Jane Chen: Embrace the Entrepreneurial Journey

TL;DR

The Embrace Warmer is a sleeping-bag-shaped infant warmer that keeps premature babies at a constant body temperature for up to eight hours without a constant electricity supply, using a phase-change wax pouch melted by boiling water or a short burst of power. It costs a fraction of a traditional $20,000 incubator and has helped over 200,000 babies across 20 countries.

Transcript

(applause) - Thanks for having me, thanks for the introduction Tina. It's so great to be back on campus. I was reflecting yesterday that it has been indeed nine years since I took the design class that Embrace came out of, so I'm feeling extra old today. So I'd like you guys to go through an exercise with me before I begin. Please close your eyes a... Read More

Key Insights

• Fifteen million pre-term and underweight babies are born annually, and three million die in their first 28 days of life, which is six babies every minute, with staying warm being one of the biggest problems they face.
• Traditional incubators cost $20,000 and upward, require constant electricity, and are hard to operate, so they are absent from the rural areas where many at-risk babies are dying.
• Donated incubators often sit unused in overcrowded neonatal units because there is no electricity to power them, no one is trained to use them, and no spare parts exist when a part breaks.
• The Embrace Warmer works by using a phase-change material that melts at human body temperature; once melted it holds a constant temperature for up to eight hours and can be reheated thousands of times.
• The design challenge, posed in Stanford's Design for Extreme Affordability class, was to build a baby incubator costing less than 1% of a traditional $20,000 incubator for people living on less than a dollar a day.
• Empathy and culturally appropriate nuance are the key to great design, shown when mothers distrustful of Western dosages led the team to replace a numeric temperature scale with a binary happy-face, frowning-face indicator.
• Common unsafe warming solutions include old space heaters that burn on contact and lightbulbs, the most common method in India where 40% of the world's premature babies are born, which sometimes shatter over the babies.
• Entrepreneurship is about doing whatever it takes to get past obstacles, illustrated by the team piling into an auto-rickshaw after a flat tire to deliver their first product despite power outages and customs delays.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the Embrace Warmer and how does it work?

The Embrace Warmer is a low-cost infant warmer shaped like a small sleeping bag made from waterproof materials, with a clear viewing window and a back pouch of wax phase-change material. The wax is melted with boiling water or a short burst of electricity, then holds a constant human body temperature for up to eight hours at a stretch. It can be reheated thousands of times and creates a warm microenvironment for premature babies without needing a constant electricity supply.

Q: Why do traditional incubators fail in rural areas?

Traditional incubators cost $20,000 and upward, require a constant supply of electricity, and are difficult to operate, so they are not found in the rural areas where many babies are dying. Even when donated for free, they sit unused in overcrowded neonatal units because there is no electricity to power them, no one has been trained to use them, and if a part breaks there are no spare parts for replacement. These systemic issues make them unusable despite being available.

Q: How serious is the problem of premature baby deaths?

Fifteen million pre-term and underweight babies are born annually around the world, and three million babies die in the first 28 days of their life, which amounts to six babies every minute. One of the biggest problems these babies face is staying warm, since they cannot regulate their own body temperature, and regulating temperature is the primary function of an incubator. India alone accounts for 40% of all the world's premature babies.

Q: How did the team use physics to keep the warmer at a constant temperature?

The team went back to high school physics and the concept that when a material changes phases, such as from solid to liquid or liquid to solid, it does so at one constant temperature. They looked for a material that melted at human body temperature and used enough of it that the melting period took place over hours at a time. Not knowing the exact material at first, they prototyped with the closest thing they could find, which was butter in ziplock bags.

Q: Why did the temperature indicator use faces instead of numbers?

When the team showed the wax pouch's liquid crystal temperature indicator to village mothers, they heard that many distrusted Western medicine and would, for example, cut a prescribed dosage in half because they felt it was too strong. Mothers said they would keep the warmer below a stated 37 degrees Celsius because it seemed too warm. This led to the design decision to use a binary happy-face, frowning-face indicator instead of a numeric scale, reflecting culturally appropriate empathy in design.

Q: What role did fieldwork and user feedback play in the design?

