Brokering trust, bringing transparency into medical supply sales, and distributing COVID-19 rapid antigen & antibody tests :: with Susie Kataoka and Norris Liu
03/02/21 • 59 min
In this episode of Ventures, my guests Susie Kataoka (https://www.linkedin.com/in/susiekataoka/), Norris Liu (https://www.linkedin.com/in/thenorrisliu/), and I discuss the origin story of Zebra Health, the work they are doing to bring transparency to the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) global market, starting a joint venture between their startups, distributing rapid antigen and antibody tests for COVID-19, and aspiring toward blockchain/Web 3.0 opportunities for any marketplace that involves brokering trust.
Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-34 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc...) mentioned.
You can watch this episode via video here.
In this episode we cover the following:
1:45 - Susie introduction and background, Transpara to Zebra Health
3:00 - Norris introduction and background, EHLP to Zebra Health, describing the origin of the name “Zebra Health”
7:43 - for Susie and Norris, was being entrepreneurial something they did as kids or was it something they picked up later in life?
10:00 - What was the process like of starting a formal Joint Venture? At what point did Susie and Norris know that was a good idea?
13:59 - Regarding trust, communication, and transparency (or lack thereof); what is going on in the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) marketplace globally? (A discussion about the fraud and scams going on in the industry)
18:35 - More discussion about the “good” and “bad” side of the global PPE market.
27:13 - What products and services does Zebra Health offer?
29:30 - What is the vision/mission of Zebra Health today?
31:03 - What is the difference between a COVID-19 antigen test and antibody test? (FYI, Zebra Health is a distributor of these tests - visit https://zebra.health to learn more)
39:04 - Does having COVID-19 make someone immune from getting it in the future?
41:23 - Who is Zebra Health for? (Geared toward health care professionals, health care organizations, and governments)
41:59 - Would manufacturers of PPE/tests and distributors be partners with Zebra Health?
43:27 - What needs to change in the USA and the global system regarding PPE distribution? (Setting standards, transparency, and open markets)
46:57 - Web 3.0 / Blockchain considerations for brokering trust / supply chain management, even outside the PPE world (e.g. in commodities trading).
55:26 - Call to action for Web 3.0 developers to help build a decentralized application for brokering trust.
55:39 - How can people best find Susie/Norris and learn more about Zebra Health? Go to https://zebra.health and feel free to contact [email protected] and [email protected]
56:25 - Zebra Health is more than just PPE. They are distributing test kits (antibody and antigen) and equipment such as air filtration systems and sanitation stickers).
57:39 - Results from testing internally. We tested 13 members of our team, check out https://zebra.health/blogs/news/thirteen-members-of-our-team-were-given-covid-19-rapid-antibody-tests-here-s-what-we-learned
In this episode of Ventures, my guests Susie Kataoka (https://www.linkedin.com/in/susiekataoka/), Norris Liu (https://www.linkedin.com/in/thenorrisliu/), and I discuss the origin story of Zebra Health, the work they are doing to bring transparency to the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) global market, starting a joint venture between their startups, distributing rapid antigen and antibody tests for COVID-19, and aspiring toward blockchain/Web 3.0 opportunities for any marketplace that involves brokering trust.
Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-34 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc...) mentioned.
You can watch this episode via video here.
In this episode we cover the following:
1:45 - Susie introduction and background, Transpara to Zebra Health
3:00 - Norris introduction and background, EHLP to Zebra Health, describing the origin of the name “Zebra Health”
7:43 - for Susie and Norris, was being entrepreneurial something they did as kids or was it something they picked up later in life?
10:00 - What was the process like of starting a formal Joint Venture? At what point did Susie and Norris know that was a good idea?
13:59 - Regarding trust, communication, and transparency (or lack thereof); what is going on in the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) marketplace globally? (A discussion about the fraud and scams going on in the industry)
18:35 - More discussion about the “good” and “bad” side of the global PPE market.
27:13 - What products and services does Zebra Health offer?
29:30 - What is the vision/mission of Zebra Health today?
31:03 - What is the difference between a COVID-19 antigen test and antibody test? (FYI, Zebra Health is a distributor of these tests - visit https://zebra.health to learn more)
39:04 - Does having COVID-19 make someone immune from getting it in the future?
41:23 - Who is Zebra Health for? (Geared toward health care professionals, health care organizations, and governments)
41:59 - Would manufacturers of PPE/tests and distributors be partners with Zebra Health?
43:27 - What needs to change in the USA and the global system regarding PPE distribution? (Setting standards, transparency, and open markets)
46:57 - Web 3.0 / Blockchain considerations for brokering trust / supply chain management, even outside the PPE world (e.g. in commodities trading).
