silver concierge stanford 2016

Initial business idea: Phone-based on-demand concierge service for older adults

Lessons learned presentation | 120 interviews

John Denisto

nMBA1

Deborah StammMBA1

QuinlanJung

MS CS Eli

BildnerMBA1

SuzanneAdattoMBA2/MA Ed.

Silver Concierge

Total available market (TAM):Americans age 75+ not living in nursing homes or other full-care facilities(US Census, US Dept. of HHS)

~18.1M

in the beginning, we had a lot of ideas...


~18.1M

But then we SPOKE with customers and tested hypotheses with our MVP

Would you call us to order transportation and meals?


~18.1M

most of our hypotheses, it turns out, were wrong*

*though a few were right


~18.1MThis is the story of how we moved fromfiction to fact

The outline

Initial needfinding

week 0 week 1 week 2 week 3

Continued needfinding

tested value prop

(Landing Page)

prep’d MVP& recruited participants

week 4

pilot MVP(Meals, online

shopping)

week 5

refine MVP

(+ Rides & Groceries)

week 6

refine acquisition

Little House + B2B Channels

week 7

pivot

nerdwallet for senior care | B2B

service for assisted living

week 8

MVP feedbackstructured

diagnostic quiz vs open-ended chat

week 9

MVP feedbackcaregiver

needfinding and MVPs

Chapter 1: Silver Concierge

Chapter 1 Chapter 2: B2B Chapter 3: CareCoach

chapter 1: silver concierge

customer = adult children

key value proposition: access to on-demand services


week 3: 41 interviews

- target user ≠ economic buyer- “seniors” ≠ a customer archetype- being a caregiver is hard- lack of access to services is a problem — & others are noticing

Even before we launched our MVP, we’d learned a lot about our business.

Seni

or C

are

Senior Transportation

Senior

Nutrition

On-DemandServices Con

cierg

es

& Cur

ators

Competitive landscape



MVP #1:Silver

Concierge



We get lots of interest from caregivers, but sign up only one older adult user

This is wonderful — I’m going to tell all of my

friends!



What we probably should have done...

Let’s do in-depth interviews

with the caregivers and older adults we weren’t able to

convert!



What we did instead...

Let’s pilot for another

week!



(John working his charm with the

good people of The Little House)



But not even John’s charm can get us to product-market fit...



Customer (“care coordinator”)

Customer acquisition

Call to concierge

Service delivery

On-demand service providers

Medical providers & case managers

Friends & peers Senior communities

“The handoff between older adults and children, unless the older adult is really incapacitated, is basically impossible.”

- Laura Connors, ED Beacon Hill Village

“My grandmother is hugely stubborn and will not change anything unless she absolutely has to.”

- Remote caregiver in Pennsylvania

Gain Creators

Customer JobsIndependence

- Eat healthy meals- Get safe rides- Human connection

- Lack awareness of current solutions - Don’t want to be “needy” - Senior care solutions expensive - Tech solutions complicated & lack help

- Lack of trust is major barrier- Desire personal,

human interaction

User Segment- Empowering (can use on own)- Easy; no new tech required (phone)- Trusted; satisfaction guaranteed- Responsive & schedulable- Affordable, clear pricing- Provides human touch

Products& ServicesPhone access to:

- Meal delivery- Ride services

- Access to previously unknown resources, incl those otherwise unreachable by phone- Reduce life pressures; create convenience- Enable budgeting w/clear, predictable pricing

- Preserve independence; reduce anxiety about aging- Trusted & guaranteed; reduce uncertainty - Remove barrier of tech adoption- Provide human connection

Customer Jobs

Peace of mind- Busy & balancing priorities - Geographic separation - Lack of tech adoption by senior - Crisis-driven solution finding

- Senior care solutions expensive

- Reduced anxiety over care- Reduced schedule burden- Increased connection to senior- Predictable spending

Gains Users

Buyers

Pains

Gains

Pains

Gain Creators

Pain Relievers

Our value propositions simply weren’t resonating...

Gain Creators





human interaction






Customer Jobs




Gains Users

Buyers

Pains

Gains

Pains

Gain Creators

Pain Relievers

Tech isn’t as big a barrier to adoption as we thought; but trust is huge

“[They] do not want to do anything that will shut them in the house more. Independence is not just about access to basic needs, it is about getting out and being a part of the larger world.”

- Bay Area Caregiver

Gain Creators





human interaction






Customer Jobs




Gains Users

Buyers

Pains

Gains

Pains

Gain Creators

Pain Relievers

“Improved” access to services doesn’t mitigate concerns about aging — it amplifies them!

“I don’t want to be a part of a service where I wouldn't know the driver.”

