Category: startup

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startup

Metatooth <> Inc.ubate Coworking

Metatooth selected as a 2021 Entrpreneur in Residence at Inc.ubate Coworking Lynn

I am pleased and honored to be an Entrepreneur in Residence at Inc.ubate Coworking. Check out the others in the cohort including Dot Connector Consulting and The Sophisticated Chaton. This opportunity provides Metatooth with office space to plan, collaborate, and learn. Most importantly, it helps keep alive the drive to bring 3D printing “at scale” to Downtown Lynn. Thanks to EforAll Lynn and the Greater Lynn Chamber of Commerce for their past support. The encouragement I’ve received from these groups is so appreciated.

Check us out tonight at the Lynn Museum from 5-7pm!

Receiving support is the easy part. Metatooth still needs to deliver! More on that below.

Where are the mouthguards?

I am happy to report that metatooth.com has delivered sales in 2021! Unfortunately, the complaint rate is untenable. Development costs are low but the pace has been slow for a complete in-house process. Recent breakthroughs to report include the creation of models from impression scans. This is a fundamental building block for many custom products — not just dental.

Metatooth is eager to process more impressions. Order an impression kit to support this effort. You’ll have access to your digital impression for seven years and will have an opportunity to evaluate new products.

Thanks for your support and good health!

Click here to order a kit to support R&D

mouthguard

Categories
startup

EforAll Lynn Winter 2020 Cohort

The EforAll Lynn Winter 2020 Cohort is coming together and Metatooth will be part of it! EforAll’s Lynn Community offers twice-a-year business accelerator programs and “pitch contests” focused on nurturing local entrepreneurs. Core values are Inclusivity, Empathy, Collaboration, Respect, Performance, and Drive. Entrepreneurship for All began in Lowell-Lawrence, MA as Merrimack Valley Sandbox in 2010.  It is the brainchild of Jaishree and Desh Deshpande, with initial funding through their Deshpande Foundation.  It has since expanded across communities in Massachusetts and has recently welcomed Longmont, CO to the fold.

It’s already been helpful to participate in the application and interview process. Interviewers and application reviewers have highlighted questions and prompted reflection on my motivation and goals. The core of the program is twice-a-week workshops over the next 12 weeks. Mentor matching happens at program start and mentors meet with entrepreneurs over the course of the following year. Participants are expected to leave the 12 week workshop period with a 9-month plan to grow their business.

There is a lot of moving parts in any operation. I’ve previously relied on SCORE and the Greater Lynn Chamber of Commerce for business questions and advice. I plan to go back to that well, too!

Thanks to the staff & volunteers of EforAll Lynn for their attention during the application process. How are you engaging with your local community to strengthen your business and achieve your goals? Tell me about it in the comments!

Categories
startup

SCORE

SCORE offers free business counseling. For those near Lynn, MA you can find them at the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce on Thursdays. I’ve been going since January. They’ve answered all my questions: finance, marketing, sales, strategy. You name it, they’ve seen it!

It’s been a great journey so far and I am learning new skills (for example, the sales pitch, marketing collateral). The SCORE counselors have a variety of backgrounds and are eager to brainstorm ideas. Business patterns are similar across industries, for example, Customer service is always about… the customer. For a startup or small business owner who has done 80% of the work, getting sound advice is crucial to completing the next 20%.

A session is 1 hour with whichever 2-3 counselors on hand. I treat it a bit like a project review meeting and a bit like a board of directors meeting. It’s a great tool to keep one honest with the schedule and plan. I keep up my project planning and communication chops by preparing the bi-weekly summary. I have developed KPIs to help understand how my efforts are paying off. For someone used to working in organizations, it is a familiar routine.

But it’s also a way to weed through all the potential ideas and keep focus. Taking an idea from conception to sustainability is a challenge.  Having others involved in the narrative makes it possible to connect tactics with the overall strategy.

One needs to prepare for overnight success and the best method for me to prepare is to practice. The counselors provide a process within which I can operate.  There is also a bit of encouragement, which is helpful, too.

Have you used SCORE or a mentoring program? Tell me about it in the comments!

SCORE business counseling notes
My notes from a SCORE counseling session.