Editor’s note: The following guest post is by David Chase (@chasedave), the CEO of Avado, a healthcare startup that was one of the 30 Battlefield Finalists at Disrupt NYC last week.  Chase was going to publish this on his blog, but we asked him if we could post it here instead to share with everyone.  We didn’t attempt to correct any misconceptions in the post to keep it true to how Chase experienced the event. You can watch his presentation in the video at the bottom of this post

There are many local, regional and global startup competitions that startups can compete in. I’m a big believer in the value of these startup competitions for two big reasons—they are a great forcing function to ship your product and refine your ability to pitch your business. Even if you have no plans to raise money, you will have to pitch your business to achieve your goals.

My startup (Avado) is a Patient Relationship Management platform for health and wellness providers such as doctors, physical therapists, nurse practitioners, health coaches, physician assistants and personal trainers. We decided to pursue the opportunity to compete in the TechCrunch Disrupt startup competition. To my knowledge, it is the most competitive and well-attended startup competition even though I perceived it to be more oriented towards “fun” technology.  Though there’s a consumer aspect to Avado, the primary initial focus is on the B2B aspect (the consumer side has a Connected Health Record that is akin to a Mint/Quicken for healthcare) whereas a large percentage of the Disrupt competitors are only consumer-focused.

Each startup competition has its own selection process. In the case of TechCrunch Disrupt, a triumvirate of Erick Schonfeld (Co-editor of TechCrunch), Heather Harde (CEO) and Michael Arrington (Founder) evaluates the companies after they have winnowed down the first list of companies. My understanding is that two out of the three of them need to greenlight a company to be a finalist. During the course of the TechCrunch Disrupt event, Michael referred a couple times to Erick Schonfeld veto’ing a company. It wasn’t clear whether that was a joke or not, but he appeared to be serious.

We were fortunate to be one of the startups that made the first cuts. The next step was to schedule a demo with Erick. We scrambled to pull together what we thought was a coherent flow. Following the demo, Erick asked some questions regarding our business model and the product. At the end, I asked him for his frank feedback as this was one of our first demos so I knew it was pretty rough. He gave me some very useful feedback. At the end of the call, he said we would hear from someone to schedule a demo with Mike or Heather.

With the benefit of hindsight, my hunch is that the fact that we were very coachable and significantly improved our demo and story-telling was a factor in making us a finalist. The next demo was with Heather (also via the phone/screenshare). I took her through the updated demo and it followed a similar process as my call with Erick. At that point, we were told that we’d hear in a couple days if we’d made it to the finals. As it turned out, it took almost a week.

We received the news we’d been selected via email which, of course, we were elated to receive. The next step was to schedule a visit where we’d receive more formal, face-to-face coaching on our presentation and we’d also incorporate more about our business model and go-to-market plans. My impression is the focus that Erick, Heather and Mike have at this point shifts from a weed-out mentality to a coaching mentality as they want to have as high quality an event as possible. When I took Heather through our presentation/demo, it went ten and a half minutes (vs. the 6 minute target). Since we had a relatively complex product and a dual customer (healthcare provider and consumer), she actually suggested we flip the order around in our scenario to lead with the doctor and then review the patient side of the equation. Her feedback was invaluable to tightening up our presentation. We subsequently took her through a revised presentation/demo that fit well within the 6-minute limit.

From there, it was time for the final preparations and travel to New York. They suggest that one person “drive” the demo while the other person speaks. At that point, I needed to coordinate with my co-founder, Bassam Saliba, so that we were in sync for the demo. We did several practices before we felt satisfied with our synchronization. We also took the precautionary measure of doing screen captures of all of our demo in the event of connectivity issues.

Once we arrived in New York, we went through the scheduled technical run-through on stage. We also found out we were in the second day of “Battlefield” presentations. They grouped the startups into groups of similar companies (e.g., search, location, etc.). We were in the “Disrupting the Real World” group. From reading the program, I was able to review who our judges would be but it turned out two of the four couldn’t make it—I think it had something to do with the Icelandic volcano. One who didn’t make it was Beth Comstock who is GE’s CMO which was unfortunate since GE has a big medical division. I was hoping for someone with domain knowledge since it’s challenging for judges without any domain knowledge to judge whether a B2B startup in an unfamiliar vertical market is taking a sound approach or not.

