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...
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
But then we SPOKE with customers and tested hypotheses with our MVP
Would you call us to order transportation and meals?
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
most of our hypotheses, it turns out, were wrong*
*though a few were right
Total available market (TAM):Americans age 75+ not living in nursing homes or other full-care facilities(US Census, US Dept. of HHS)
~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
chapter 1: silver concierge
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
chapter 1: silver concierge
week 3: 41 interviews
MVP #1:Silver
Concierge
chapter 1: silver concierge
week 4: 54 interviews
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!
chapter 1: silver concierge
week 4: 54 interviews
What we probably should have done...
Let’s do in-depth interviews
with the caregivers and older adults we weren’t able to
convert!
chapter 1: silver concierge
week 4: 54 interviews
What we did instead...
Let’s pilot for another
week!
chapter 1: silver concierge
week 4: 54 interviews
(John working his charm with the
good people of The Little House)
chapter 1: silver concierge
week 5: 71 interviews
But not even John’s charm can get us to product-market fit...
chapter 1: silver concierge
week 5: 71 interviews
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
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
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
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
“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
week 6: 84 interviews
Hypothesis: If caregivers won’t intermediate to deliver Silver Concierge to older adults, perhaps elder living companies and facilities might….
chapter 2: b2b concierge
week 6: 84 interviews
Independent-living facilities, senior apartments, and 55+ villages will want to partner with us to outsource service delivery
chapter 2: b2b concierge
week 6: 84 interviews
Volunteers are enough to fill most of our
service requests...
sounds interesting, but we’re only doing a few Uber rides
a month...
chapter 2: b2b concierge
week 7: 96 interviews
Positive feedback, but no one is really grabbing this out of our hands...
chapter 2: b2b concierge
week 7: 96 interviews
(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.
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