- Older adult, Palo Alto

chapter 2: silver concierge (b2b)

chapter 2: b2b concierge


Hypothesis: If caregivers won’t intermediate to deliver Silver Concierge to older adults, perhaps elder living companies and facilities might….



Independent-living facilities, senior apartments, and 55+ villages will want to partner with us to outsource service delivery



Volunteers are enough to fill most of our

service requests...

sounds interesting, but we’re only doing a few Uber rides

a month...



Positive feedback, but no one is really grabbing this out of our hands...



(PIVOT)

chapter 3: CareCoach | the pivot

chapter 3: CareCoach week 7: 96 interviews

What we knew- Older adults often don’t think there’s a problem- Acquiring older adults as users is really hard (high CAC)- Service provision doesn’t address loneliness/isolation- Extreme price sensitivity- High-touch service important => unit economics tough- Caregivers are overwhelmed, overworked, and want support

Research and mastery of latest senior-tech and pricing

Logistics of on-demand response to questions

Product and service providers

AARP

Senior Activity Centers

Senior-housing advisory+referral services

Caregiver Cara is 40-50 with a parent who is 75-90 and still living independently but starting to struggle

Cara is employed, busy and has children of her own

Cara is overwhelmed

Cara is worried about affording care

Our customers are product and service providers (uber, lyft, nursing homes, gadgets) hoping to reach caregivers and seniors

Personalized, expert support to help you navigate caring for an older loved one

Trusted resource would reduce time and stress associated with “becoming an expert” caregiver

Transparent pricing

Emotional need- Guilt and fear

Acquisition via web searchMommy blogsCaregiver blogsHospitalsSenior-housing advisory+referral services

Employees committed to providing gold-standard content and service

Effective branding

Get: “acquire via online search

Keep: quality product, emails on latest tech advances/products

Grow: Viral loop is critical; “up-sell” to consulting services

Referral fee from service providers

“Premium” personalized coach/consultant (could build in house or partner with other service)

Biggest cost driver (unit economics/variable costs) is customer acquisition

chapter 3: CareCoach week 7: 96 interviews

CareCoachBMC

What we found…

- Local knowledge critical (scalability challenge)

- Acquisition is still challenging (caregivers don’t necessarily look online)

- “There are so many things I know I should be doing, I don’t even know where to start.”

- BUT: Huge, pressing pain points around being a caregiver

chapter 3: CareCoach week 8-9: 118 interviews

Focus on Caregivers

so what comes next?

We didn’t find product-market fit. But we uncovered a whole lot of lessons.

THANK YOU

the teaching team: steve, steve, and jeff

our wonderful mentors: justin wickett & mar hershenson

our LLP classmates

our interviewees, testers, and supporters

Silver Concierge Appendix: Market Sizing and Customer Relationship Funnel

The Opportunity Total available market

(TAM):Americans age 75+ not living in nursing homes or other full-care facilities(US Census, US Dept. of HHS)

~18.1M

Served available market (TAM):...living in urban and major suburban areas (50%) with access to family or friend caregivers (65%)(US Admin. on Aging, Institute on Aging )

~5.9M

Target market:...with household incomes of >$50,000 (49%)(US Admin. on Aging)

~2.9M

Get

our B2CCustomer Relationships

Keep GrowAcquire:Online Advertising

Traditional Advertising:Radio, print (AARP)

Activate:Create account + pay first monthly fee

CAC:$100 LTV Revenue: $3,900 LTV Profit: $1,060*

Parent/Child connection

Deals from partners

Upsell:Additional Services (if

partner revenue model)

Premium: In-person;Tech support

Cross-Sell: Lead-generation for

other products+ services: Evolve home

Modification, Lindycare

*Lifetime @ 4 years

Get

our B2B2CCustomer Relationships

Keep GrowAcquire:Direct Sales to Independent Living communities

Partnerships with Senior Centers

Activate:Activated accounts with communities

CAC:$16,800 LTV Revenue: $457,500 LTV Profit: $97,500*

Sales leverage

Bulk pricing

Upsell:Additional services

Tech support

Cross-Sell: Lead-generation for

the independent communities from

outside customers?

*Lifetime @ 5 years

CareCoach Appendix: What would be next

What (would be) next: TurboTax for Caregivers

Customer: Caregivers

Pain: “Holy Cow, I now need to take care of my parent, I don’t even know where to start or what to do”

Pain reliever: A trusted platform to guide caregivers who are just getting started and perhaps to help manage their finances as their loved ones age further.

Revenue: Advertisement (likely through placement and lead generation rather than banner ads). Potential to upsell for finance management (fee basis) in future product iteration.

silver concierge stanford 2016

Education