Austin Meacham
Welcome to the Atlanta Startup Podcast. I’m Austin Meacham, an associate for Valor Ventures and a co-host for today’s Atlanta Startup Podcast. I’m joined by my co-host, Bryanna Barnett, also an associate for Valor Ventures. We’re joined by an amazing entrepreneur, Candice Blacknall, co-founder and CEO of Gaba, Inc. Candice was part of our ninth cohort of Startup Runway as a finalist. She’s an incredible person and we’re really lucky to have her. Candice, thanks for being here [today]. Could you please share what you do and why you do it?
Candice Blacknall
Yeah, absolutely. Gaba matches medical training to study tools. It came about as a result of my co-founder Chima Odinkemere’s experience as a medical student. Medical school hasn’t changed very much in the last twenty years but the requirements to pass national exams have gotten really, really tough. Medical students typically use a lot of third-party study tools to help prepare them for their exams. Unfortunately, there are a ton of those. It’s really hard to figure out which of them will be effective. Gaba came out of wanting to leverage some of the work that Chima and I had done over the past three years helping medical students navigate this system and also some of the research and data that we had acquired over the course of that time to help them pick study tools that will really be effective for their goals.
Austin Meacham
That’s really amazing that you guys are doing that. I’m curious how many customers you guys currently have?
Candice Blacknall
So far, we have two beta testers, which is really exciting for Gaba. We’re only two months old? Well, actually, we’re three months old now. A little over 200 users on the prototype And so the two beta testers came from those 200 users. In the next coming week, we’ll be migrating everyone over to the new platform. This is exciting and hopefully has a lot more feedback. But so far, nothing but great rave reviews on what we’re doing. So that’s really motivated, especially for us having such a personal connection with the problem itself.
Austin Meacham
That’s really awesome to hear. As I said before, you’re a finalist for Startup Runway’s ninth cohort. I’m curious, what has Startup Runway done for you? And why would you recommend it to some other founders?
Candice Blacknall
Yeah, so I thought it was really, really helpful. The mock board in particular was a highlight experience. I have run board meetings before I sat on the board for nonprofit here in Atlanta, but never a board meeting for a company. I found out really quickly, it’s not totally different, it’s kind of the same language, maybe a little less formal with the rules and all of that. I thought that was super, super important. So I imagined for a founder, who maybe hasn’t sat on a board, or maybe this is their first venture, that that would be hugely, hugely important in terms of like, where they’re going to go and what’s expected of them as a CEO and how they’re going to serve their company.
Bryanna Barnett
That’s incredible to hear you about your experiences with Startup Runway and some of the insights that you took from that. I was wondering, was the virtual pitch event better or worse for you?
Candice Blacknall
I don’t know. Yeah, I don’t necessarily have a ton of previous experience. My first venture I was self-funded so going into the VC and pitching world is very new. I’m learning and growing as I grow with Gaba. All of my pitches so far have been virtual. I will say that I did quite a bit of pitching and kind of executive pitching as part of my MBA for Case Competition. It does help to be in person so that you can get those questions right away and clarify anything that may have been missed, or maybe expound on some messaging if necessary. I will say comparing it to that it’s different. I think that’s the cool thing about being virtual is you get such a diversity of talent. People from all over the world and from all different backgrounds that are able to attend whereas if you have to have people come in, you know, physically be there, and sometimes just traveling can be a barrier.
Austin Meacham
I’m curious about your stance with our Startup Runway virtual pitch event. What exactly did we share with you that that sort of landed and really resonated with you?
Candice Blacknall
That’s a really good question. I don’t know that I can think of one specific thing that was shared that was particularly resonant. I think anytime you have an opportunity to sit with people that have more experience in space than you do is always enlightening. I think just hearing kind of their journey to where they are and what they look for was really valuable.
Bryanna Barnett
Sounds great. What kind of customers are you looking for at this stage in developing Gaba?
Candice Blacknall
We cater to medical students and pre-medical students. As we scale, there will then be nurses, physician assistants, residents, and fellows. So right now, we’re really focusing at home with medical students and pre-medical students. So if any of those individuals are listening to this, and/or university presidents come our way, because you’re the kind of people we want to talk to.
Austin Meacham
I’m curious as a medical student yourself, what do you think are the pain points as far as studying for medical school are?
Candice Blacknall
Oh my gosh, just figuring out what works is terrible. Medical School is one of those really high pressure, high stakes, environments, and environments where you have to learn a lot of information in a very, very short amount of time. You have to also then figure out what you need to learn that information, then it was super hard [because there] isn’t enough time in one day. Medical students often find that 25th hour, and it really is like, you’re up early in the morning, you’re going to bed very late. I know there were times when I hit four and five hours of sleep and that was it. That was for months and months on end. Between just figuring out what works and how to best tackle and manage the curriculum, there are also controlling the cost of all of that. Medical education has gotten super expensive and the support for funding medical education has not grown in direct proportion to the costs. All of these study tools, and these third party things that you buy, they really give yourself a competitive edge, [they] come out of [your own] pocket. I’ve spent anywhere from $2-3,000 on study resources at that point. That’s not including the cost of my actual examinations which are my step two [and it] was $2,000. My step one, I think was close to, if not, $1,000. All of this cost adds up and it factors into a huge, huge loan burden at the end of your four years of medical school.
Bryanna Barnett
Wow, it’s amazing to hear some of the particular pain points that medical students have been going through, and then coming from, a very unique background of having done this and much, much more. It’s great that you can personally connect to your customer base. Something that I’m interested in knowing more about is obviously we know that this is something you’ve been through. But during those tough times of building out your product and selling it to people in multiple ways, what kind of drives you to keep going and pushing forward?
