I recently had the chance to catch up with two remarkable entrepreneurs and Mobileys winners, Carlos Fernandez, Jr., Co-Founder of Page-Out/Clutch Studio and Siobhan Bulfin, Founder and CEO of Melon Health. The Mobileys is an annual competition that recognizes companies that are helping make the world a better place through wireless innovation. Carlos and Siobhan are great examples of entrepreneurs using their businesses to make a positive difference for others.
2013 Mobileys winner, Page-Out, is a revolutionary mobile app that shows on-call availability for volunteers and staff in fire and emergency services organizations. Based in Wichita, Kansas, Page-Out's focus on improving volunteer and staffing coordination in the rough and tumble fire/EMS world made it a clear Mobileys winner.
Code Blue won The Mobileys in 2014 and aims to help teens with depression. Based in San Francisco, CA, Shiobhan's company Melon Health develops innovative mobile health solutions that empower patients to take control of their health. Its contributions to health empowerment and cost containment are clearly making the world a better place through mobile innovation.
Siobhan and Carlos generously shared some of their experiences since winning the Mobileys you can listen here. Some of the highlights included:
PIVOTS: Both Page-Out and Melon Health have pivoted their businesses to meet market demands. Carlos and his Page-Out co-founder recently launched Clutch Studio, a mobile app development house, while still running Page-Out. Siobhan and her co-founders have not only changed the company name to Melon Health, they have refined their focus on chronic disease prevention and management. Their explanations about how they came to these decisions was compelling.
FUNDING: While Siobhan has taken the traditional Venture Capital funding path, Carlos discussed Page-Out's success with bootstrapping. If you're an entrepreneur considering bootstrapping versus venture funding, you might want to listen to this part of the discussion.
The FUTURE: Both spoke about their expanding businesses and optimism about the future.
Mobileys IMPACT : Both agreed that the Mobileys has been a great boost for their companies. Carlos said, "There is nothing bigger to catapult you in the mobile space."
Mobileys TIPS: Siobhan said it best, "Just do it!"
I'm grateful to Carlos and Siobhan for taking the time to help other entrepreneurs by sharing their knowledge and experience. While it's always great talking with entrepreneurs, talking with entrepreneurs who are focused on doing good, while also being great innovators, is just the best. Page-Out's Carlos Fernandez and Melon Health's Siobhan Bulfin are clearly doing both every day!