On Wednesday January 11th, HealthIT enthusists joined us virtually for a conversation between A.T. Gimbel, Partner at Atlanta Ventures, and John Lariccia, Co-Founder and CEO of WelcomeHome. John's wealth of knowledge on the startup world made for great insight around growing a company, learning from potential customers before building, and picking the right market. Below are some of the highlights from the event.
These meetups are part of an ongoing series of talks about Healthcare in Atlanta, with the vision of making Atlanta the premier place to start and grow a HealthIT business. The goal of these meetups is to facilitate connections, hear from industry professionals, and truly dig deeper into Healthcare problems that Atlanta entrepreneurs can help solve.
Check out the full video below!
John started his career in law, enrolling in the Air Force ROTC to get through school. After school, he was introduced to management consulting, a great way for John to do what he did best - problem solving - in the field of business. John always wanted to do something entrepreneurial, but he had an itch to do something from the ground up. After 20 years in consulting, he landed on the healthcare space and after finding product market fit, went all-in on WelcomeHome.
WelcomeHome is a sales and marketing software that serves the senior living industry. John started this journey by looking at industries he'd helped in consulting. Once he honed in on that healthcare market he went on what he calls a "listening tour" gaining insights on problems in the healthcare space. After listening to problems senior living center operators and sales and marketing teams continually faced—instead of pushing his own solution—he found a hole in current CRM capabilities, and took the opportunity to add to the industry.
Understanding your aspirations and how large you want your company to grow is an integral part of the planning process. John didn't want to be a unicorn; he wanted to build a business that was sustainable and would add value to clients. He strove to believe in something that he could uniquely execute and fulfill to the best of his abilities. John and his co-founder have sustained WelcomeHome without raising venture capital.
Listen. Before you begin building a product YOU think is right, go on a "listening tour", ask good questions, and let potential customers share about the problems they face with the goal of surfacing opportunities for building the right solution.
Pivot. Its okay to make mistakes as long as you embrace it. When John first started touring customers and listening to them, he realized that his initial idea just wouldn't work. Instead of ignoring the advice or just giving up, John instead took the information he got and turned it into something great.
Process. It's okay to implement processes at your startup. Every time WelcomeHome gets a new client, they send them a gift basket. Since the beginning (and still today) John would pack the baskets himself. As the company continues to grow, they are building betters processes for WelcomeHome, so they can move forward in a more efficient, optimized, and clear direction.
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