- hace 2 horas
Una médica y un ingeniero de sonido crearon un dispositivo que tiene el mismo rendimiento que una máquina de USD 80.000 para el diagnóstico de enfermedades respiratorias, tan solo cuesta producirlo USD 70 en prototipo, pero con manufactura a gran escala puede bajar a USD 30. “Somos una empresa de inteligencia artificial y este aparatito -son como audífonos, pero para el pecho- envía un sonido que viaja por toda la caja torácica y al mismo tiempo está oyendo esa resonancia. Cómo canta el pulmón”. Ahora, con esa pequeña herramienta, “podemos decir si tienes una enfermedad obstructiva con el mismo rendimiento de estas máquinas enormes. Y fuimos capaces de desarrollar un algoritmo que te dice si tienes daño de la vía respiratoria más pequeñita”. ¿Qué quiere decir eso? Logran “detectar daños cinco años antes que la otra máquina grandota, eso quiere decir más años de vida, vividos mejor y, por otro lado, hay menos crisis, menos muertes y solucionamos casi todos esos problemas”, cuenta María Artunduaga, la mujer detrás de Samay, la startup que ya ha recibido más de USD 7 millones en inversión y es la protagonista de esta entrevista para Emprendimiento y Liderazgo de El Espectador.
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00:00Today I'm with an entrepreneur who is a doctor, she created a business, raised capital and is solving one of those problems
00:07that entrepreneurs who hit it out of the park are always looking for.
00:18Maria, welcome.
00:19Hi, how are you? Thank you so much for the invitation.
00:21María Artunduaga, we are at GoFest, the most important entrepreneurship festival in Colombia, and María was a
00:29of those that opened the festival.
00:31So it has a story that I'm not going to be the one to tell, of course not.
00:34I'm going to guide her, but she's going to tell us her story.
00:38María Artunduaga, everyone calls her doctor, doctor, doctor.
00:40Yes, funny.
00:41She's a doctor. How does a doctor, a physician, end up—or rather, begin—her entrepreneurial journey?
00:52Wow, that's a long story. I'm a doctor, originally from Huila, I studied Medicine at Javeriana University, and I went abroad with
01:01an idea, a dream that was to become a plastic surgeon, but a reconstructive surgeon for children.
01:06Yeah.
01:07Inspired by the story of my younger sister, who has cerebral palsy and had to undergo many surgeries
01:12In Colombia, our family always faced many challenges in finding a surgeon who knew how to do things right.
01:19I do a lot of research, Harvard, I'm starting plastic surgery.
01:23Yeah.
01:25Things don't work, they don't work because I experience discrimination firsthand, unfortunately, I complain, they kick me out.
01:34There came a point in my life when I didn't know what to do. I was about 32 years old, and right there...
01:40That's when I try to understand, or rather, find a new niche.
01:44I pivot a lot, I do a lot of things, right? I pivot, pivot, pivot. I do global public health, then I get into the whole thing about
01:50technology because my husband is being hired by Google, he's from Medellín, also trained here in Colombia, we know each other
01:56in Boston.
01:57And that's when I took a business class. I didn't understand what entrepreneurship was. I, well,
02:03I come from a traditional family of doctors; all my life what I knew was how to do studies.
02:07In other words, it was the family inheritance.
02:09Absolutely, yes.
02:09Medicine, family heritage.
02:11Exactly. And my sister is a doctor too. So, she's there. Well, so, what I was going to do was
02:16The original plan was to do that and eventually return. And that's when I took a business class at
02:23a university, called Berkeley, very famous, with a very famous gentleman who teaches the method to
02:29people on how to create Silicon Valley-style companies.
02:32I don't know about that stuff. It's 100 interviews you do with people to try to understand if
02:39There's a business opportunity surrounding the creation of a technology. And that's how it is.
02:43So, that was the homework they gave in that class.
02:45The task.
02:45They had to do 100 interviews trying to, basically, send them out to test the market.
02:50Yeah, fuck yeah. That's what I did. So, I tested, like a typical woman, right? Typical woman. I didn't do 100, I did 250.
