Sponsored Message: Welcome to The Entrepreneuring Show, where we strive to provide insights and stories for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, where innovation meets inspiration, led by veteran entrepreneur and tech founder. Here’s your host, Jill Button.
Jill: Hey, entrepreneurs. Welcome to the Entrepreneuring Show. Today’s show is brought to you by LIVD. LIVD provides fringe benefits. It’s a fringe benefits marketplace for small and medium sized businesses and their employees. LIVD makes it easy for employers to better reward and recognize their teams. They are focused on giving employees choice and personalization in their benefits offering.
Jill: My guest today is Olivia, two-time founder and the co-founder and CEO of lived prior to transitioning into tech. Olivia worked at a financial services marketplace during her eight years there. She had progressively more senior roles. Ultimately leading the Canadian product marketing team working on both retail and digital products Welcome to the show Olivia.
Olivia: Thanks so much for having me excited to chat today and Share a little bit about you know, the journey and what we’re building So I’m really excited. You and I met actually through a shared marketplace community called everything marketplaces. And it was awesome to connect with another female marketplace founder in Toronto, which is amazing.
Olivia: Um, and I want to get into, um, you’ve recently made a move, but before we do. I want to talk about your journey to become an entrepreneur. Can we talk about what kind of led you to be an entrepreneur and to start lift? Yeah, for sure. So I think like many founders, my story is not really unique. I think I’ve always been a builder.
Olivia: Like I’m naturally curious. And I think, um, you know, I’ve always throughout my career. Um, but I’m curious about how things work and, you know, want to build things and figure things out. So, I think that’s, you know, definitely been a thread throughout my career. Um, prior to being a founder, I worked in marketplaces for a large portion of my career.
Olivia: So, I definitely consider myself like a marketplace nerd. Um, I love marketplaces. They’re notoriously hard, but, um, they’re, they’re super, super interesting. And so, I’ve worked on both sides, on the B2B side and B2C side, um, but I definitely prefer the B2B side. Um, and, um, so right now I’m building and running Liz, which is a marketplace for every day employee benefits.
Olivia: Um, and so if you’re not familiar with the HR tech space, what that means is it’s any benefit that a company gives to their, their employees that isn’t health or dental benefits. So that could be work from home expenses, travel, transportation, uh, fitness, wellness. Um, pet care. Uh, so we have a few different categories on the platform.
Olivia: Um, and so what we do is we provide personalized benefits for employees. Um, and so prior to running that startup, um, I ran another marketplace, um, and so I’m sure we’ll, you know, kind of get into a little bit of that journey of, you know, launching your first marketplace, what that looks like. Um, and so that was in a completely different space in the beauty tech space.
Olivia: Um, where we connected customers with nearby artists. So makeup artists, nail artists, barbershops, hair braiders, um, all through a mobile app. Uh, so ran that experience for a couple of years, um, with a, with a prior co founder. Um, learned a lot, failed a whole bunch, um, and always knew that I wanted to move into the benefit space, but had a couple of key learnings that realized that there was just a few fundamental things that couldn’t, that I couldn’t do with that prior idea, um, so ended up scrapping all of the code and then starting again to, you know, So, um, you know, we can get, we can talk about a pivot.
Olivia: Um, that was a, you know, huge part of my founder journey as well too. So kind of, you know, love sharing the details on that. So my, my path to being a founder has definitely not been a linear path by any means. And I don’t think that’s, you know, unique in, in a lot of ways. Um, so it’s, uh, definitely had a lot of.
Olivia: and failures. And I think that’s part of the journey, right? Like really being uncomfortable, uh, being comfortable, being uncomfortable. Uh, cause I think when you’re a founder, you know, um, there’s, there’s a lot of things that, that you have to learn and you have to learn quickly and you have to do well. Um, and oftentimes just in the very beginning, when you’re early stages, like you’re, you’re running a lot of roles and maybe you’ve done that before.
Olivia: Maybe you haven’t. So, um, you know, I think, A large, um, thing that I’ve learned through my founder journey is, is really like finding a community, finding people that have done this before that are a few stages ahead of you and, you know, asking them questions and being curious and figuring out how they approach something, because even if you’re in a different industry, oftentimes there’s a lot of similarities between, you know, what you’re building.
Olivia: You know, how do you build an MVP? How do you find customers? How do you find a team? Are you bootstrapping? Are you, you know, going on the path of a fundraising? Like, all of those things are, um, are part of the journey. So it’s great to have a community, you know, people that have done it before that you can talk to and, and, and get tips and, um, you know, just really understand like what, what that looks like and, you know, how you can, how you can learn from others.
Jill: Yeah, no, I, I love the, um, I love that perspective because I totally agree that The community aspect is so critically important. There’s, um, I’m sure you’re familiar with Arlene Dickinson and she said this famous quote that really resonated with me. It’s it takes a community to raise an entrepreneur and that’s always really, uh, resonated with me.
