Uma Louise Roa, CEO and founder of Pick a Talk, an app designed to help children with disabilities communicate more effectively. Uma shares her personal motivation, inspired by her sister Leah, who has autism and speech apraxia. The app, which has been operational for two years and now has an eight-person team, initially faced challenges due to its niche market but has since gained traction. Uma emphasizes the importance of perseverance, embracing failure, and focusing on solving the problem rather than just making money. She also discusses future plans, including marketing efforts and expanding to the US market.
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Episode Highlights
Introduction and Background of Uma Louise Roa
- Daryl Urbanski introduces Uma Louise Roa, CEO and founder of Pick a Talk, an app designed to empower children with disabilities through accessible communication technology.
- Uma Louise Roa shares her background as a computer science graduate from Draper University and her experience as a web developer, UX designer, and entrepreneur.
- Uma Louise Roa discusses her mission to bridge communication gaps, champion accessibility, and create a more compassionate and inclusive world.
- Daryl expresses excitement about Uma's work and asks her to share her story about launching and growing an app-based business.
Inspiration Behind Pick a Talk
- Uma explains that her sister, Leah, who is on the autistic spectrum and has speech apraxia, inspired the creation of Pick a Talk.
- Leah struggled with verbal communication, often pointing at objects or pictures to express herself, which inspired Uma to develop an app that would make communication easier for her.
- Daryl shares a personal anecdote about using Google Images to teach English in Tokyo, highlighting the effectiveness of visual communication.
- Uma Louise Roa elaborates on how the app allows users to access their vocabulary in one application, making communication more accessible.
Entrepreneurial Journey and Challenges
- Uma reveals that her parents owned a cake shop, and she grew up being part of the family business, learning to bake and working in the shop from a young age.
- Despite her entrepreneurial background, Uma decided to start her own tech company instead of taking over the family business.
- Uma Louise Roa shares that Pick a Talk has been registered for two years and now has a team of eight people.
- She discusses the biggest challenges faced, including team morale issues and the difficulty of generating revenue due to the niche market.
Advice for Entrepreneurs and Embracing Failure
- Uma emphasizes the importance of embracing failure as a part of the startup journey and learning from mistakes.
- She shares her personal experience of sticking with Pick a Talk despite rejections and failures, which ultimately led to success.
- Daryl references a talk by philosopher Alan Watts, comparing life to a dream where every night you dream a life, and the challenges faced are essential for growth.
- Uma Louise Roa advises entrepreneurs to focus on solving the problem they are addressing rather than just making money, as the latter will follow if the problem is effectively solved.
Building and Scaling an App-Based Business
- Uma Louise Roa discusses the advantages and disadvantages of having a team of classmates who are tech-savvy but lack experience in other business aspects.
- She recommends making the team diverse and using low-code tools like Figma for prototyping to attract the right people.
- Daryl shares his perspective on the importance of building in public and being willing to embarrass oneself in the early stages of product development.
- Uma reflects on the initial challenges of the app, including crashes and bugs, and how the product has grown and become more stable over time.
The Role of AI in the Future of Tech
- Uma Louise Roa predicts that AI will continue to advance and make tech companies' lives easier, assisting humans rather than replacing jobs.
- She shares her experience of using AI tools like ChatGPT to search for coding solutions, which has made the development process faster.
- Daryl discusses the concept of diversification of labor and how specialization and exponential leverage can lead to increased productivity.
- Uma Louise Roa emphasizes the importance of focusing on the problem being solved rather than the technology used to solve it.
Impact and Future Plans for Pick a Talk
- Uma explains that her focus is now on the business side, including networking, partnering with impact partners, and conducting workshops and awareness programs about augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).
- She shares the importance of educating families and communities about AAC and how it can empower non-verbal children to communicate.
- Daryl highlights the significance of family relationships and the impact of better communication on reducing frustration and improving bonding.
- Uma Louise Roa discusses the plans for the future, including expanding to the US market and partnering with organizations to help overlooked communities in the Philippines.
Final Thoughts and Closing Remarks
- Daryl praises Uma for her dedication and the impact of Pick a Talk on families and children with disabilities.
- He emphasizes the importance of solving real pain points and the scalability of an app-based business.
- Uma Louise Roa shares her plans for the next year, focusing on marketing and expanding to new markets.
- Daryl invites Uma to return for a future discussion to share updates on her progress and success.