02:59150. So, I finished. I was so obsessed with the problem, and the problem revolves around how to understand, how to help
03:08Patients with respiratory illnesses from their homes.
03:12And that's an inspiration following the passing of my grandmother here in Bogotá.
03:18Well, I want us to go there because, regularly in the world of entrepreneurship, people start businesses out of necessity or they start businesses
03:25by opportunity.
03:26And I feel that in Maria's case, it was both. That she identified a need, but clearly
03:34He saw an opportunity.
03:35And that's why I find this case so interesting, and I invited her to this space for entrepreneurship and leadership at
03:39viewer.
03:40Let's continue. What happened to your grandmother, and why did you see a need and an opportunity?
03:44Yes, so I always tell the story that most of the personal decisions I've made in my life
03:50They have been around my family.
03:51I'm very Latina in that respect. Originally my sister didn't work and now my grandmother is passing away.
03:57And one of the biggest frustrations we had with a family of doctors is that we didn't know how to help
04:01my grandmother.
04:01She was living alone in Bogotá because she didn't want to live with anyone, or have anyone take care of her or anything.
04:05She had a disease called COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, sorry, emphysema, chronic bronchitis.
04:12And it was very difficult to understand if his lung function, that is, the way his lungs were functioning in general,
04:22worsened or improved.
04:23What does a doctor do? Do you wait for the patient to tell you, or the grandmother, or the uncle, the
04:29Whatever it is, it tells you whether you feel worse or better.
04:33I mean, symptoms. It's not that I'm coughing more, it's more like I'm having trouble breathing, I don't know, I got worse.
04:40The stairs, today is not my day, I feel worse.
04:43As it is very subjective.
04:44Yeah.
04:44And the idea surrounding, let's say, Samay is originated, inspired by other industries, other solutions.
04:51For example, I talk a lot about Laura's ring now, okay?
04:54Where we bring personalized medicine, which involves sensors, where one understands the physiological parameters, that is, how they
05:02The body behaves, the numbers.
05:04But don't get sidetracked, wait, don't get sidetracked, she's telling us about her grandmother.
05:07Then my grandmother died from a crisis.
05:10Yeah.
05:10The family, all doctors, were completely frustrated.
05:14That happens much earlier, and I bring that problem to the classroom.
05:17So I put together a team with engineers and MBA students and no...
05:21That was in Berkeley.
05:21That was in Berkeley and I was the only weirdo, I was the only doctor there.
05:25Yes, yes, that happened to me when I did the MBA and there was only one doctor and he didn't finish the
05:29MBA.
05:29No, no, no, it was making a mess.
05:30But the guy is a star, his name is Efraín Martínez and he is very famous and very well known.
05:34Suddenly I know him.
05:35Yes, definitely, definitely.
05:37So, the reason for, let's say, that business class assignment is my grandmother and what
05:45What's quite surprising to me is that I thought it was because we were in a bad mood, you know?
05:51No, it's because it's in Bogotá, it's because I didn't call, it's because it's my fault, it's because it's their fault, it's
05:56The doctor's fault.
05:57And it turns out that this problem, more than 80% of the people interviewed said, is a problem that
06:03We need to fix this now, and the existing solutions aren't working.
06:06And we've been treating and managing these patients the same way for over 50 years, and they continue to follow us.
06:14moving.
06:15Follow us...
06:16In other words, it wasn't just a problem with Maria's family, but a widespread issue.
06:20Yes, yes. I interviewed about 100 patients, and every time I did a 45-minute interview with one
06:26At that time, everyone was repeating exactly the same thing to me.
06:29I spoke with a doctor, a general practitioner, a pulmonologist, and they told me, this problem is enormous, enormous, and nobody is addressing it.
06:36He is working.
06:37And that's when the idea was born, after all these surveys, interviews, and market research identified that it wasn't a
06:45It was not just a family problem, but a societal problem, and that's how MAI was born.
06:49Yes, but... And this is the interesting part. Well, I'm not a developer or an engineer, I don't know how to make technology.
06:58In other words, I am the heart of the company and I am a very stubborn, very persistent person.
07:03So, at that point, when I was doing that interview, it turns out I'm married to the engineer I was talking to.