Jill: And it’s. Something that I say often because it’s so true, right? Like finding people who have walked the path that you have, or who is, who are walking the path today and who you can bounce ideas off of learn. You and I’ve had a couple of conversations now, and even your path. To finding a co founder is something I want to delve into a little bit deeper because finding people who can help you build something, um, because you’ve never done this before.
Jill: So let’s talk about your, your entrepreneurial journey just a little bit more. What’s been the most surprising thing, like given, given that you’ve come from marketplaces and you really understand marketplaces. That’s amazing and fantastic foundation. But being an entrepreneur is a whole different journey.
Jill: Tell me about what’s been the most surprising thing or the maybe the biggest myth that people think that being an entrepreneur is.
Olivia: Yeah, so I think there’s a lot of myths. But I think, you know, the biggest one is just the time that it takes to build something, especially a marketplace. Marketplaces are, are a totally different type of business.
Olivia: Like you’re building two businesses essentially in one. And I think when you compare it to, you know, a lot of other businesses, um, it, it, it takes a lot of time to build. Um, and there’s definitely hacks and, you know, ways that you can get around that to make that a little bit quicker. But I think, you know, it, it, the amount of time involved in making a platform.
Olivia: Um, that is built for two different sides, which oftentimes have competing, you know, interests or, you know, features or things that they’re looking that you’re looking to solve for, um, just that sheer amount of time and effort. And, um, I think, you know, even coming from a background for marketplaces, I, you know, kind of thought that I understood that, but as you dive in, and as you learn more, and as you’re talking to both sides, like, you know, just just the amount of time that that takes to build.
Olivia: Um, a solution that, that works for both sides. Like it, you know, I think that that was surprising for me, even coming from a marketplace background.
Jill: Yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s, uh, incredibly challenging to build one business with a marketplace. You’re essentially building two. You’re trying to not only attract the service providers on the marketplace, which most people are excited and happy to sell their services, but finding them the fit.
Jill: for the buyers. Um, in my particular case, the suppliers and the buyers are the same. So you can be a, yeah, it’s great. It’s great, but they don’t realize that. So trying to get them to understand that you’re not just tailored here to sell services, you’re here as well to buy services and support the entrepreneurial community that we’re trying to build.
Jill: And I didn’t think it would be honestly this tough. I knew it would be great. Not as challenging for me to build the supply side, but building the demand or the buy side has been incredibly challenging. Talk about your journey as it relates to that. What’s been the most challenging? The buy side or the supply side for you?
Olivia: Yeah, so I think with my first startup, um, The supply side was, was one of the biggest learnings for us. Um, and, and something that I think we did really, really well. So, um, my background is in partnerships. So I spent a lot of time working in, in partnerships. And so I kind of naturally gravitate towards that.
Olivia: And so I was able to. to leverage that experience on the supply side, um, when we were running the beauty tech company. So initially we started and we were kind of doing, you know, all the unscalable things, which is like trying to find supply one to one on social. So I would DM people on, you know, Instagram or Facebook communities and, and, and groups and ask them to join the platform.
Olivia: Um, and, you know, we would get signups and things like that, but it was, you know, very tedious and oftentimes a lot of the messages would go unread, which is, which is natural. Um, and then what we started to do is to reach out to, uh, colleges and, um, local schools and to go in and do presentations to the students.
Olivia: So once they’re graduate, once they had graduated and were qualified to offer the service to get them on the platform. Um, and so I think. You know, from the supply side, like trying to go like one to one to one to many, um, I think was a big unlock for us and something that, you know, we leaned on like our partnership experience.
Olivia: And that was something that we learned over time of, you know, how do you make this faster? Like, how do you scale up the supply side? So when the demand side’s on, that they’re finding value and they don’t drop off. Um, because I think like we ran a localized marketplace with my first startup, and I think that’s one of the hardest challenges when you’re like, you know, localized, and it’s block by block.
Olivia: If you don’t have enough supply, the demand will drop. Um, and there’s different triggers that you can do to, you know, like, hold them or send them a message. If you know, you get a new supplier or something like that, like, and we tried a few of those, but I think. You know, from the customer side, um, like having enough supply is critical, um, because you’re so used to experiences, um, and other marketplaces where there’s, you know, a ton of supply.
Olivia: Like, if you open the Uber app, you know, you’re, you know, you’re going to be connected with a, with a driver. Um, and so I think that’s, you know, consumer’s expectations. Um, and so that’s really, really challenging when you’re building like a localized marketplace. Um, and so that’s kind of, you know, my first experience.