Fieldwork was central. The team traveled to hospitals and villages in Nepal, Uganda, and India, where meeting a mother named Sujatha, whose baby died because a city hospital was four hours away, revealed the real need. They repeatedly showed prototypes to mothers, doctors, and healthcare workers and iterated on their feedback, adding a waterproof wipe-down material because babies often did not wear diapers, limiting inside seams for sterility, and adding a clear viewing window doctors requested.

Q: What obstacles did Embrace face during its 2011 launch?

In the weeks leading up to the 2011 product launch, everything that could go wrong did. The electricity in their manufacturing facility went out at the most critical moments, and part of the product got stuck in customs and would not be released because the wash tags were sewn incorrectly. On the way to deliver the first product to a doctor's office, the team got a flat tire, so they jumped out, piled into an auto-rickshaw, and delivered it anyway, which Chen sees as the essence of entrepreneurship.

Q: What impact has the Embrace Warmer had so far?

To date the product has helped over 200,000 babies and is now in 20 countries. High-profile support amplified its reach: the team presented their work to President Obama at the White House, made a commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative that formed partnerships, and in 2014 received a surprise donation from Beyonce that got products into nine countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. Individual stories include Nathan, an abandoned two-pound baby in Beijing who survived after about 30 days in the warmer.

Summary

In this video, Jane Chen, the co-founder and CEO of Embrace Innovations, shares her journey in creating a low-cost infant warmer called Embrace Warmer. She highlights the problem of infant mortality due to lack of access to incubators in developing countries and the challenges faced in designing a solution that can function without a constant supply of electricity. She explains the design process, from sketching prototypes on a napkin to testing different materials, and emphasizes the importance of empathy and cultural appropriateness in creating a successful product. She also discusses the challenges she encountered, like a funding crisis and the need to re-evaluate their strategy, and how they overcame them. Chen concludes by sharing the lessons she learned through her journey, including the importance of leading with purpose, having persistence and courage, embracing impermanence, and choosing to see the world through the lens of beauty.

Questions & Answers

Q: What inspired Jane Chen to create the Embrace Warmer?

Jane Chen was inspired to create the Embrace Warmer after witnessing the struggles of premature babies in developing countries who lacked access to incubators. She realized that the high cost and requirement for constant electricity made traditional incubators unsuitable for these regions. She saw the need for a low-cost, easy-to-use solution that could function without a constant power supply.

Q: How did Jane Chen and her team approach the design process for the Embrace Warmer?

The design process for the Embrace Warmer involved going on the ground to places like Nepal and Uganda to understand the specific needs and challenges in these regions. The team initially sketched out the product on the back of a napkin and then focused on finding a material that could maintain a constant temperature without the need for electricity. They experimented with different prototypes, including using butter in ziplock bags, and eventually settled on a design that resembled a sleeping bag made out of waterproof materials. The team also received feedback from mothers, doctors, and healthcare workers in order to iterate and improve the design.

Q: How did Embrace Innovations overcome the challenges of lack of electricity and training in developing countries?

Embrace Innovations tackled the challenge of lack of electricity by developing a product that could be melted with boiling water or a short burst of electricity, making it suitable for places with intermittent power supply. They also focused on creating a product that was intuitive and easy to use, requiring minimal training for mothers, midwives, and healthcare workers in rural settings. To address the issue of parts replacement, they designed the Embrace Warmer to be reusable and made it out of one entire piece of fabric with limited seams to minimize dirt collection and improve sterility.

Q: What impact has Embrace Innovations made so far?

Embrace Innovations has been able to help over 200,000 babies to date by providing them with Embrace Warmers. The product is currently available in 20 countries and has been used in various settings, including hospitals, clinics, and orphanages. The company has formed partnerships with organizations such as the Clinton Global Initiative and has received support from individuals like Beyonce who made a donation to distribute the product in nine countries across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Q: Why did Embrace Innovations decide to create a for-profit arm of the company alongside the non-profit?

Embrace Innovations started as a non-profit organization in 2008 but later decided to create a for-profit arm in 2011. The motivation behind this decision was to leverage both philanthropic capital and private capital to sustainably fund the distribution of the Embrace Warmer. The for-profit arm sells the product to governments and emerging markets, generating revenue to support the non-profit's efforts to provide the product to the poorest places. It also allowed them to attract impact investors and access funding more easily.