Finally our time to present came. As fate would have it, our DNS provider decided to play mind games with us. Literally while the company before us was presenting, our site became unavailable which we learned when one of the guys back at the office texted us that there were issues. I had mentally prepared for something like that to happen so I wasn’t too worried. Bassam’s PC was already on stage so he couldn’t test it. Fortunately, I had mine and quickly fired it up. To our pleasant surprise, I was able to get to the site so we rushed from backstage with a minute or two to spare.

You can be the judge of how well we did (see Avado is the Mint for your Personal Health Records. or the video below) but we were generally pleased with how things went. After our presentation, the judges had 6 minutes to ask me questions. I thought all of the questions were reasonable. The main thread of questions were around the dual customer (i.e., patients and providers) approach since that adds complexity and generally startups should focus as much as possible.

The final comment and question came from Bijan Sabet of Spark Capital. He made the point that he didn’t understand why a problem as big as the issue in healthcare we were addressing hadn’t been resolved yet. Bijan followed that with a suggestion/critique that he thought we should just start with the consumer and that would drive the change. While I thought I had a decent response (we are focusing on partnerships with health-related non-profits that span both patient and provider), I kicked myself later for not having the better response. That is, the response to his comment that he was surprised it hasn’t been solved is the very fact that parties have tried to solve either the doctor side or the patient/consumer side but no one had tackled the bridge between the two. The takeaway for other startups is that you can’t anticipate every question so the sooner you start putting yourself out for critique and feedback, the better. Thanks to Bijan’s comment, I believe we can turn what may have been viewed as a weakness into one of our key points of differentiation and strength.

As it turned out, we were part of the group that had the eventual winner (Getaround). They generally picked one company from each of the groups to present on the final day of the event. I predicted from the moment I saw Getaround that they’d be the winner. They had the perfect mix of a tight presentation/demo, they were very well resourced (they’d already received significant funding—enough to ship a Tesla from San Francisco to New York!) and were very similar to a deal that got away from some of the judges (AirBnB). It was fun to see their excitement winning. We felt like we won the minute we found out we were a finalist. While hardly a guarantee of success, winning or being a finalist in any startup competition is a nice seal of approval that can help the business. The coverage we got from the tech and venture capital publications such as TechCrunch, VentureBeat and GeekWire were terrific, since we’ll be fundraising in the future. The VentureBeat coverage was a total surprise.

Would I do it again? No question.

With DryerBro you put your iPhone or iTouch on your laundry machine and it texts you and the remaining members of your laundry party when your laundry’s done. I’m thinking this is going to be HUGE. I mean Facebook took off at colleges right?

Once set up, DryerBro uses an accelerometer and Twilio to send a SMS, email or call to multiple phones when your unmentionables are ready to be picked up.

Says creator Eric Kerr, “We live in a house with 11 dudes, and we’re seriously unorganized about laundry. We all want to use the machine on the weekends, but no one ever knows when the last load was done. It bothered me as hackers that we had the tools (accelerometer, Twilio) to solve the problem, but didn’t do anything about it.”

So they built DryerBro. “We originally looked to see if an app already used the accelerometer to detect when your laundry is done but we couldn’t find anything – it’s a blue ocean strategy,” he says.

Kerr and company are completely ridiculous, but their thing apparently works. When asked about future plans for DryerBro he told TechCrunch:

“Ultimately we want to build out a hyper-local group buying ad platform for laundry detergents. Rough back of the napkin calculations indicate that we’d need roughly $41 million in financing, so we’re asking friends and family to help pony up the dough. We also want to build out the map of every active dryer in the world to hang on the wall of our office.”

Both the DryerBro FAQ and Promo video are awesome. You can download the iPhone app here. Promo video below.

Well, someone might want to tell the Seattle office that.

