Business
Brandon Winfield and Sayeed Mehrjerdian are welcomed to the show to tell the powerful story behind their new app, iAccess Life, the Yelp for accessibility. After being injured in a Motocross accident at the age of 14, Winfield was left paralyzed from the chest down. Through a great support system of friends and family, Winfield continued to travel, adventure, and experience life. However, he was sometimes surprised by the lack of accessibility at places he would go out with friends, and he came up with the idea for an app that would inform users of accessibility ratings before going out. Knowing if there is handicapped parking, a ramp, an accessible bathroom, and other features before driving to eat at a restaurant, work at a coffee shop, or work out at a gym will prevent surprises and empower individuals with physical disabilities. Thus began the long journey to build the iAccess app to help the community, a journey marked by humility and resilience. Despite not having a college degree, Winfield has lead this Atlanta based tech startup as CEO, successfully raising support, breaking stereotypes, and inspiring others along the way. Mehrjerdian, an Industrial and Systems Engineer graduate from Georgia Tech, joined the venture as CIPO, Chief Innovation and Product Officer, to use his background in product management and starting technology companies to push iAccess forward. Recent success has shown through the launch of the app and in winning at the South by Southwest Pitch Competition. The two Co-founders together make an unstoppable team, and there is no doubt they will reach their vision of revolutionizing accessibility through information in the palm of your hand. Winfield and Mehrjerdian bring great insights into starting a company such as: Build a team with a common vision. This is make or break. Setbacks and failures often lead to success if you do not give up. Startups take a long time. Overnight success is an illusion. The only way to fail is to quit. Keep pushing through. Let your pride go of wanting to do this on your own. Ask for help. Never underestimate the power of your network. Stop making excuses. Pitch. Pitch. Pitch. Apply to as many opportunities to pitch as you can. Perfect practice makes perfect. When someone says no, ask why? You will learn from them. Raising money is hard, but not impossible. “What you are doing in your personal life reflects in the success of your business as well.” Make sure you are growing personally, not just in your career! “Be confident, believe in what you are doing, why are you doing it, and in yourself.” The number one thing to be successful in business is to believe in yourself and be confident in yourself, but don’t fool yourself into thinking it is working when it is not. Quality over quantity. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/startupdormroom/support