A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders
00:49:25 · AJ Loiacono, Pablo Srugo
[00:49:25] S0: No, I I couldn't agree more. I I think people that believe in emission and it's personally impacted them some part about it is to your point, it's ever present. They're thinking about how can I fix it? How can I do better? And I see it. I I see it, you know, not just in you know what I'll call the breakfix category, but proactive on new product development, new feature sets. You know, again, going back to how do I make a patient's life better? [00:49:55] S1: What about uh in terms of finding these candidates? Did you any do like how did you, those first 30, 40 hires, did you do anything interesting on the outbound side in terms of finding them in the first place? [00:50:05] S0: Yeah. So all right. First 40 employees I go to one degree of separation. You know, is it someone I worked with or someone very close to me that I respect worked with this person? So I'll give you a great example. Uh I was looking for someone on the implementation side. So this is someone who knows how to set up a benefit plan, which is extraordinarily difficult. And I asked all around, because you know, I've been in healthcare for a while. I know people in different companies. I'm like, who's the best person in implementation you've ever worked with? And I kept getting the same name. This woman by the name of Karen Durker, who still works with me here. And I'm like, what the heck is a Karen Durker? And I'm like, what are the odds? Three different people both said the same name. [00:50:56] S1: Crazy.
00:50:56 · Pablo Srugo, AJ Loiacono
[00:50:56] S1: Crazy. [00:50:56] S0: And what's interesting is she was not very senior in her company. And I'm like, so this person gets their hands dirty, knows every aspect of implementation. And I have three people I respect very highly giving me. And what's a really interesting story if as she tells it, she wasn't gonna go with us. She was just like, they're like small. Like, I don't like I don't know if they're gonna be in business next year. And she tells a story that she was going to bed and she turned to her husband, and her husband's like, I think you should do it. Like, I think this is going to be a great, you know. Now she's the executive vice president in charge of all implementation at her company and probably commands a team of like, you know, 100 people here. But but my point is she came so highly recommended. I I had to go with that. And for my first 40, I really try and lean into did I work with them or somebody I respect, you know, and and that's an important qualifier because you know, I have a lot of friends and they may be like, oh, like Sal's great. And I'll be like, is Sal great or is Sal great to drink with it? You know what I mean? Like we want to have a few margs, like Sal's our guy. But if we want to implement a plan, Karen's our person. You know, but I I think that's where I felt we created a stable foundation getting back to the execution and operation, which was going to be critical because if you're starting and we didn't have those testimonials, I don't think we would be talking right now.
00:52:34 · Pablo Srugo
[00:52:34] S1: Last question. What would be a top piece of advice for you for like an early stage founder that's still looking for product market fit?
00:52:42 · AJ Loiacono
[00:52:42] S0: In the early days, all right. This this is an opinion. If you've never done your own business, I think a lot of people that I speak with get caught in this trap of they get super excited about the things that kind of glamorize your business. Like, hey, like the the website design and the what Pantone blue I used for the logo, and you know, you know, what is the shape of these things? What's the marketing around it? You know, we should have Pizza Fridays, we should, you need to strip all of that out. And this sounds like like pretty basic advice. And I'm like, you have to treat your startup like this is the only money you're ever gonna see in your life, and that every single expense, including your time, because and I say this time is our most valuable asset. I can't buy it, I can't store it, can't replace it. I didn't say this, Peter Drucker did, but I appreciate what that gentleman observed, and I've lived by it my entire life. And this is what I try and say do not waste your time on things that are cool. Don't waste your time on things that you think are fun. You need people that go back to believe the mission, and what's fun for them is, in my case, making healthcare better. And so that's what I want to spend. All of our time, effort, and budget. There's no safety net. There's no series B, there's no series C. We need to spend this money as if it's the only oxygen left in the room. And it it that level of financial discipline and time discipline, I don't think people appreciate enough.
00:54:24 · Pablo Srugo
[00:54:24] S1: Well, AJ, I'm grateful for your time, and thanks for jumping on the show. It's been great. No, thank you for having me, bro. Listen, when you go to like a restaurant, you eat a nice, you know, meal, maybe a fancy one, maybe not. Do you leave a tip? I assume you probably leave a tip. You probably leave a tip 100% of the time. Well, guess what? A review is just like a tip. And I know you haven't been leaving one. So just like the waiter that doesn't get a tip after hours of great service, I'm getting a little frustrated. So take your phone out and leave a review. It helps the show move up rankings. It helps us get better guests. It doesn't just help me, it helps way more founders. Thank you.