On the jobs page for the relatively new Seattle Facebook office, one of the openings is for “Software Engineer, Desktop Software”. Desktop software. Desktop. Before the damn iPad. Hey Facebook, 1986 called, they want their strategic vision back.

Seriously though, this isn’t just one engineer they’re looking for to work on fun products (like the nifty, but experimental Mac Desktop Notifications app), this is an entire team they’re building. Again, to work on desktop apps. The job description:

The desktop software team is a new team at Facebook based out of Seattle, WA. We will be working on new products that we expect to deliver to millions of users’ computers to help make their entire computing experience more social. Facebook is seeking experienced Software Engineers in Seattle to join this team.

The job asks for expertise in creating desktop applications for Mac and/or Windows (Linux fans can now revolt as well).

Other responsibilities include:

• Work closely with our product and design teams to define feature specifications
• Work closely with our Platform team to build server-side APIs and interfaces in support of these applications
• Conduct design and code reviews

Is Facebook actually building a full-fledged desktop app? If so, that’s awesome. But again, it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense given their stated (over and over again) commitment to HTML5 and that being the key driver for why they don’t have an iPad app.

Of course, I also don’t believe that they’re not actually building an iPad app. I think they just thought they could get away with not building one (remember “the iPad isn’t mobile” — but the desktop is?) and only more recently realized they should probably be on the fastest growing new computing platform in history.

And then there’s the Facebook Phone project. Which totally doesn’t exist. Double pinkie swear (with fingers crossed behind the back).

Or might this be about the Facebook Browser that I’ve been thinking about for a while? That might actually make a lot of sense.

Interesting times for the social network. I just better see that damn iPad app before I see a desktop client.

The team behind VANDEYK is a handpicked brigade of experienced experts in fields as diverse as design, handmade bicycle frame building, photography and writing – a crew of likeminded bel-esprits which all have a proven track record working for major international brands. Along with creative and design excellence, the bicycles are devotedly handbuilt by one of the best European framebuilders, who has also been Senior engineer at SRAM, developing major parts of the shifting system in the Tour de France, finishing 1st and 2nd in 2010.

Designer: VANDEYK Contemporary Cycles

———-

Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store – We are about more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the YD Store!

Life for a designer is not about bake sales where the community pitches in and buys a slice of gooey cake to support some loopy design. It’s a bit more realistic, however the principles remain the same. We have the cause: Independent Design; we have the means: crowdfunding platform like CKIE; the only missing piece to the puzzle is community support.

Tell me, have you not experienced the frustrations of not raising enough funds for project or your resources running short? I recollect reading about this documentary director who had two well-placed backers, pulling the plug at the last moment and his project being shelved. A simple blogpost on his site updating his family and friends about his predicament set the wheels of change in motion. Pretty soon the funds came pouring in and now his film is produced and showcased to packed houses.

CKIE is a voice for independent designers who want to reach out and appeal to design advocates and seek their support through pledges. Right now three fantastic projects coming to their end, The  Slurp Mug, the CDBrace and the Kelli Mink Ping-pong Paddle Case. Each one is unique in their own way and do full justice to independent design thinking.

First we have the Slurp Mug, a very kitsch way of drinking your beverage. The pitch is about a unique design that is crafted using traditional Greek ceramic techniques. A craft that is slowly fading away! As designers and a community that loves modern design, don’t you think it’s worth supporting this medium that is traditional yet blended with modern appeal? The project goes off CKIE in three days, so now will be a good time to pledge your support and pre-order the mug.

The CDBrace offers a new way to carry your MacBook in style and keeps in line with the minimal design sensibility that is synonymous with Apple. For as little as $5, you can pre-order a CDBrace and own a great, useful product. The project ends in four days and if you think you can take charge and support the future of innovation, then go ahead and make your pledge here.

