Now you took the class, you used the class as an opportunity
to build an early version of a product,
or to form some sense as to what you'd like to do,
what would be great to do.
How did that amorphous, uncertain process
suddenly become reality, where you
said, all right, this is interesting.
We're going to go and continue doing this.
Many things happened.
And obviously, there isn't a moment
when you all of a sudden decide that that's it.
There are just a lot of moments leading up to it.
One of the things was when we decided
to talk to large companies and see whether they would
be interested in something like that.
And my co-founder actually went out
and talked to 40 large corporations around Boston area
and also on the west coast.
And a lot of them were really wowed by the idea,
and also revealed to him that, in fact, the current programs
that they're using are not very effective.
So there is an opportunity for some innovation.
And the really important point here for everyone here
in the class is that: this is what
makes your venture real and concrete,
going out and getting real data from prospective customers.
Fantastic.
Now, tell us about how you went and found those companies.
How did you contact them, and how do you
engage the conversation?
We decided that our ideal client would probably
be a large company.
So we looked at what large companies
are to be found in the Boston area.
And we also then thought about who
would be the right person in those companies to contact.
And obviously, most of the wellness programs or fitness
initiatives are in the hands of either benefits administrators,
or HR managers, directors.
So we looked for people of that stature in an HR organization.
And we just-- actually, I contacted many more companies
than 40.
But then a certain number of them wrote back to us and said,
well, we'd like to hear your pitch.
So we were able to get either phone interviews
or actual, real meetings with them.
All right.
So how did you even find who to contact?
You had an assumption that you should
be going after large companies, and it
was in large companies you had an assumption about who
to go after.
How did you find these people, and how did you
find their contact information?
Well, we just knew the position, or how
the position would sound.
And then we used, LinkedIn, which is a great tool.
We did buy a special professional version of it
to be able to see more information.
And we used it a lot.
All right.
So you found the people on LinkedIn.
Did you use any other sources?
Well, some of the sources we used
were just personal connections.
It just so happened some of us knew somebody
who would probably know somebody else
who would be an HR manager.
So that's a very good other way to find your first prospective
customers, through a direct or semi-direct lead or connection.
You start reaching out to companies.
And at the point, you really only have an idea.
So what did you say in your emails and your phone calls
to the people that you were reaching
that made it interesting to them to go and meet with you?
Oh, it's not easy, because this-- we
are not a company, and not anybody well-known with a known
name, like Proctor and Gamble, reaching out to this company.
So the way we approached is basically, we played students.
And we were students.
And it's surprising how people are
more willing to help other people
and are more responsive when they see themselves
as helping somebody else, versus being sold to.
So obviously, your first statements cannot be
aggressive.
And it was informational.
We just laid things out as they were.
We were students.
We were working on this exciting project with some great science
from MIT.
That usually sometimes helps.
And we just wanted a little bit of their time
to get a little bit more information about what
problems they had in this area.
We reached out to them as students.
And it was super-helpful, because everybody
is wired to help others.
And that's, I think, is a great strategy.
Most people don't actually like to be sold to.
But almost everybody is very much into helping
everybody else.
So we appeal to that.
And also, we talked about their problems.
So we presented ourselves as being very relevant to them.
And finally, we referenced this amazing science at MIT
that we were familiar with that could
be used to help solve their problems.
And this piqued their interest.
If you're working on a venture as part of this course,
you should heed the advice of getting in touch with
prospective customers and telling them hey,
I'm taking 15.390x from MIT.
This is an MIT course in entrepreneurship.
And I'd like to learn about your problems
and figure out how we can solve them.
This a great way to do it.