Olivia: Um, and then, uh, with my current startup, we, we initially focused on the supply side again, as well. So, so making sure that we had enough benefits offered, benefit offerings. Um, and so working on partnerships, um, with national brands, um, and we focused on national brands because right now the, the workforce is, uh, split between an office hybrid, a mix of both.
Olivia: So if we onboard a company and they have employees in say New York and, you Employees in San Francisco, if we only had supply in New York, um, their, their employees, um, on the other side of the country wouldn’t find value in our platform. So we focused initially on having, um, diversified supply throughout various different markets, um, and as we were building up the demand.
Olivia: And so now we’re kind of, you know, as we’re building up demand, we’re kind of switching back to supply to, to, um, add more benefits that we’re hearing that the Uh, demand sides really looking for. So it’s kind of like, you know, I would say like a laddered approach where you build one side, um, and then you release it out and then you get more feedback and then you’re building the other side again.
Olivia: So it’s, you know, you’re constantly kind of working on both sides of the marketplace. But yeah, we’d love to hear your take. Like, how did you approach that with, um, with ProcureHub? Like, what was the harder side for you? Uh, it, definitely the buy side for sure.
Jill: So, we, we constrained the marketplace in the Greater Toronto area because we wanted to be able to, uh, curate suppliers who could provide services in what we called core categories.
Jill: So, if you, uh, So procure hub is for small and medium sized businesses, basically any service that they don’t have full time employees for, they can get through the marketplace. So, you know, accountants, lawyers, um, marketing people. And so starting on the supply side, of course, people won’t be able to buy if there’s no services.
Jill: We wanted to have those core services in place, and we actually did fairly well over the last year. We’ve built up 130 users. Now that we’ve been focusing on the demand or the buy side, that’s by far been the most challenging. And as I said, our. Suppliers can also be buyers. The accountant, the marketing guy, the marketing guy, the lawyer, um, but trying to get them to think as a buyer and a supplier, having both the ability to sell and buy has been hugely challenging for us.
Jill: Um, so talk about lived and who are the, what are the kinds of services that somebody would expect to find on lived?
Olivia: Yeah, so on our platform, we have about 15 different categories within our app, um, and so these categories could range from transportation, um, where we have Uber and Lyft, uh, to travel, where we have Airbnb, um, and other hotel experiences, or spas, um, like beauty and wellness, where we have a whole host of, of different spas, um, or even food, where we have meal subscription kits, like HelloFresh, and, um, Um, and a few others as well.
Olivia: Um, even pet care where we have Chewy. Um, so, you know, looking after every member of your family. Um, and so the goal with our platform is, is really to provide personalization because I think, um, What’s really difficult right now for HR and for teams is, is really understanding, um, how employees want to be rewarded and recognized, um, and finding options that will really resonate with employees.
Olivia: Um, and what’s happening right now in the SMB space is oftentimes employees will ask for things. HR is, you know, trying to work with different vendors. So maybe they’re managing 10 to 15 different vendors. It’s a, you know, maybe it’s a gym, um, maybe it’s a work from home stipend. Um, and there’s no centralized platform that they’re using to, to manage all of these vendor relationships.
Olivia: And it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. Um, and oftentimes we’ll select a few. And if those don’t resonate with employees, they’re wasting money on something that their employees don’t feel value that they don’t see value in. Or don’t feel, you know, rewarded and recognized in the right way. And so that’s what we’re looking to fix to provide personalization to employees to say, you know, this is how I want to be rewarded.
Olivia: Um, and to actually give them the, the option to do that through a monthly stipend that they can use on our platform and pick and choose for whatever reward interests them or save them time. So that’s what we’re looking to solve.
Jill: Okay. So can I ask in terms of the, um, the way in which users interact with you, is it that the, the small business or medium sized business are giving the employees, like you said, a stipend that they are actually like a health spending account.
Jill: As an example, there’s a stipend that they provide and then they can pick and choose whatever service that is available on the marketplace up to the limit of the stipend.
Olivia: Exactly. So we have a lifestyle spending account. And so exactly, it’s exactly that. So, um, the stipends deposited into a virtual wallet within our app, and then employees are free to use those dollars accordingly.
Olivia: So they can use them each month, they can save them up and get a larger purchase. But they can pick and choose from the platform, um, whatever option they want to use their dollars on.
Jill: And the, on the buy side, you have small businesses. On the supply side, you have small services providers providing those types of services, including the larger partnerships.
Jill: Like you said, Chewy is kind of cool. I mean, that’s an amazing way to approach, um, Individuals who have different needs, maybe they don’t want massage therapy, but maybe they want to be able to, you know, have something that supports their dog. So I really love that flexibility. How’s, how has the, um, how’s the response been from the, the, uh, small businesses?
Jill: Are they really, um, embracing this new flexibility that they can offer to their employees and what’s been the benefit for them?