I must admit that the Kelli Mink is my most favorite project on CKIE, and I’m not even a ping-pong fan! The reason why I support this project is that, designer Pam Schriever has found a very clever way using up the leather of an old couch. Sure, she could have used it to design a purse or a bag, but then we wouldn’t have got this superb ping-pong paddle case. Plus it’s not about what I think; it’s about her independent design will! Anyways, her project ends in five days, so think about it. It’s a green cause and a heck of a design, win-win! Make a pledge!

Actually don’t do too much thinking, just take it as a sign of karma vs karma and help your kin. Support Independent Design, if you don’t then who will! Just stay United.

———-

Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store – We are about more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the YD Store!

4 Main Components to the Design

Tent – Flat pack system to create awareness of the toilet and privacy. Privacy is an issue a lot of existing toilet solutions do not meet. The back of the tent has an opening where the user can pull the cart out to drop off the waste.

The static toilet – The toilet is a quick to put together and is 18″ high. It can be put together with no instructions and any one in country can easily assemble it. As well the toilet can also accommodate individuals squatting if they wish to stand up on the toilet.

The Cart – The cart is designed for the user to easily relocate the biodegradable bag of waste and simple discard it in a pit. The cart is designed to be put together by using 10 slot head screws that can also be put together using a butter knife or a coin.

The Biodegradable Bag – A Bag for the waste collection that can be buried.

Use Cycle

• The flat pack toilet system is shipped with other care/aid supplies following a natural disaster
• Once on site the package will be opened.
• The tent is first put together
• The static toilet is quickly put together
• The wheels are added to the cart and put together.
• Place a biodegradable bag onto the cart
• Individuals can start using the toilet

User Cycle

• The user opens the tent
• Uses the toilet
• Once the biodegradable bag is relatively full, from the back of the tent the user must open the back of the tent
• Pull out the cart
• Pull the drawstring and release the bag to sit on the bottom of the cart
• Push the cart to a designated location to drop the biodegradable bag of waste into a pit
• Bury the pit with the waste
• Bring the cart back to the toilet
• And repeat

Designer: Rahim Bhimani

———-

Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store – We are about more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the YD Store!

Designer: Peter Copenhaver

———-

Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store – We are about more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the YD Store!

Powered by a 370 hp inboard engine, the tender will be able to achieve a maximum speed around 40 knots and a cruising speed of 35 knots.

Designer: KEYFRAMEStudio

———-

Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store – We are about more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the YD Store!

The canopy of the bandstand consists of a PVC mesh that is tensioned and attached to a steel ring using the design principals of a trampoline. To introduce the maypole element of the design, a giant column rises from the stage, running past an oculus in the canopy to reach its overall height of 8m. To add to the playful and iconic nature of the design, colored webbing straps splay outward to the canopy’s edge, twisting and crossing each other as they pull in to meet the center of the stage. In doing so, the tensioned straps hold the canopy in place via compression. The composition of the straps was designed with children in mind, allowing them to play safely whilst they pull on, climb over and run in and out of them.

Photography and video by Jim Stephenson

Designers: Mark Warren, Digory Macfarlane, Tim Coles, Alex Scott-Whitby, Carla Smyth, and Huw Trevorrow

Southbank Bandstand, London from Jim Stephenson on Vimeo.

———-

Yanko Design
Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
Yanko Design Store – We are about more than just concepts. See what’s hot at the YD Store!

While Baitr didn’t win the TC Disrupt Hackathon, it did win the minds and hearts of those in attendance who have a tendency towards black humor. Baitr, a Launchrock-type viral launch page that does nothing but visualize your email falling into the abyss, isn’t at all useful. But it is funny.

Says creator Peter Watts, “Launchrock is good for entrepreneurialism but it’s also bad [for users] because you sign up for these services, and then you never hear back from them.” Watts hopes that his hack will encourage startups to do something more productive with their beta sign up page.

“All these people are driving to a page, willing to give their email,” says Watts. “Once you have their email, maybe ask them some questions or engage with them? There’s so much more you can do.”

Ironically enough, Watts said that he too would use a Launchrock page if he were launching a startup. I guess parody, not imitation, is the sincerest form of flattery.

Watch the interview with Peter Watts below and read more about TechCrunch Disrupt NYC here.