SFN163: Jennifer Barcelos & Sandy Connery On Developing and Growing A B2B Company

Jennifer Barcelos and Sandy Connery are both alums of The Foundation Class of 2013, who met and instantly became friends at our Foundation live event. Jenny was a lawyer and new mom wanting to explore new ways to fund the nonprofit organization she worked with, while Sandy was a certified pedorthist, who after selling her previous business was looking for a new entrepreneurial challenge. After uncovering a common pain point shared by yoga studio owners, Jenny founded Namastream, a virtual wellness studio service for yoga instructors. Sandy, being a fellow yogi and Namastream enthusiast, joined the team a year and a half later.

In this interview, Jenny tells us the story of how Namastream came to be, and what her experience of building a SaaS solution from inception to growth is like. Sandy shares what prompted her to join the Namastream team and how roles are divided between them.

 

In This Interview I Ask:

4:59 - How many studios did you end up speaking with before you saw the pain you were going to solve for them?

5:35 - How do you actually take that pain and start taking action toward building a solution to it?

7:20 - How were you thinking about the long-term vision of what you wanted to get out of building something?

10:01 - People always say that you should build a business in an area that you’re passionate about; is yoga a passion of yours?

12:50 - Jenny, how long did you run [Namastream] without Sandy, and what was the impetus to bring somebody on?

14:54 - How did you decide to bring someone on as a partner versus hiring a rockstar team member that you pay as an employee?

16:50 - Sandy, what drove you to get involved?

19:35 - How did you go from a bootstrap company to going through the 9Mile Labs Accelerator program?

27:28 - What are some of the core takeaways from the Accelerator program?

29:30 - How do you two divide your roles in the company?

33:30 - Who’s the ideal customer for Namastream?

37:41 - What’s the vision for Namastream over the next three years?

40:13 - Do you feel like you went in and dominated yoga and now you’re spreading, or does it feel it doesn’t do you any good to sit around and dominate yoga for years before you spread?

42:12 - [What is] the biggest mistake that you believe you’ve made that has led to breakthroughs or growth?

 

How to Validate a Pain Point

1. Interview multiple target customers and find a common pain point.
2. Have an additional conversation with each of those same customers you interview, and get them to confirm the pain point you’ve discovered.
3. Research bigger brands and companies who have already figured out how to solve the pain point you’ve discovered, and evaluate their solutions.

 

How to Qualify a Potential Partner

• This person should know your business.
• This person should be someone you trust 100%.
• This person should be as excited and interested in your company as you are.

Example: Jenny and Sandy were already accountability partners within The Foundation program so Sandy knew all about Namastream from their conversations. Sandy was always interested in Namastream so when Jenny proposed a partnership, Sandy intuitively said yes.

 

Show Links:

Namastream, website

Soulful MBA: Start Your Own Health and Wellness Business, website

9Mile Labs: Accelerator Program, website