This is an older site post from 2013- It is the 5th Anniversary of this adventure.
After I was invited to apply for a position on StartupBus 2013, I immediately did the research and said, “Why wouldn’t I do this?!” 25 strangers- creating a company in 72 hours- on a bus to Austin, TX; it was the very thing I needed. My career, up to this point, had been an exciting and diverse one, but I needed a little jolt to change my mental dynamic and this seemed like the perfect experience to take me out of my comfort zone- completely- and I wasn’t wrong.
I found out that I was accepted at 3:00 p.m. on a Friday and had to be on the bus at 8:00 a.m. Sunday. My first challenge in mental dynamic testing was… spontaneity. I quickly packed a host of electronics, power cords, power strips, emergen-C packets and a bottle of Jameson.
I stepped on the bus and immediately noted youth and men. Our bus had 25 competitors, six female and 19 men…not bad I thought, until I pondered this again (gender and age), much later in San Antonio, TX. I took my seat and waited for the festivities to begin. We took off for our first stop, Sproutbox in Bloomington, Indiana– a 6 hour drive, in which transpired, 25 personal introductions, about 20 company ideas- which led to the formation of six teams, six company names, securing urls and the beginning of sites, apps, equity plans and yes, a pitch. Our first was miserable…
We wanted to fix health care in 72 hours, but knew we needed an MVP- so we choose prescription drugs and created MyBestRx- a cross platform robust app to assist consumers in the prescription drug marketplace.
Next stop, MyEmma- in Nashville, TN and again, we pitched…and again we received constructive criticism, new ideas and support. We worked through the night perfecting our pitch, while continuing with the site, the app and our media plan. After 3 hours sleep we were on the road again- headed for New Orleans.
Unbeknown to all of us on the Midwest bus (as well as the bus from Miami and New York), New Orleans was hosting a national medical convention, 30,000 doctors- who occupied every hotel, motel, B&B, vrbo.com and airbnb.com space available- so they put us in the next best place…St. Vincent’s hostel / homeless shelter. This structure of a very colorful and mixed history was ours for the night. St. Vincent’s was once a orphanage and it seemed fitting that its service of “taking care” of people, would now take care of us now. I can’t say the few hours we slept there were pleasurable, as we tackled 40 people in one room of bunk beds and 35 in another, with no blankets, flying cockroaches, unpleasant cold, face to face toilets, the trauma of a fellow female competitor’s top bunk crashing down upon the young man below and a cacophony of snoring…but it was a bonding experience and will always be a great story. After a few hours of sleeping with one eye open, one of my teammates suggested we spring for a massage, instead of breakfast, so we could get a shower…brilliant.
We found a spa nearby which only had one appointment. I let my teammate take it, but the women working there, took one look at me- and with New Orleans hospitality, said “honey you look like you could use a shower and some tea?” I did. They led me to a wonderful room, much like a slate shower in Costa Rica and let me wash off my weariness in the heat of the calming water and the aroma of my Earl Grey tea. I was revived and ready to kick some butt.
We boarded the bus once again, for a longer journey to San Antonio Texas. Working on a computer, while jumping around at 60 MPH, with intermittent internet and the lingering “aroma” of that unventilated bathroom had become the norm for us. We were also getting to know one another. We had worked, slept, drank, laughed and shared these days with strangers, now new friends. Who knows what would happen in the next few days with our projects. Some might take off, get funded, grow and prosper and some might fail, miserably. Some of us might remain friends and some of us might be glad the whole thing was finally over, but for right now, in this moment…Maclamore was playing and we were all singing, “this is a f&^*%n awesome!”
We arrived at Rack Space, a sponsor of the competition, based in San Antonio, Texas and the welcoming made me a little teary eyed. They had scores of workers linked up to cheer us all into the building- every last one of us from the Midwest, San Francisco, New York, Miami and Mexico City High fives and hugs, as we rounded the hallway to the main event. Everyone quickly grabbed tables, chairs and power outlets to continue working. This is when I really absorbed the “youth and men” comment I had made earlier. Out of the 150 competitors, there were about 25-30 women, a majority of young men between 19 and 35 and two gray hairs…one was Andy, my team member who was in his late 40’s and me, freshly 50 and the oldest competitor in the room. The reality of that moment didn’t deflate me, it just inspired and motivated me even more. People were beginning to break down…headaches, head colds, sore throats, digestive issues, bruised egos and broken teams- including our own. This was THE day, the day of the competition and one of my team members quit. We were presenting in less than a few hours. We had lived through some truly challenging moments and questionable situations and I thought, “now you quit?” I found myself saying things like “get it together, do it for the team and grow a pair”, but ultimately I wanted to do well, so I walked on, told the team and we moved on- with eyes on the prize.
When we started this whole thing, our team’s pitch went from miserable to much improved, but on this day, it was flawless and I couldn’t have been prouder. We started the day with drama, moved on to an amazing rendition of “I Am So Proud” from Gilbert & Sullivan’s, the Mikado (that’s another story) and then kicked some venture capital seeking butt. We were done and now we waited.
StartupBus 2013 saw 36 companies present in San Antonio. MidwestBus team, NextChaptr came in second and CareerMob from New York came in first, but the MyBestRx team- we did really well and still had a chance of making it- as a wildcard- to the All Star Finals at SXSW. Immediately after announcing the two top teams, we rallied in a corner, came up with our online competition and media strategy. We boarded the buses for Austin and executed, executed and executed. We spent the next 24 hours trying to amass the points we needed to make the All Star Finals.
We arrived in Austin, TX, beaten, tired and “loving it.” We were able to get a few extra hours of sleep and started the next day, running, albeit slowly. We wouldn’t know if we made it into the All Star Finals until 4PM so we divided the workload and looked for quiet places (with electric) in which to work. I dare anyone to find this place- in Austin, TX, during SXSW, but my team member Andy, isn’t just anyone…he’s a genius and we found the John Henry Faulk Public Library. Booyha! The other guys found a second floor balcony patio in a hotel and a living room in a friend’s house and at 4:00 p.m., the email came and we were in!
We had become a real company…an idea, a name, a website and an app- along with-personality conflicts, drama, disgruntled employees, arguments, chaos, fun, laughter, drinking, losses and wins- in now, 96 hours. We presented again at the StartupBus All-Star Finals in front of an esteemed panel of VC judges and we did well, but most importantly, we had fun. We returned the next day to our respective homes….exhibited, exhausted and exhilarated.
Note: Upon return, MyBestRx was incorporated in Delaware, the app is in development, we’ve got some good press and have entered numerous funding competitions…the journey continues!
Note: I presented as CEO at TechCocktail and featured in Crains Chicago Business
A World of Endless Possibilities 