07:08Speaking about Medellín, the paisa, his name is Ricardo.
07:11And he's a genius in audio and acoustics; at one point he was working at Google, and it turns out that
07:17What he did was take the cell phones, at that moment the Pixel, the Google Pixel phone,
07:22And with pure software and code it works wonders, I mean, magic, and makes, let's say, the speakers and microphones
07:29They adapt in real time and seem like hearing aids.
07:33It's all about math, right? So, with his code, he's able to convert a very cheap cell phone in India from
07:42Those that one, not necessarily an iPhone,
07:45that has roughly the same performance as a $1,500 iPhone with just a code, for the
07:51audio part.
07:52So, I'm arriving after 20 years of marriage, okay?
07:54Well, seeing that every day.
07:55Okay, exactly. So, watching him constantly experiment with whistles and sounds and noises in the house.
08:02Well, then, for me, the sound, the music, and the sound—because he's also a musician—well, it was a question
08:08fundamental in my daily life.
08:09So, in that context, I'm interviewing a doctor, a colleague, who tells me about patients, how they get caught
08:16more air into the lungs,
08:18that the patient, let's say, the lungs begin to be affected more and instead of the air, all the
08:24What you inhale comes out, it stays inside.
08:26So, he was showing me photos, right? CT scans.
08:29And there is a special sound in those patients.
08:32I mean, I say this because my mom, she's already passed away, but she suffered from asthma and I had it, now that
08:38Maria says so, I'm reminding her of that.
08:41She didn't die from that, she died in a traffic accident, but my mom did have a particular characteristic, and that was that
08:46when he took a deep breath,
08:48In the next step, an exact sound was heard.
08:52The churches, as well as a little friend, right?
08:54And now I'm understanding it better, Maria.
08:55So what happens? Sound, as well as photonics, for example, when you talk about lasers, it turns out that the
09:01The sound is even more powerful,
09:02But we use it little in industries and especially in health.
09:08So what's going on? Well, the original idea, and well, for which we already have 23 patents granted, by the way.
09:14In the United States?
09:1518 countries, 5 in the United States, we have a lot in Asia, Europe, Canada just launched a week ago,
09:21Chile, and we are waiting for the Colombian one.
09:23Is all of that the initiative of a Colombian woman?
09:25Look, this brain of mine. Yes, no, the idea is mine, they don't believe me. So, well, yes, it is
09:31that's the truth.
09:31But anyway, let's go back, let's go back, this is really good.
09:33Yes, it's a juicy piece of gossip.
09:34So, please, what happened? Listen to people, talk to your husband.
09:40Yes, then the doctor tells me, look, these people are trapped in air, look, look at all these photos, all black, patches
09:47blacks.
09:47So what's happening to me? I'm having déjà vu, I'm going back to 1995, imagine, 46 years already!
09:55Neiva, 2 pm, physics workshop,
09:59On the third floor of the Presentation School in Neiva, my physics teacher was talking to us about music and the phenomenon of
10:04acoustic resonance.
10:05Yeah.
10:06So, music, musical instruments, resonance, waves, all of that.
10:10So, I go back, let's say, in time, and I remember that fundamental principle of physics, right?
10:17And then, as soon as I finished an interview, I called Ricardo and said, what would happen if we grabbed our cell phones and
10:22We sent them sound, the kind you hear normally.
10:25to the lungs, and if someone is having an exacerbation, sorry, if someone is having a crisis, catch the
10:32air, because that sound, that lung sings differently.
10:36Yes, it's that simple.
10:38And I imagine it triggered an alarm on some electronic device.
10:42We're not at that stage yet, because that's another regulatory tangle that requires discussing with the FDA and requesting permission.
10:46for everything and to prove a lot of things,
10:48But in the future, what we want is to be able to have a patch; this is a prototype.
10:54But no, I interrupted there, I interrupted, I mean, she talks to her husband, she says, what would happen if we did this
11:00What about cell phones?
11:02Well, that's the funny thing, he tells me, well yes, obviously, that should work.
11:06And I told him, it's logical and elementary.
11:08So what do I do? Well, being the scientist that I am, I start searching online for who has had it happen to them.
