the business and its potentially expanded market.
“COVID-19 has been a mixed bag for Mesa. We were doing some field testing with recreationalists in March, and many of their trips were postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic. We have also put product development on hold, because consistent ingredient sourcing is nearly impossible right now. On the other hand, COVID-19 raised awareness and sales of dehydrated meal products broadly, as well as interest in the market. With fewer activities outside of classes, this has also given me time to work on other aspects of the business.” — Mesa Foods Inc.
For some teams, the crisis has emphasized the relevance of the problems they’re focusing on. This has been the case for Salina Hum, Nitya Kanuri, and Agnieszka Matyja-Sanetra of Navi Health, who aim to build a technology platform that helps college counseling centers more efficiently and effectively manage the mental health of the student population.
“Navi Health offers digital triage solutions that route students to effective care quickly, giving students agency and choice in their journey to mental wellness. The COVID-19 crisis has underscored the need for digital opportunities to deliver mental healthcare at scale, to a diverse range of students with different needs and barriers to access. Of course, colleges are dealing with pressing and timely issues like supporting students with no where to go and transitioning to a fully digital educational experience. That being said, most are excited about developing infrastructure to function in this new normal once things settle and there is more time and space for creativity and planning. With those colleges, we are continuing conversations remotely and hope to be a thoughtful and compassionate partner in their journey to increasing access to mental healthcare for their students.” — Navi Health
Many teams were working on community-building before the pandemic emerged, and now find themselves doubling down on that focus. Veronica Baker, who founded The Climbing Initiative to support global communities using rock climbing as a force for positive change, sees this work as especially crucial now.
“COVID-19 has opened the door for us to think about connection in our world in a new way. The travel shutdown is decimating the livelihoods of people dependent on climbing tourism. There’s never been a better time for us to share stories, highlight others, and inspire connection around the world. We’ve been producing articles and social media content with ideas on how to support local climbing communities and stay safe during COVID-19.” — The Climbing Initiative
For teams like Barista (led by Keon Azar, Ben Kany, Adam Rothman, Billy Schroeder, and Jordan Weitz), this has involved a clear pivot in strategy and goals. Their venture is building a mobile subscription service to support local, sustainable cafes, but as these cafes have been forced to close, they’re now focusing on immediate support.
“With students no longer on campus and local storefronts forced to shut their doors, we are no longer able to follow through with plans to implement our first coffee subscription product, originally scheduled for after spring break. But more importantly, the local cafes that we have built relationships with over the past few months are struggling to stay afloat. Thus, during this COVID-19 crisis, we have pivoted our current business plan to do everything we can to support and sustain the local businesses in New Haven. Our new website will allow for another point of access for which our network can help and support their favorite coffee shops. We will offer gift cards, merchandise, and will explore further options such as special promotions, i.e. coffee bonds, and exclusive networking events to further promote the need to support local coffee shops during this time.” — Barista
Meet these teams and the rest of the spring 2020 Accelerator cohort in our first-ever virtual pitch-off, happening on Tsai CITY’s Instagram Stories from April 20 through April 22. Hear pitches from the teams and vote for your favorite — we’ll award an audience choice prize to one team per day! You can also learn more about the full cohort here.