Candice Blacknall
I have the most phenomenal team. One thing I took away from my first time being an entrepreneur is how important it is to build a team and build a community of support around you. And this time, I really made that my priority. I mean, if there’s anything that I spend more time on other than running the businesses, curating the culture of Gaba. My co-founder and I have worked together for five years at this point. We kind of read each other’s thoughts, I mean, you get to a point where you can kind of anticipate the other person’s emotions. I think having supportive people around you both in your team that speaks to what you’re doing and remind you of why this is important if you ever get lost but also has a very personal tie to the customers that you’re intending to serve really does help. There are some long days. I tell people all the time, being a founder gets this very glamorous, glossy appeal in pop culture, but it is a lot of work. My days sometimes don’t end until 2 am. But having a team that I know is right, working right along with me, and knowing that we have the potential to have such a positive impact really does motivate me at the end of every day or the beginning of every morning, depending on how you look at it.
Austin Meacham
I’m curious, what are some pieces of advice you’d have for other founders as far as creating and curating that support network you reference?
Candice Blacknall
Be proactive. I think founders kind of get trained to be proactive about raising funds and building the product. But really be proactive also about the way you build the community that is around you and think about what you really need and what you really value in a community. There are a lot of founder communities out there, and there are a lot of organizations to be a part of, naturally, I guess you could be a part of all of them. You should really think about, “What are my weaknesses? What are my strengths? What is the community that I can contribute to?” And then, “What are the kinds of people that I’m going to need around me, not just what can they do for me from a skill standpoint, and as an advisor, or mentor, but what kind of human traits are really going to help me go the distance?” Because at the end of the day, a person can be a brilliant, former CFO and sit with you as an advisor in that capacity, but maybe they’re not the best at coaching. You’re really speaking to the heart of what you’re going through. And that is going to be what makes or breaks you. At the end of the day, it’s whether or not you have the internal fortitude to really push through.
Austin Meacham
Definitely. I personally believe that having a support network, as you said, is incredibly important. And a lot of that has to do with finding the right mentors. Are there any specific mentors that really helped you along your journey?
Candice Blacknall
Yeah, so many. So many that I won’t even list one, because that would be insulting to all of them. I don’t want to leave anyone out. I’ve had mentors in every area of my professional journey and they are the reason why I’ve been able to have such diverse experience and why I’ve been able to accomplish as much as I have in such a short time in my career. I like to tell people that you have mentors for various things in your life. So don’t be afraid to change, to grow, to disconnect to reconnect. And if those mentors are really invested in who you are becoming and all of your potential, they’ll understand. They’ll support you when you change your mind and when you make mistakes. When you commit to a vision and a dream, and then you change that vision and dream, they’ll be there and they’ll help you. If they’re not the right person for you, they’ll help you get to the person that is.
Bryanna Barnett
I love to hear that.
Austin Meacham
In terms of mentoring your own team and services to facilitate your own guidance for the people you’re in charge of, what is your favorite piece of advice to give to different people?
Candice Blacknall
Gosh, that makes me wish I had asked somebody this morning during our team meeting. I emphasize that we are a human company first. So I always tell my team, “Hey, if you can’t bring your best self because there’s something going on, definitely let us know because we’re here to support one another, but also prioritize who you are. Don’t feel like you’re being human, and having things go wrong, especially right now in a pandemic.” We’ve had members of our team lose their jobs, and members of our team have very serious things that change their life status. I try to encourage my team not just to be good teammates or good employees, but also to be healthy people. I like to tell them, “Hey, if there’s something going on, take care of yourself, prioritize your wellness, because, at the end of the day, you can’t bring your best self to Gaba if you haven’t done that.”
Bryanna Barnett
Yeah, I think that’s something that we can all really take in at this time and that we can all relate to, with everything that’s going on. I think even to build upon that I would love to hear you know, right now, or just at any part of the journey so far of building out Gaba and being a founder what have been some of your favorite parts that you really enjoyed about this process?
Candice Blacknall
Yeah, probably all the amazing stories that I’ve heard from other founders. I am blown away by the things that people are coming up with and creating solutions for. That has been really inspirational, but I’ve really enjoyed hearing and even sharing some setbacks, and some failures and challenges along the way. It makes you feel like you’re not alone. I think there’s a lot to be gained from a community of setback even as you build your community where you can celebrate your win. Okay, does that answer your question? I feel like it doesn’t really answer your question.
Bryanna Barnett
No, I mean, obviously, we all have equal perspectives but I love to hear that as an aspiring, aspiring founder later on in my journey. I’d love to hear just how long. It really is a community. I think a lot of people enjoy hearing that insight, that this is a group of people coming together to empower one another and solve problems. That’s amazing to hear. This has just been a great time to speak with you today and hear more about where you’re at currently with Gaba and the things that you’re building and you’re doing. We’re super proud of having had the opportunity to have you as part of our Startup Runway ninth cohort. This has been a great time. We hope to hear from you soon and hear about the wonderful things that you’re bringing about and doing with your organization in the near future here.
Candice Blacknall
Absolutely. Thank you all so much for having me. It’s been a pleasure. And good luck on your venture. Make sure you laugh a lot, okay?
Bryanna Barnett
Thank you so much.
Austin Meacham
Thanks so much.
Candice Blacknall
No problem. Thank you all.
Lisa
The Atlanta Startup Podcast is produced by Valor Ventures as a service to the startup and investor community. We couldn’t do it without the support of our sponsors–Atlanta Tech Park, the global innovation center, and Write2Market, Atlanta’s favorite tech, and healthcare marketing firm. If you’d like to get your information on the Atlanta Startup Podcast, our share a message with our listeners, visit us online and check out our affordable rate card. All advertisements here are tax-deductible donations to the Startup Runway Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is connecting underrepresented founders to their first investor.