Olivia: Yeah, no, they definitely are. And I think, um, you know, there’s two kind of benefits to it. One is the administrative burden that we’re listing off of HR and finance teams that are using that currently the process in place is manual.
Olivia: So it’s like tracking on spreadsheets. Like I was chatting with a team last week and they were saying that, you know, the month of December for them is, you know, they’re Is the entire month is spent doing stipends for employees to doing a survey, figuring out what they want, buying all the options and then working with employees to to actually, you know, use them and implement them.
Olivia: So that’s the entire month for for a few folks to do that. And so there’s a huge administrative burden to run any of these. these programs. Um, and so our solution, um, is, is really helping companies to have an option where, um, they’re, they’re not spending a lot of time, but then they’re giving their employees the personalization.
Olivia: So that’s kind of, you know, the flip side where you’re, you’re able to offer programs that, um, your employees genuinely care about and feel rewarded and recognized. Um, and they get to pick because, you know, how you want to be rewarded and how I want to be rewarded. What our hobbies and interests are and preferences are could be completely different.
Olivia: Um, and so it’s really challenging for a company to be able to provide everything for a team. Um, and so that’s what we’re solving for. I love that. I think it’s incredibly creative and I think that it really provides, uh, fills that gap in health benefits, um, or employee benefits that just,
Jill: You know, it’s a challenge.
Jill: So I think this is an amazing idea. Where are you currently launched? Are you, I know you’re in Toronto, but tell me about your, um, your growth plan. Did you constrain your services in a particular market or what does that look like for you?
Olivia: Yeah, so that was kind of one of the biggest learnings I had with my prior startup running a hyper localized marketplace and just the challenges of it.
Olivia: Um, and knowing that we, we wanted to, to get into the employee, um, fringe benefit space, having a really constrained marketplace, um, definitely wasn’t the right approach to take. So we kind of, you know, did the complete opposite, um, with this startup, which is not constrained. Um, and so we have benefit options in Canada and benefit options in the U S.
Olivia: Um, and so we have national offerings to start. Um, and what my co founders and I are working on right now is more localized, uh, offering. So working with, um, different, um, suppliers, um, in cities where we’re seeing, you know, the most amount of users, um, and building localized offerings that they’ll find additional value on the platform that they wouldn’t find elsewhere.
Olivia: Um, and so that’s what we’re building out right now. So, you know, having the national layer as we build out, you know, the more localized, um, options.
Jill: That’s that’s really interesting because it’s completely opposite to what we did, but of course it’s a completely different marketplace. I want to talk about your journey.
Jill: So you and I met in Toronto. We met through the marketplace. We met in person. You were actually at one of the shows that we were exhibiting at, but you’ve recently made a big move. I’d love to hear about that. And what are some of the challenges, uh, and maybe again, unexpected joys, um, in, in that journey.
Olivia: Yeah, for sure. No, it was super cool that we got connected through the everything marketplaces platform. It’s one of my favorite founder communities, especially if you’re building a marketplace, because again, it is so nuanced and difficult, and it’s so nice to have a community of of other founders that know exactly what you’re going through, you know, whether it’s like chatting about supply side stuff or, you know, demand side.
Olivia: It’s like when you when you talk to a founder from that community, it’s like they just get it. So, yeah, really great that we were able to connect through there. Um, and then, you know, meet in person as well. And in Toronto, that was super cool. Um, but yeah, I’ve just recently moved to New York City. So, um, I’ve been here a couple of weeks now.
Olivia: So, just getting situated in a new spot, um, but love the city. You know, it’s very similar to Toronto. So, I think that made the transition a little bit easier. But, um, yeah, definitely a big move. I’ve never done an international move before. So, tons of learnings and, uh, you know, a bit chaotic for a couple of weeks.
Olivia: But I definitely feel a little bit more organized now. So it’s, uh, it’s been nice. It’s been really, really great. Yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to exploring the new city and, um, you know, meeting other founders here as well. And, um, just, you know, embracing a new community.
Jill: Amazing. So have you seen yet any benefits to the move?
Jill: The sort of tech ecosystem in New York is probably similar, but certainly different than what you see in Toronto. Have you been able to connect with any, um, You know, local tech community members or, you know, what’s that been like, you know, moving to on the personal side of Brett, you know, brand new place.
Jill: I don’t know what your background is in New York. I’ve never been to New York, so I’m definitely coming to see you at some point. Love that, love that. What’s the, what’s that been like in terms of trying to connect with other, um, local tech founders?
Olivia: Yeah. So I think, um, you know, the tech ecosystem in Toronto is definitely growing, but I would say it’s, it’s a lot more conservative.
Olivia: Like, uh, we’ve, I bootstrapped my startup, so I haven’t raised, but I know that the investment community is a lot more conservative. And I know a lot of founders find it really challenging if they’re trying to raise from Canadian BC. So I know on that side, You know, completely completely a different ecosystem for sure.
