It’s an exciting time for mobile health as One Drop, an application empowering individuals to “get diabetes right,” debuts in the app store.
It’s about living your life, not living with diabetes.
In his pitch at The 2015 Launch Festival, Founder and CEO of Jeff Dachis, shared One Drop and his drive to simplify how diabetics track and measure their glucose and activity levels.
Adeo Ressi, Founder of Founders Institute, coined it as one of the best pitches he’s ever heard. The team was also awarded Best Design at the event.
One Drop’s ultimate goal is to “relentlessly reduce the cost and inconvenience of living your life with diabetes,” according to Jeff.
Ideally, the app and subscription service (which includes the One Drop glucose meter and supplies) will be free or inexpensive for anybody who needs to test and record their health data.
My favorite part about my time with Jeff is the way he always paused after saying living life, adding diabetes after. His actions reflect the core purpose of One Drop, to work in the background so individuals can live their lives instead of being ruled by their disease.
I want to make it as easy as possible for people to measure as much as they can, as often as they can. Share that data with everyone else and learn with them.
For example, notifying users to check their glucose levels after a meal is among the ‘subtle reminders and motivations’ provided by the app.
The app is also ready for the Apple Watch, which Jeff discusses in his 33founders episode.
In addition to sharing One Drop with me, Jeff shared some key entrepreneurial insights he’s learned being a founder the last 20 years.
- When it comes to acquisitions, only capitalize on the peanut butter and chocolate combo (Any person who visualizes success like this is a winner in my book). Coming together should elevate success for both teams in a way that they can’t achieve alone.
- For founders: Confidence is vital. Ego is not. Leave it behind.
- There is no one size fits all approach to running a startup. Don’t squeeze your company into a pre-existing mold. Create your own.
- Whether you’re a team of 2 or a team of 2,000, your success is rooted in each of the individuals bringing the company vision to life. Celebrate them daily.
- “Burn yourself into the minds of the people you meet.” Be a force when meeting people. Founders should concentrate their efforts on standing out. Each time you meet someone new you demonstrate your ability to command a room and lead your team.
- Focus on winning, not on selling. Winning is defined by creating a dominant company that survives and thrives in the marketplace.
- Be open about your failures, determine how you can improve, and move on. Unsuccessful experiments should never inhibit your growth.
- Make learning and reading a habit. Jeff reads the print edition of the Wall Street Journal cover to cover every day. He also reads Techmeme, Tech Crunch, Ad Week, AdAge, and Health Line.
To learn more about One Drop, Jeff’s observations about the tech industry, and the key lessons he’s learned being an entrepreneur the last 20 years tune in here.