Solv CEO Heather Fernandez | Purpose into Action

TL;DR

Solve CEO Heather Fernandez discusses her company's purpose of eliminating stress in healthcare and shares insights on the fundraising strategy, including the implementation of Project Captain Marvel to diversify their cap table.

Transcript

hi everyone welcome to gray matter i'm elisa schreiber i'm the marketing partner here at greylock and we have a very special guest with us today i am absolutely thrilled to introduce the co-founder and ceo of solve heather fernandez heather welcome to gray matter thank you so much for having me lisa i'm excited to be here i'm really excited to have... Read More

Key Insights

• 🎁 Solve's purpose is to simplify healthcare by providing an app that helps consumers find the right healthcare providers and book same-day appointments.
• 📔 The company has a network of providers covering 150 million Americans, with 80% of appointments booked through Solve being same-day appointments.
• 👩‍🦱 Solve raised a $45 million series C funding round to fuel growth and launched Project Captain Marvel to diversify their cap table by involving more women, especially women of color, as investors.
• ❤️‍🩹 Project Captain Marvel was executed by leveraging existing networks, reducing the minimum investment amount, and partnering with a family office for back-end logistics.
• 😫 Setting clear boundaries and timelines for the initiative helped manage the workload and ensure success.
• 🧑‍💻 Solve aims to create a community of diverse founders and investors to foster wealth creation and support underrepresented individuals in the tech industry.
• 🌆 The playbook shared by Solve provides guidance for other founders looking to diversify their cap tables through SPVs, emphasizing commitment, tapping networks, seeking back-office support, setting limits, reducing minimum investment amounts, and creating a community.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is Solve's main objective?

Solve's purpose is to eliminate the stress around everyday healthcare by assisting consumers in finding the right healthcare providers and booking same-day appointments.

Q: How many Americans have been helped by Solve's platform?

To date, Solve has helped over 50 million Americans access healthcare through their platform, which covers approximately 150 million people within a five-mile radius.

Q: What was the motivation behind launching Project Captain Marvel?

Project Captain Marvel was initiated to increase diversity on Solve's cap table by creating an all-female SPV. The aim was to provide opportunities for women, especially women of color, to invest and participate in Solve's growth.

Q: How did Solve execute Project Captain Marvel?

Solve reached out to known female angel investors and requested them to invite another woman, particularly a woman of color or a first-time investor, to join the initiative. The process involved email and text communication, followed by Zoom meetings to pitch the opportunity.

Summary

In this episode of the Gray Matter podcast, Elisa Schreiber, the Marketing Partner at Greylock, interviews Heather Fernandez, the Co-Founder and CEO of Solv, a medical booking platform. They discuss Solv's purpose of eliminating the stress around everyday healthcare and how they provide solutions to consumers and healthcare providers. They also delve into a special initiative called Project Captain Marvel, which was a part of Solv's series C fundraising round and focused on diversifying the company's cap table by creating an all-female special purpose vehicle (SPV).

Questions & Answers

Q: Can you tell us about Solv and how it helps eliminate the stress around healthcare?

Solv's purpose is to eliminate the stress around everyday healthcare. They do this by helping consumers figure out where to go for their healthcare needs, when they can be seen, and how much it will cost. They achieve this through their consumer app and by building software for healthcare providers, especially in the urgent care category, to provide a more consumer-first healthcare experience.

Q: How many clinics and hospital systems are using the Solv platform?

Currently, Solv serves 150 million Americans who are within five miles of a bookable, same-day appointment. About 80% of the appointments booked through Solv are same-day appointments. Their software and services have helped over 50 million Americans experience a more consumer-first healthcare.

Q: Can you tell us more about Project Captain Marvel and what it entailed?

Project Captain Marvel was an initiative that emerged during Solv's series C fundraising. It was a plan to create an all-female SPV as a way to diversify Solv's cap table. The idea came from a friend and venture capitalist, Karen Nortman, who proposed the idea to Heather. The goal was to make space on the cap table for more diverse female investors and enable them to invest in Solv.

Q: How did you go about implementing the idea of an all-female SPV?

Heather and Karen reached out to known female angel investors in their network, asking them to invite one person from their network, particularly women of color or first-time investors, to join the SPV. This approach generated a lot of interest and led to the formation of a circle of women who wanted to be involved. They used tools like Google Forms, Slack, and Zoom to manage the process and streamline communication.

Q: How did you gain buy-in from your existing investors for Project Captain Marvel?

The existing investors, including members of Solv's board, were supportive of the idea to create an all-female SPV. They recognized the importance of driving diversity and innovation in the tech industry. The investors understood the objectives and were willing to accommodate the additional time and effort required for this initiative.

Q: How did you manage the logistics and administrative tasks related to the SPV?

Heather emphasized the need for a reliable back-office partner to handle the administrative tasks of the SPV. In Solv's case, they worked with AQP Family Office to manage paperwork, filings, and other back-office responsibilities. Having the right tools, such as Google Forms, Slack, and Airtable, also helped streamline the process and make it more efficient.

Q: Did you set any limits on the number of investors participating in the SPV?

Initially, there were no set limits, but as interest grew, they decided to cap the number of investors at 75 for efficiency and to meet their tight timeline. The goal was to enable more diverse investors to participate while still maintaining control over the process and timeline.

Q: How are you planning to foster connections and communication among the new investors who participated in the SPV?

Currently, the communication among the investors is more organic through email updates and social media interactions. However, Heather aspires to create a community among the investors, especially those who are first-time investors, to support the creation of more diverse founders and investors. She envisions hosting meetups and events to foster connections and collaboration.

Q: What tips would you give to other founders looking to diversify their cap tables through an SPV?

Heather provides several tips based on her experience:

1. Commit to the plan and discuss it with your board and internal team.
2. Leverage your network to find potential participants.
3. Identify a reliable back-office partner or tools to manage paperwork and administration.
4. Set limits or parameters to maintain control and avoid chaos.
5. Consider reducing the minimum investment to increase accessibility.
6. Aspire for more normalized diversification of cap tables through SPVs.

Q: Why did you decide to dedicate time and energy to creating the all-female SPV?

Heather believes in the power of diverse investors leading to diverse investments and diverse executives. She recognizes the privilege she has as a founder and the opportunity to drive change and progress in the tech industry. By using her platform to enable more cap table diversity, she hopes to create more opportunities for underrepresented founders and investors.

Takeaways

Heather Fernandez's story highlights the importance of cap table diversity and the potential impact of SPVs in achieving it. By committing to a plan, leveraging networks, and setting limits, founders can successfully diversify their cap tables and give access to underrepresented investors. It is crucial to have a reliable back-office partner and the right tools to streamline the administrative tasks. The reduction of minimum investments can open doors for more investors. Ultimately, the goal is to normalize cap table diversity through SPVs and create a community that supports the success of diverse founders and investors.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Solve aims to simplify healthcare by helping consumers find the right healthcare providers and book same-day appointments.

• The company has helped over 50 million Americans access healthcare and has a network of providers covering 150 million people across the country.

• Solve recently raised a $45 million series C funding round to accelerate growth and launched Project Captain Marvel, an initiative to diversify their cap table by creating an all-female special purpose vehicle (SPV) for investing.