Olivia: Um, but I think in terms of, you know, being in a city that’s so large, there’s a ton of access to events and, you know, just founder network. So I have my first event that I’m going to check out next week. So I’m just kind of slowly kind of tapping into, you know, um, some founder events, but there’s there’s definitely a ton to check out.
Olivia: So I’m really excited for that.
Jill: Great. There’s actually a few conferences that I know are coming up, um, specific to marketplaces, um, that I would love to check out. I unfortunately can’t get to New York, um, this fall, but I would love to. And it’s amazing that you get to be there in that community and experience that energy.
Jill: Um, I’ll have to live vicariously through you Olivia, but, um, congratulations on your move. Uh, that’s incredible. Um, can you tell me. As a female founder, as a female tech founder, female tech marketplace founder, um, like we’re pretty unique and that there’s just not a lot of us on a global scale. Um, what have been some of the, um, whether it’s challenges as a female, um, female founder, tech founder, or maybe benefits like what, tell me about that experience and how maybe it might be different for our male counterparts.
Olivia: Yeah, no, it’s an awesome question. And I think it’s one, you know, that, that we hear a lot of, and I think there are, you know, different challenges and experiences. Um, and I think for me specifically, like my background, I worked in a financial services marketplace. So it was definitely kind of more of a male dominated industry.
Olivia: So that was typically my experience. So it was kind of natural for me to be in rooms where maybe I was the only woman. Um, and that was okay. Like that was just my experience. And I think as I transitioned to tech, you know, That that often happens as well. And, you know, even being a female founder, specifically running a marketplace again, it kind of, you know, um, it’s the same thing where sometimes, you know, you’re in rooms and you are the only female, um, in that room.
Olivia: And that’s okay. Like, I think I’m, you know, used to it, but there definitely are nuances. And, um, you know, I think, um, it, it kind of comes back to, you know, community, like, Finding those people that have been there that are a few stages ahead of you that, you know, you can go to for questions so that you don’t feel so alone, because I think, you know, running a startup is super tough.
Olivia: Running a marketplace is like, even more challenging. So having that community, um, and founders that have done it before that can share their, their learnings, um, I think really makes it less lonely, uh, because it is a really challenging space. thing. Um, and you know, sometimes you’ll have the highest highs and the lowest lows, and that could be all within one day.
Olivia: So it’s, you know, a very, very challenging thing to do. Um, and having a community, uh, makes it a lot better and less lonely. How have you found that, like, um, since, since you’ve, uh, been running your startup? Like how has that experience been for you?
Jill: It’s interesting because kind of like you, I have a background in what I do.
Jill: So I have a background in, in procurement technology. technology. So I, like you, am used to being the only female in the room, um, supply chain and procurement generally, or, or like you said, in financial services, it’s, it’s a very male dominated industry. So I’m used to being the only female in the room. I’m used to, you know, the nuances of being a female and I’m used to having to have a strong voice.
Jill: So for me, becoming a founder, I was able to leverage those experiences. And because procure hub is literally a procurement, it’s procure tech. Um, it was sort of natural for me and being in technology was natural for me. The founder aspect though, like you said, not realizing how the Cause you got to wear every hat, not just multi hats.
Jill: It’s every hat from sales to marketing, to bookkeeping and accounting, to it, like every single hat that you have to wear as a founder. And it’s all on your shoulders. And like you said, the highs and the lows, I mean, you could wake up at three o’clock in the morning and, you know, have a brilliant idea. And then the next morning you realize you’re behind on your bookkeeping.
Jill: So it’s just, it’s super. It’s super challenging. Um, the resilience I think is something you need to build up as a founder, regardless if you’re a male or a female or what industry you’re in marketplace or otherwise, the resilience that founders and entrepreneurs generally have to have, I think is one of the biggest differentiators between success.
Jill: And people who are just, they get tired and give up, right?
Olivia: Yeah. And because it’s such a long grind, like it was, you know, even as we were talking about earlier in the conversation about just how long things take, and, you know, it’s not an over, like, there’s no such thing as an overnight success. Like it takes time and it takes dedication and it’s, persistence, um, and usually a ton of failures along the way of trying things out, realizing that you were wrong, like, you know, adjusting your assumptions, changing things.
Olivia: And it, you know, it takes a lot of persistence. And I think that that that’s needed, whether you’re, you know, regardless of, um, being a female founder or not, it’s something that I think all founders go through, but yeah, it’s definitely part of the, part of the process that it’s, uh, uh, a ton of resilience is, is needed.
Jill: Absolutely. Now, before we go to our break, I’d love to touch on co founders. It’s something that you and I started to have a conversation on. It is something that I am looking to pursue, and I wanted to hear from you what that journey has been like about, you know, making the decision to basically rebuild your platform to Bring on co founder, co founders.