55:26 - Call to action for Web 3.0 developers to help build a decentralized application for brokering trust.
55:39 - How can people best find Susie/Norris and learn more about Zebra Health? Go to https://zebra.health and feel free to contact [email protected] and [email protected]
56:25 - Zebra Health is more than just PPE. They are distributing test kits (antibody and antigen) and equipment such as air filtration systems and sanitation stickers).
57:39 - Results from testing internally. We tested 13 members of our team, check out https://zebra.health/blogs/news/thirteen-members-of-our-team-were-given-covid-19-rapid-antibody-tests-here-s-what-we-learned
Previous Episode
Growing as a technology leader, engaging value-add investors, and optimizing go-to-market strategies :: with Bill Murphy and Sol Cates
In this episode of Ventures, my guests Bill Murphy (https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamwmurphy/), Sol Cates (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sol-cates-649736/), and I discuss the worlds of private equity and investment banking, how founders should think about engaging strategic investors, the different stages of technology leadership as a company grows, and the services that Cresting Wave (https://www.crestingwave.com/) offers to help tech companies mature operations and execute go-to-market strategies.
Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-33 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc...) mentioned.
You can watch this episode via video here.
In this episode we cover the following:
1:35 - Sol tee up and intro of Bill
3:03 - Bill introduction, initial stories from being part of the founding teaming of CapitalIQ, CTO of Blackstone, and Managing Partner at Cresting Wave.
10:15 - From an education standpoint, what is investment banking? Why should people care about it?
12:04 - What is private equity (PE)? At what point should founders think about having meetings with PE folks?
16:11 - Interacting with PEs/VCs that can bring real value-add, i.e. those that want to go on that journey with you.
19:14 - Getting the early company engine started - first customer and first loss.
20:30 - The balance of having a “north star” versus pivoting.
21:22 - Brief background of Sol and how his journey interacts with these topics.
25:30 - Customer segments/targets: broad vs. specialized.
30:12 - Stages of technology leadership: beginning phase to that first transition into management/delegation?
33:51 - Where can Cresting Wave help as technology founders grow their companies? (the go-to-market side).
36:47 - Creating a good culture when company building
37:35 - Personality diversity / personality tests
40:15 - The next horizon in the growth of a technology leader, after the delegation mode has been in place for a while.
42:18 - Communication and processes, openness and transparency.
44:00 - Commentary on waterfall design vs. agile.
45:13 - More about Cresting Wave. Who is the ideal customer? (Free services and ideas to tech leaders curious about optimizing their game, and go-to-market services for technology companies...helping the first handful of conversations with potential clients)
48:48 - Where can people follow up and learn more? https://www.crestingwave.com/ // https://www.linkedin.com/in/sol-cates-649736/
Next Episode
Building a co-founder team with product and design capabilities, and the future of UX in the no-code/low-code era :: with Perry Azevedo
In this episode of Ventures, designer/developer Perry Azevedo (https://www.linkedin.com/in/perryazevedo/) and I discuss the importance of a co-founder team having product and design capabilities, the important nuances between “product” and “design”, examples from products that Perry and I have built together, and the future of UX design in the era of low-code/no-code applications.
Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-35 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc...) mentioned.
You can watch this episode via video here.
In this episode we cover the following:
1:43 - Perry introduction. From “Webmaster” to designer/developer over the last few decades.
10:31 - Going back to when Perry was first in his government job, from an education standpoint, what was “design” and “tooling” for the web back then in the late 90s?
14:30 - How did Perry’s understanding and development of the design/development craft from Perry’s experience in formal education?
18:56 - In startup land, there is typically a business person, a technical person, and ideally a product/design person -- i.e. a Hustler, Hacker, and Hipster. What is Perry’s advice for Business/Technical founders looking for Product/Design help?
24:04 - What should the business and technical person be aware of when picking a co-founder - and if they had to lean one way or another, which way should they lean?
26:53 - A word of caution to business/technical people out there (hint: you probably aren’t very good product people).
30:40 - Walking through product examples and the Design/Product: VendorHawk https://www.geekwire.com/2018/servicenow-snaps-vendorhawk-help-customers-manage-saas-spending/
35:35 - Another example of a product that Perry and Will built: https://www.startuprocket.com/
39:50 - The story behind the hexagon logo for Startup Rocket - and the story behind logos in general.
41:22 - More about the history and founding story of Startup Rocket
41:56 - What is the next stage of learning for Perry as a world-class designer? (No-code/low-code; we may not need to write code anymore soon)
45:41 - Going from design to coding up a product - are there any downsides to this personally for Perry?
48:51 - The “T” analogy for people; how founders should identify people to fill out their team.
49:50 - Where can people find Perry online? @perryazevedo on the socials, or go directly to https://www.protaventures.com
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