The Birth of a Startup
“February 9, 2024 at 2:15 p.m., I gave him a call,” Jamie recounts, the way parents recall their babies being born. It was, similarly, the birth of an idea: the call was the first step in establishing the startup they would come to call Liife.
“We were working with multiple tech companies and we realized there was a gap in the solution for healthcare: identification,” Jamie explains. “One thing I didn’t know the answer to – having a concept is one thing, but having something that can be pretty substantial in securing someone’s security and identity is crucial.” He describes himself as a “right brain” or creative-minded person who relies on Aaron’s “left brain” analytical side to bring structure to his vision.
Luckily, Aaron was the perfect person to be on the other end of the call. He responded by saying he just so happened to have a provisional patent – and the technology behind it could become the foundation of the security feature of protecting someone’s identity.
“Truly identifying who someone is has the potential to do many things,” explains Jamie about the underlying technology. “It can provide cost savings for the entire ecosystem of healthcare.”
Why does identity verification end up saving money? Namely, fraud and inefficiency. Fraud is a big problem with medical identification: experts say medical records are worth more than ten times as much as credit card numbers on the black market.
A solution that solves this problem may sound like an obvious win, but the Liife team met with experts to make sure their idea had merit. Although the duo felt their solution was promising, they knew to be cautious in their excitement.
“We engaged with multiple stakeholders in the healthcare continuum to validate that no one else was addressing this specific need. We met with Dr. Adam Glasofer whose response was, ‘You’ve got to do it. Not only do you have to do it, I’ll be happy to help you along the way,’” remembers Jamie.
The duo continued to do their due diligence – making sure there was a real need and a receptive market for their product.
“We were waiting for people to tell us ‘Yeah, that’s a dumb idea,’ but no one said that,” recalls Aaron of their customer discovery process. “Instead, they encouraged us to do it. We got to the point when there were no more excuses: we had to do Liife. We didn’t start out trying to do this, but we uncovered a major problem and couldn’t find someone to solve it.”
Building to Change Lives
“We realized we were building a multidomain technology – and that there’s multiple industries that would benefit from our product beyond healthcare. It truly has created a ‘life’ of its own. We say that in pun,” explains Jamie.
Having the potential to service multiple industries helps reduce risk for the startup – multiple use cases mean a greater potential user base and more customers, which has more appeal to investors.
In addition to their proprietary patent pending technology, Liife relies on the use of advanced cryptographic to uniquely identify people.
“It’s really going to drive down costs for a lot of stakeholders. We get really excited, because we didn’t just build for now: we’re trying to future proof the technology,” notes Jamie.
Of course – as with any startup worth its salt – there were some road bumps along the way.
“It was tough in the beginning to learn how to raise money,” explains Jamie, recalling a particularly difficult day of fundraising. They contemplated whether or not the startup was the right path for them. After sleeping on it, Jamie came to the conclusion that what they were developing was truly game-changing - and the only way they could have the impact they wanted was if they kept moving forward. He said to Aaron, “That’s it: we’re helping people, this is going to really change people’s lives.” And he replied: “I had the same feeling last night.’”
“When you start out, there has to be a reason that drives you to do something,” adds Aaron. “It sounds cliché but you have to have that, and in the darkest times and the toughest times, that’s what’s kept us going.”
It’s clear that the pair are deeply committed to what they’re doing – and this is what finally got the ball rolling on funding. “We always cared about what we did, and that started to resonate more. Forget the technology – they wanted to hear more about why we were doing it, and it became a thing,” he explains.
Choosing Philly’s Energy, and Arriving at the Science Center
Philadelphia wasn’t the original home of their startup: instead, it was the temporary meeting place with Aaron coming down from North Jersey, and Jamie commuting from his home across the bridge in South Jersey. Very quickly, though, they realized that the city’s lively tempo was a good match for their momentum.
“We felt there was an energy and vibe in the city that allowed us to accelerate solutions. We whiteboarded the whole concept here, from the very beginning,” explains Jamie.
Pretty soon, they landed in CIC Labs + Innovation Campus – and shared a roof with the Science Center. CIC offers professionally managed labs and services so that startups can focus on building their companies rather than facility management. Plus, it comes with built-in networking thanks to the hub of like-minded companies situated in and around uCity Square.
“We chose CIC because of all the innovation; and we had heard about the Science Center and that you played a major role in supporting companies in and around the ecosystem. We’re not newbies, we knew this was an innovation center,” says Jamie. “We were like: we need to be around creative people, we need to be around people who are going to inspire us… plus, all the conference rooms are awesome.”
From there, applying to the Science Center’s Capital Readiness Program (CRP) was a no-brainer.
“We’ve been through accelerator programs. But one thing we do know… is that we’re humble enough to know what we don’t know,” explains Jamie. “The Capital Readiness Program was recommended by somebody we know. We got excited as we found out more about it and at our stage, it was the perfect timing to kick it up a notch.”
The duo was accepted into Cohort 7, where they joined nine other startups for five days of knowledge-packed sessions and one-on-one feedback from industry experts and investors.
“There’s instant impact when you’re a startup,” explains Aaron about their experience. “The curriculum, the structure, the people, it had everything that you don’t normally see – but condensed.”
“There’s no fluff,” interjects Aaron. “What you put together in a week, would require a few different weeks of other programs. It was great.”
Unlike traditional accelerators, CRP focuses on helping entrepreneurs prepare for the unexpected - the kinds of challenges founders face regularly but are rarely training for.
“There’s one unique thing about CRP: it allows us to be pressure tested. Most programs that we’ve been in before showed us the fundamentals and the breakdown of being in a startup and what to look out for,” explained Jamie during CRP week. “In a stage where we’re getting ready to raise a larger round, it’s really preparing us for anything that can come our way. It’s definitely pressure tested and stress tested us to be able to handle certain situations that are not usually covered in accelerators.”
What’s Next for Liife?
Liife is closing their first seed round soon, paving the way for their next stage of growth. The startup has recently been granted one of its proprietary patents, allowing them to further develop their security protocol. Beyond that, they have several promising partnerships in the works.
In the startup world, it’s not uncommon for co-founders to butt heads – sometimes to the derailment of their entire enterprise. But the Liife co-founders agree that having each other has made them stronger – and has made their company more resilient going forward.
“Luckily we have each other. Like a good married couple, we don’t fight and we do love each other. Anytime there’s even a hint of not having that energy that day, we re-group later,” says Jamie. “But most important: believe in your product if it’s going to help people. And trust your gut.”