Jill: Tell me about that thought process and what has been some of the things that have been challenging for you or what kind of advice do you have for others myself about finding or deciding on to bring on co founders?
Olivia: Yeah. Yeah. Um, so I think for me, um, I’m a non technical founder, so. My background’s in product, product marketing and partnerships, so I’m not a coder.
Olivia: Um, and building a tech platform, like that’s not something that’s, you know, in my wheelhouse. Um, and so I think for me it was, it was always something where, you know, I knew that I needed a team to, to be able to create the vision that I had, um, and the company that I wanted to build. Like it’s not something that I, I know I could do on my own or that I would want to do on my own.
Olivia: So I think for me, you know, finding a team was always like, the, the natural goal. Um, but it’s, it’s definitely a journey. Like finding a co founder is like, it’s like getting married. It’s like, you know, dating and finding someone, you know, finding a partner that you want to spend every single day with and, you know, go through those highs and lows, um, and, you know, really be in the trenches and build something.
Olivia: Um, and it takes a lot of thought and effort and, um, you know, really understanding that person. And so for, for me, the journey, um, to find my co founders, I actually found out through the YC co founder matching program. Um, and so I have two co founders, one’s technical and one leads our sales. Um, and it was, It was a really awesome journey to find them.
Olivia: So I spent a lot of time doing co founder dating, like just doing coffee chats, meeting people, uh, really getting to know people. Um, but I think, you know, even before that, like going in, knowing what I wanted, like I knew I wanted someone technical because again, I’m not a coder. And I knew I wanted someone to lead our sales, um, because that’s not my domain expertise.
Olivia: And, um, I knew that someone could do it way better than I could. So that was kind of, you know, my goal going in is like, uh, figuring out like, where are the gaps in the team and what do you need? Um, and what do you want to solve for? And then what type of person are you looking for? Um, and so I think, you know, being really structured in the approach before you go in, uh, makes it a lot easier as you’re meeting people and really understanding like, is this a fit?
Olivia: Is this a Someone that, you know, could, could join the team. Would this be a good fit long term? Um, so I think really going in with a plan, um, is, is advice that I would give. Um, and so for me, I started chatting with a lot of people. I started asking founder friends, like, do you know anyone within your network?
Olivia: This is who I’m looking for. Like really tapping into a few communities YC co founder matching. Um, and I think it just takes a lot of conversations, like, um, you know, not just one time conversations like people that you’re talking to for months and months and months and really getting to know each other.
Olivia: And so I think I probably chatted with like a hundred different people. So it was, it was a lot of conversations. Yeah. It wasn’t just like, you know, a few people here and there. So, um, but sometimes you’ll know immediately, like, yes, this is a fit. No, this is not kind of thing. Um, and that’s okay. That’s, you know, better to, to know that.
Olivia: Um, because I think when you’re looking for a co founder, you have to align on so many different pieces. It’s like, are they excited about the product? Like, you know, do they, do they even care about the problem that you’re looking to solve? Like the product might deviate, but it’s, you know, really the, the core is like.
Olivia: Do they do they care about the problem that you’re looking to solve? Um, do they have the skills that you need? Um, are they the right fit personality wise? Like, do they want to build the same type of company? Maybe you want to bootstrap and they want to, you know, raise a whole bunch of money, or maybe, you know, they want to be super lean in terms of team size, but you want to hire a few people.
Olivia: So, you know, really, Okay. Making sure that, like, fundamentally the values align, um, I think is really, really important. Um, and so there’s so many different pieces that, that you have to align on that it, um, takes a lot of time to be able to find that right person. So, um, the more structured you could be and in your approach, I think, really is helpful.
Olivia: So again, figuring out exactly what you’re looking for. Um, who those people are. Um, just having a lot of conversations and really being like open and honest with what you’re looking for. So, you know, if you want to build a really large company, like, let that be known. You know, don’t, don’t hide conversations and, um, really try to be as open as possible because I think the more hard things you can talk about earlier, um, the better.
Olivia: Um, because, you know, Co founder relationships are tough, like building a startup is tough and, um, you know, these are going to be your partners. So, I think the harder conversations that you can have in the beginning, it’s like, you know, what type of equity are you looking for? Do you need a salary? What does that salary look like?
Olivia: You know, um, all of those tough conversations, I think you should really, really have early on. Um, because they are important, even if they’re, they’re challenging. Like these are the people that, you know, if they are your co founders, you’re going to be having even harder conversations. So, so definitely don’t shy away from, from any tough conversations.
Olivia: So that’s a few pieces of advice I would share of like how that journey looks for me. But, um, and another thing I’ll add is test a project with, um, with the people as well. So. Find a small piece of whatever you’re building and work on it together. So work on it for a couple of months or, you know, whatever that duration feels like the right, um, the right duration for you and your team, um, work on something together, meet up, set deliverables, work on a piece.
