00:08:57 · Andrew Song
You have to understand for many people when you have hearing loss, getting your hearing back or restoring some of your hearing through a hearing aid is not really just about your hearing, it's about your confidence, it's about your control. And so that model, that relationship you have with the product is one that's ongoing through life. Unfortunately, in The US, hearing aids are also... Can be very expensive. And so a subscription model also can make it more affordable for many people. Sequoia is an investor. They led the series seed and the series a with us and been great partners. And so when we went out, my cofounder Dwight always says, a crazy team and an idea with a slide deck, like, trying to go go make it work. And one of the things that has always been true for Whisper is it's really important for us to educate investors or potential investors on what the market really is. Most investors don't sit around thinking about the hearing aid space. It's tens of billions of dollars globally. Hearing loss affects something like one in eight people in The US. There are more and more people getting older every single day. You know, we really wanted to focus on this person at the end of this light for us that was looking for something better with their hearing. Now we reach customers through a number of different ways because there are so many people out there who are looking for better hearing. They're going on the internet. They're asking their friends. I like to remind people we did not invent the problem of hearing loss. Hearing loss has existed as long as humans have existed. And again, that excitement of what's possible to what exists, that huge difference is where we think Whisper has a spot in the world. He got to try a very early version of it. I remember when he tried a good set of hearing aids finally, started to look around and be part of the conversation again. I think half my family thought he was losing it mentally because he wasn't able to follow the conversation. He just can't hear you. I think it's really important in anything you do in life, whether you're a CEO or a co founder or a product manager, to know your truth.
00:10:41 · Andrew Song
There's a truth behind how that's going to change the world somewhere in there, and that will guide so many decisions along the way, and those decisions become so much easier when you know that truth inside of you, when you can communicate that truth to everybody that you're working with, and those decisions become so hard when you're not sure. That's, I think, the biggest takeaway that I've learned. Unfortunately, he actually passed away very recent, a few months ago. I think that has caused me to reflect a lot about his inspiration on me personally and this company that that's been built. But I also think about it consumer lens, just like a a lens of somebody who wants to hear better and wants to laugh at jokes. And that experience is happening in households every day around the world. It is a human phenomenon. It is beyond language. It is just something that we all deal with and see in our loved ones, especially as they age. And that is, I think, the guiding light and part of my truth. The truth for me at Whisper is ultimately that what technology can do for people who use hearing aids, rely on them to laugh at jokes, hear stories. That technology is so far beyond what is existing in products today. That's our opportunity. That's what makes us really excited. That's what makes us optimistic. I think one of the great opportunities when you get to work in a field like technology is you can often build products or work on ideas that will last for much longer than maybe even beyond your life. I think everybody who has the privilege of working in an area like that, there's somewhere in there that that's part of the dream is to just do meaningful work. I hope the work that I do is meaningful and in some way can last beyond, you know, even my work on it can last in some form into the future.