Tag Archives: App

Q&A With Jean Nehme

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Q&A with Jean Nehme

Jean Nehme
Founder & CEO 
Touch Surgery, United Kingdom

Jean Nehme is a plastic surgeon, CEO and co-founder of Touch Surgery. Having completed his undergraduate medical training in London he embarked on a career in academia and surgery, where he experienced firsthand the limitations of healthcare. During his surgical training he undertook a part-time Masters in Surgical Technology at Imperial College London. His work awarded him a distinction, academic papers, awards and presentations at a multitude of international meetings. His research at Imperial included the application of virtual reality simulation to surgery and robotics. This was a natural marriage of his greatest passions, technology and healthcare, driven by a desire to build globally scalable solutions. Upon completing his degree and whilst a resident in plastic surgery, he began building with Andre Chow the technology that was to become Touch Surgery. In early 2013 they were awarded a position at a leading accelerator program in New York City to build out a vision for Touch Surgery. Since then Jean has raised funds from leading venture capital groups in the US and UK. In 18 months Touch Surgery has grown to over 40 people, with diverse expertise from world class animation to game and data technology. The Touch Surgery Lab is based in London and New York City. Jean has raised an undisclosed amount of funds to build out technology that has the potential to change surgery and ultimately improve patient outcomes globally.

Touch Surgery is a really innovative idea. How did you come up with it? What were the challenges you faced in turning it from an idea to a real startup, and how did you overcome them?

I am a surgeon and so is my co-founder Andre Chow, so we are somewhat experts in the problems of our field. Touch Surgery was born out of experiencing these problems firsthand. Surgery lacks standardization, objective evaluation, and tools that can disseminate best practices efficiently and globally. Working with a Andre, we set out to use our knowledge of technology to build a solution that would address these problems.

 What was the biggest mistake you’ve done as an entrepreneur? What did you learn from it?

Turning an idea into a functional startup was really hard especially when I had spent 8 years of my life training to be a plastic surgeon. I had no real business knowledge and a wanting to build technology with the aim of improving surgical practice and patient outcomes. As you can imagine there was skepticism and resistance from surgical mentors and family when I said: “I want to build technology that can improve global patient care.”

 What advice do you give to Lebanese entrepreneurs who are starting out today?

Overcoming your fears is the first step. We have a great photograph in the Lab that we took in New York which says, “Remember whatever you believe imprisons you.” We did not believe we could build a company, we did not believe we could ask the right questions, let alone find the answers. Early on we sometimes hired out of fear, not fully understanding what roles we would be filling, but making ourselves feel better because we had someone with an MBA in the Lab. This was a mistake.

My advice to entrepreneurs is to be fearless. You are imprisoned by what you believe in and you can achieve what you want once you overcome these fears. Believe in the problem you are trying to solve and then the solution. Be your greatest critic, ask lots and lots of questions. Don’t believe in your own hype, and in those that love you find both the support and the grounding. That helped me through a lot of the challenges, as did having a co-founder that I have been lucky to work with. We complement each other and fill in each other’s’ weaknesses. Finally, I recently heard a great saying: “Love going to work but also love going home.” I am still struggling with the going home part.

 

Uber: The disruptive $17 billion idea

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UBER

In the past, when a person needed to get somewhere with a cab, the process was a nightmare. You either called a cab, frustratingly attempted to give the driver directions and then waited for the car to arrive; or you stood on the side of the road, in the heat, rain, or snow, and hoped a vacant cab would pass by and stop for you.  You had to make sure you were carrying enough cash on you to pay the fare, and not a large note, just in case the driver wasn’t carrying enough change.

When Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick were hanging out in Paris on a cold winter night late in 2008, both entrepreneurs were discussing what was next for them.  Garret had just sold StumbleUpon to eBay and Travis had recently sold Red Swoosh to Akamai. Garrett had had enough of the frustrating cab experience and the horrible taxi problem in San Francisco and this lead them to discuss a limo timeshare service – the two of them splitting the costs of a driver, a car and a parking spot in a garage alone with an iPhone app.

A couple of months later the prototype was coming along and a beta version was soon released. The beta version was invite only which Garret and Travis started sharing with their friends. Those who tried it the app, loved it and told their friends about it who requested invites as well. On 31st May 2010, Uber launched in San Francisco and that’s when Uber started growing to a private car service currently available in over 200 cities in more than 40 countries, valued at $17 billion, and perceived as a disruptive innovation that has revolutionized ridesharing globally.

The main key to Uber’s success is that it enhanced consumer experience by reinventing the entire experience of getting private transportation.  The app is integrated with Google maps on, which you can pinpoint your location, see where the nearest cabs are, and watch as the cab gets closer to you.  Additionally, you can see the driver’s information, which also includes ratings from previous passengers. The car arrives within minutes so you end up waiting less and once you reach your destination, the app charges your credit card so you don’t have to carry cash on you.  The result? A great product that provides a real seamless solution to the millions of people frustrated with the old process of getting a cab.

Because Uber enhanced the entire experience and not just one element, they created a deep change in the industry, which sparked word of mouth and press coverage. The cab riders became Uber’s advocates, who shared their experience with their friends and on social media, leading to a growth of passionate customers.

Another contributing factor to Uber’s success is that they acknowledged that if they were to expand in other cities, they required local efforts tailored to each new location. Team launchers, described as a SEAL team, are responsible to get business running in new cities by being logistically savvy, getting a grasp of the city’s transportation ecosystem and using marketing creativity to encourage user adoption and market penetration.  They often operationalize a new Uber city within 8 weeks and then recruit a team of local talented staff to run the business locally and sustain long-term growth. The company supports the new launches by utilizing industry partnerships, local events, and more; fueling word of mouth and local growth.

Uber has truly disrupted and revolutionized the ridesharing experience and has potential of doing so much more in the future to sustain its growth.  How this company reinvented an experience that has been there for so long is a great example for startups and entrepreneurs to gain from. It is proof that every industry has room for growth and innovation, regardless of how old it is.