Olivia: Figure out how you work with each other. Like, is your communication style, does that work with theirs? Um, you know, are your expectations being met? Are you happy? Um, so I think that’s really important to like test the relationship, um, and really take your time with it. Like just, you know, make sure that, that you’re, um, Kind of taking it slow because it is such an important relationship.
Jill: So you have a co founder. How long did it take? Do you have one co founder or two?
Olivia: Yeah.
Jill: So I’m assuming one is a technical co founder and, and the other you said was, is it sales? Yes. Okay. And so how long did it take you to find that co those co founders? Like it, was it months, six months?
Olivia: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I would think it took about like.
Olivia: Four months or so, um, to have all of those like hundred conversations. Um, and then throughout that time, like I was getting to know each of them individually. And then when we were, you know, getting more serious and getting to know each other, then we started meeting together and getting to know the team and making sure that that was a team fit as well, because, you know, we might work well individually, but, um, it’s, you know, it’s a team that we’re, that we’re bringing on.
Olivia: So, um, then we started meeting as a team and testing things and doing projects together and. You know, really understanding how we work together. And so, um, it definitely took, you know, a few months. And I think that was quite intentional in this, in the search that, um, I wanted to give it time because I know that this is such a special relationship and it isn’t just, you know, someone that you’re going to work with for six months, like this is, you know, years in the making.
Olivia: Um, and so it takes time to develop that.
Jill: Excellent. I was going to ask you about whether or not the three of you actually ended up meeting. And did they also have your other two co founders? Did they also have sort of expectations for their relationship, not just with you, but with each other? Was there any, you know, dynamics there that, like, did they have their own process that they were also following?
Olivia: Yeah, and I think, yeah, that’s a great question. I think they were kind of following the same process, which is, you know, being really intentional with their search, like finding people that, you know, fit with their, their, that fit and aligned with their values of what they were looking to build, like, you know, um, Is it someone that I want to work with every single day?
Olivia: And, um, you know, is this someone that I can get along with? So, you know, really, I think they were also following their own process as well with each other. Um, and I think that’s, you know, definitely the best approach because it’s, there’s so many pieces that you have to align on. So it’s, um, it’s good to be really thoughtful and intentional about it.
Jill: Great insights. Thank you so much. I just love, I think we could talk forever, but we do have to take a break. When we get back, I’d love to dive into some insights that you could share with our listeners about, you know, how to elevate benefits, how to create those, that flexibility and value for employees.
Jill: I’d love to get into more of that. Um, but we’re going to take a quick break. And we will be right back. Just reminder to our listeners. If you have any questions, pop those into the comment section. If you’re watching from LinkedIn, YouTube, or Facebook, and we will try to get to those, um, after the break. So here we go.
Jill: Okay. We’re back with Olivia. So Olivia, let’s get into some tips for our listeners. Let’s talk about, um, your expertise around elevating that employee experience.
Olivia: Yeah, for sure. Um, and so with LIVD, uh, we’re all about personalization for employees. So, um, uh, a really big challenge right now for, for HR teams, um, is, um, how, how to provide options for, for their, their employees that, um, they truly value and that resonate with them.
Olivia: Um, and that they’ll feel appreciated. Um, and right now there’s, um, many different generations at work in the workforce. So with a multi generational workforce, I think that makes it even harder because, you know, uh, the benefits that, um, a millennial or Gen Z might appreciate differ from what a baby boomer, um, appreciates and what they’re looking for.
Olivia: So, um, with Liz. Where our platform is centered around personalization. So rather than HR deciding, you know what that right benefit is for each of those people within within their team, we flip the switch and give employees personalization for them to decide. So, you know, what well being and mindfulness might look like to you and to me is different, you know, for me, I might.
Olivia: Find, uh, comfort and, you know, getting a meal subscription kit and saving time because I might be busy and, you know, don’t have time to cook and, you know, for you, it could look like taking, you know, a mini vacation or, um, learning a new skill or, you know, learning a new instrument or whatever that looks like for you.
Olivia: Like, everyone has different preferences and tastes, um, and so our solution, uh, provides personalization for, for your team to choose.
Jill: And is there any engagement with your customers or the, um, the buy side? So the small businesses who are offering these fringe benefits, is there any, um, engagement process that you follow to work with them to help them determine the types of fringe benefits that their employees might be interested in?
Jill: Like, do they conduct surveys? How do they know that lived is the right platform and that their employees? What’s the process look like?
Olivia: Yeah, so as we’re going through the onboarding with the team, we definitely do a deep dive in what they’re looking for. You know, what are their challenges? What are they looking to solve for?