11:13This idea occurred to me,
11:14Who has published about this idea, who has patents, it turns out there was nothing.
11:18In other words, there was a scientific model and a hypothesis.
11:22Exact.
11:22And then we had to start clearing up that hypothesis.
11:25Yes, the hypothesis begins like this: we start, obviously he's the electronics engineer, playing around at home at the end of
11:32week,
11:33I mean, we're a pretty nerdy house, oh my God, and he starts making prototypes and I
11:38What I'm starting to look for are patients.
11:40I start looking for patients, we start testing everything on patients, in California through Facebook,
11:44I start looking for a lot of people on Facebook, in communities; the fact that I'm a doctor obviously validates me.
11:50a lot
11:50And people say, well, if this lady isn't trying to, I don't know, bring us down.
11:54Yeah.
11:55And so we started, and with the data of four or five people or so, we sent it, we applied to our first
12:02medical government award or grant.
12:05Excuse me, I'm interrupting, but had they already established the company there?
12:08At that moment, no, nothing, we were just thinking, well, let's see who'll take us on, because I didn't have a job.
12:18I was trying to find myself again, what am I going to do?
12:21Yes, at that time I was about 37 or 38 years old.
12:24And in that scenario they described to us at the beginning, how one feels isolated, rejected, obviously the theme,
12:31How curious, she studied in Boston, she studied in Berkeley, and yet someone says they feel rejected.
12:38In other words, we're not saying it was a migrant who passed through the hole.
12:41No, no, exactly, exactly, yes, great, but look how interesting it is, however validated and studied it was here in
12:46yoga that was,
12:47There was always a constant questioning about how I had managed to get through,
12:51asking who he had done a favor for, because that's what it was.
12:54More on the topic of women, right?
12:56And feminine, right?
12:57So, from what I just understood, the whole "feminine" thing—oh God, that has to be erased at some point.
13:01of life.
13:02Yes, no, terrible, so that's the way it goes...
13:03Okay, so then, that's when they start to, I mean, is there an idea?
13:07There is an idea.
13:08Does it work? The engineer's test?
13:10Well, yes, it seems like this is working.
13:12And what happens then?
13:13With that data, we sent our first grant application to the National Science Foundation, the NSF, in the United States.
13:20Joined.
13:21I go back and do a lot of interviews because they're required of us.
13:23And in July, I think it was the 4th or 5th, American Independence Day,
13:28We were on vacation in Mexico and, using the computer, we set up an online company.
13:35Oh, really?
13:35And it was me, all alone. That's how it started.
13:38Okay, so I want to understand, what was the problem you identified and how did you manage to find a solution?
13:44Okay, so the problem is the following.
13:47We have been managing and diagnosing patients with respiratory diseases for 180 years using a device worth $80,000 and it is
13:57in a hospital,
13:58which requires the patient to sit there for 40 minutes and blow 20 times through a tube.
14:04It's very expensive, it's very difficult to do, and the problem with that technology is that when you've already
14:09lost 40% of lung function,
14:12It identifies normality, that is, it's already too late.
14:14Yeah?
14:14Which is what almost always happens, the patients arrive too late.
14:17Exact.
14:18So, like in your mom's case, surely at some point she had her skills, her things, she did a
14:24crisis and that's when he was diagnosed with asthma.
14:27So what happens?
14:29That gap, let's say, in time creates many problems for that person's quality of life, right?
14:36Many more symptoms, many more medications that he has to take, and above all, it is also very costly for the system.
14:40So, what do we want to do?
14:41So, we created a device that performs the same as an $80,000 machine, which is this one.
14:48I'm mentioning it, it's called plethysmography.
14:51In fact, we are an artificial intelligence company because we create models, algorithms, and we recently started building models.
14:58to create models that tell us the same thing as an axial tomography scan, as a million-dollar scanner.
15:02So, this little device, there where you see it, these are, I always wear them like this, they're headphones, but for the
15:09chest and sends the sound from the front,
15:13It travels throughout the entire rib cage at the same time, it's hearing that resonance, like the lung sings, right?
15:18So, we took all those frequencies and put together the algorithms; it took us about three years trying to figure out what the heck we were doing.