Q: What is the cost per Embrace Warmer and how do communities get chosen to receive the product?

The cost per Embrace Warmer is around $200, which includes the sleeping bag, the wax insert, and a separate heating unit. The product is designed to be reusable, making it cost-effective in the long run. When it comes to choosing communities, Embrace Innovations works with local partners, such as NGOs and non-profits, who are already involved in newborn care and have a presence on the ground. These partners help implement the product, provide training, and monitor its usage. The selection of communities is based on a combination of factors, including the prevalence of infant mortality, the existing healthcare infrastructure, and the readiness of local partners to collaborate.

Q: Can the Embrace Warmer be used in developed countries as well?

Yes, the Embrace Warmer can be used in developed countries. The product has undergone a study at Lucile Packard showing that babies can be weaned off traditional incubators and placed in the Embrace Warmer. However, entering the developed country markets would require obtaining FDA approval and overcoming challenges related to changing doctor's behaviors and healthcare systems. While it is a possibility, at the present time, Embrace Innovations has chosen to focus on emerging markets and use the profits from their consumer product, called Little Lotus, to fund the expansion of the Embrace Warmers in developing countries.

Q: How did Embrace Innovations address criticisms and gain trust in the product?

Embrace Innovations addressed criticisms by providing clinical studies and evidence that the Embrace Warmer is as effective as the standard of care in the target markets. They also showcased their local presence and involvement in understanding and addressing the systemic issues faced by these communities. Trust in the product was gained by working with influencers, key opinion leaders, and other organizations already involved in newborn care. Word of mouth and positive experiences shared by these influencers helped build confidence and credibility in the Embrace Warmer.

Q: How did Jane Chen and her team overcome a funding crisis?

Embrace Innovations faced a funding crisis when a major medical device company pulled the plug on their financing due to a change in leadership. With only seven days of cash left, the team reached out to Marc Benioff, the founder and CEO of Salesforce, whom they had met previously. Marc generously agreed to fund the company, saving them from closing their doors. This experience taught Jane Chen the importance of reaching out for help, fostering connections, and being open to opportunities that can come from unexpected sources.

Q: What are the future plans for Embrace Innovations?

The future plans for Embrace Innovations include expanding the reach of the Embrace Warmer to every baby in need and making it a universally adopted technology. They are also working on integrating sensors into the product for remote monitoring and leveraging AI for predictive diagnostics. Additionally, Embrace Innovations has launched a consumer product called Little Lotus, which uses a similar technology to create baby products for the U.S. market. For every Little Lotus product sold, Embrace Innovations aims to save a life in a developing country using the Embrace Warmer. The goal is to create a global community of parents helping other parents and have a one-to-one impact model.

Takeaways

Jane Chen's journey in creating the Embrace Warmer highlights the power of design thinking and empathy in creating impactful solutions. By addressing the specific needs and challenges faced by infants in developing countries, Embrace Innovations created a low-cost, easy-to-use product that has saved the lives of thousands of babies. However, the journey was not without its challenges, and Chen emphasizes the importance of persistence, courage, and embracing impermanence in overcoming obstacles. She also encourages individuals to lead with purpose, see the world through a lens of beauty, and focus on the journey rather than just the destination. With plans to expand their reach and explore new technologies, Embrace Innovations continues to make a significant impact in reducing infant mortality globally.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Jane Chen returned to Stanford to describe how the Embrace Warmer began in a 2007 Design for Extreme Affordability class, where her team was challenged to build a baby incubator costing under 1% of a traditional $20,000 unit for people living on less than a dollar a day.

• Field visits to Nepal, Uganda, and India revealed that donated incubators sit unused due to no electricity, training, or spare parts, while unsafe substitutes like space heaters and shattering lightbulbs are common; one mother's baby died because a city hospital incubator was four hours away.

• The team designed an intuitive sleeping bag using a phase-change wax that melts at body temperature and holds heat for up to eight hours without constant electricity, iterating with mothers and doctors to add sterility, a viewing window, and a binary temperature indicator.

• After a chaotic 2011 launch marked by power outages, customs holds, and a flat tire, Embrace delivered its first product; support from President Obama's White House, the Clinton Global Initiative, and a surprise Beyonce donation helped reach over 200,000 babies in 20 countries.