Olivia: Is it, you know, are they seeing people leaving their company? Are people dissatisfied? Are they looking to attract great hires? Like, you know, really understanding like what their goals are and what their challenges are and what they’re looking to do. And oftentimes it’s really just that they don’t know.
Olivia: That is trying to provide, um, platforms and programs for their employees, but it’s really difficult to manage, um, without a system in place and to try to, you know, manage different vendor relationships, you know, on the side of their desk as they’re, they’re dealing with onboarding or hiring or recruiting.
Olivia: Um, and so this is kind of, you know, one, one aspect of their job. Um, and so really understanding, you know, what the challenges are and then how our solution can help them, um, I think has been really key to, you know, making sure that that people have a really great experience with the solution.
Jill: And I think that’s that’s sort of key, right?
Jill: That, you know, creating that great experience and for. We’re both employers and I have a small team, but, you know, treating the employee as an individual with individual wants and needs and understanding and listening to them to understand what those are and how actually those fringe benefits may make their life better.
Jill: And I think just listening, um, and understanding and trying to really, Um, you know, connect with what is the whole employee, um, to give them everything they need to do their best work is probably a key for employers to understand. And of course, um, live, give them sort of that differentiation, that extra benefit.
Olivia: Um, what is really about, you know, supporting the, the whole, um, employee, um, when they’re at work and outside of work. And supporting their whole life.
Jill: And what has been the, the return on the investment that your small businesses has seen with the, um, implementation of LIVD within their, um, employee community?
Olivia: Yeah. So we’re seeing, um, really engaged, uh, workforce. Um, so we’re seeing happier employees, uh, employees that are really just excited to, to get their monthly stipend, to use it on something, to make their lives easier and better. So Um, and it really just sparks joy. Um, and so we’re really seeing, you know, um, continuous utilization, uh, for employees, you know, coming back, looking forward to using their sites and whether it’s on the same, you know, uh, uh, same benefit that they use the prior month or something new.
Olivia: Um, so really just exploring the platform and, you know, Finding ways that they can save time and make their lives a little bit, a little bit better.
Jill: And do employees get user ID and access to the platform so that they can actually see, you know, what kind of services are available on the marketplace? And do they have a, and like a spending account that they can, you know, do I want chewy this month or do I want massage therapy or something different?
Jill: How does, how does that whole process work?
Olivia: Yeah, so our solution is kind of in two components. So we have an HR admin portal, which is the day to day admin for like one to two users for, for HR, whether it’s a founder or an HR, um, team leader. Um, and so that’s the, the day to day logistics, um, for all of the employees that will be using the platform.
Olivia: Um, and then on the employee side, we have a mobile app. And so that’s where we have, um, our entire platform. And so all of the benefit offering.
Jill: So the benefit to the employer is you’re really doing so much of the heavy lifting for them then with regards to finding those fringe benefits services. They must love it.
Jill: I mean, I mean, I love,
Olivia: Yeah, so we, we remove a lot of the administrative burden. Um, and then we also give flexibility to employees to, to be able to have an open platform for them to pick and choose what they really care about. So to shop our platform, um, and find, um, that they’re interested in.
Jill: Awesome.
Jill: Congratulations. It’s so exciting to see what you’ve built and something that really offers incredible value, something that I know a lot of small and medium businesses struggle with. I mean, myself, I am a small business, but I also service the small and medium sized business space. And I know that it’s.
Jill: You know, recruiting and engaging and keeping employees who feel really appreciated and who are are high achievers. They need to be. They need to feel like they are appreciated and that the company isn’t just, you know, grinding away that they’re truly part of a team and that they are cared for. Yeah.
Olivia: Yeah. And I think it’s so important. You want to feel like your employer cares about you that You know, they, they want to reward and recognize your efforts, um, and you want to feel like you’re, you know, supported so that you can do your best work. Absolutely. Um, I love it. I can’t believe 45 minutes just flew by.
Jill: I think we could just awesome chatting with you. Fantastic. So, um, I just want to remind our listeners, um, if they, if they want to get ahold of you, how could you, how can they connect with you? Yeah, connect with me on LinkedIn. Yeah, send me a message. Um, that’s the best way to connect with me. Amazing. Thank you so much for joining me today, Olivia.
Jill: It’s been great to speak with you.
Olivia: Thank you so much for having me. It’s been great to, you know, chat all things marketplaces and um, running a startup. So yeah. Thanks. Thanks again for having me.
Jill: Thank you. All right, listeners, just as a reminder, if you’d like more information about The Entrepreneuring Show, you can visit us at www.theentrepreneuringshow.com.
Jill: If you would like to be a guest on the show, you can sign up at that address. And we will be happy to hear about your entrepreneurial journey. If you’re interested in joining the ProcureHub marketplace, you can visit us at www. procurehub. ca until next time entrepreneurs just keep swimming.