15:24seeing.
15:25So, it's a deep technology company because this doesn't exist.
15:28And what information does it give them in the end?
15:31So, at this point we can tell you if you have an obstructive disease, right?
15:36Obstructive, with the same performance as these enormous machines, and we were also now able to develop an algorithm
15:42which tells you if you have damage to the smallest airway, the one that's two millimeters long, which only the
15:51The tomography scanner can capture the one million.
15:53What does that mean?
15:54If I am able to detect damage five years before the other big one, the one we usually use,
16:00That means more years of life, lived better, right?
16:04And on the other hand, well, there are fewer crises, fewer deaths, we solve almost all the problems.
16:09Excuse me, I'll take it in my hands, Maria.
16:11How much does it cost to develop this little device that Maria was telling me about in a previous question? They already have a lot of
16:19patents?
16:20So, tell us how much it costs to develop and how many patents you have.
16:23Today, right now, when it's called something else, this is worth 70 dollars.
16:27That is, we use sensors that one buys online.
16:31So, once again, chest headphones.
16:34This is not extremely difficult to do.
16:35Think of Fitbits and all those kinds of, let's say, sensors.
16:39I have these here.
16:40Speakers on one side, microphones on the other.
16:43And, well, I'm not going to explain what else is inside, but it's simple, it's very easy to do.
16:46So, on a large scale, when we start the manufacturing part, whether in Asia or the United States,
16:51Or maybe here, when we start assembling it, it's going to cost $30.
16:54Yeah?
16:55And this can prevent, or at least alert.
16:58Oh, but I haven't told you.
16:59I forgot.
17:00We ran a pilot race in Medellín.
17:03Yeah.
17:03We've finished it.
17:04Eight people who have many crises.
17:06The four of us who had a relapse were able to see an acoustic signal 10 to 15 days prior
17:13that the crisis be diagnosed by a doctor.
17:16So, imagine.
17:17In other words, nobody has been able to prove this in Medicine.
17:19In other words, we can say that this device, thanks to the doubts raised by the interviews,
17:25over 200 interviews, he receives an invitation from a business professor at a university in the United States,
17:32But with applicability throughout the world, it has enabled you to be saving lives today.
17:37Yes, we are in the process.
17:39Not yet, we're still waiting for regulatory approval, but we want to launch in Colombia on the 28th or early 2020.
17:43and FDA more or less United States at 29 out of 30.
17:46This takes time.
17:48You, and here I'm going to move away from the medical topic and into the world of business, which also
17:52They've already studied it, they've raised capital, they have patents, and they've raised capital, and that probably
17:57In the business world, and especially in the medical sector, it is the most important thing.
18:01Having the patents and having the money to continue researching, operating and then developing.
18:06Tell us about that part of your life.
18:07Wow, it's been a long and arduous journey.
18:11We have funded most of the development with what are called undiluted prizes, that is,
18:17It's free money that the American government gave me.
18:20That's like the famous grand ones.
18:21The greats, yes, the greats.
18:23I didn't want to say it in English, because it sounds like grants are weird, doesn't it?
18:26So these are the big ones, to date 3 million and it seems that we're going to get another one of half a million.
18:31in a month.
18:33And the rest, we've raised funds from investors, but look, most of the people who have
18:38Silver medalists are friends and family.
18:40Ah, yes, this is what...
18:42Checks of one thousand dollars and up.
18:43In the business world, it's called the family of friends or family and friends.
18:47Yes, family and friends, uh-huh, exactly.
18:48So they've been doctors, there are people who have known me since I was in school and they
18:52She says, "Oh yes, I know you can pull this off, I know you."
18:55I support that cow.
18:56Yes, I support that cow, boom, boom, boom.
18:58So we have raised up many angels in the United States as well, we have just raised up
19:03From a fund that is very focused on women, we just raised from Peak Angels as well,
19:07which is a global union.
19:09Yes, so, let's see, to date, closed today, 7 million, 7 million.
19:14$7 million.
19:15Yes, but hey, we've been doing them for 7 years.
19:17I mean, the truth is, we've been able to do with 5 million what a team
19:22The American would do it with 15, right?
19:23And that's where I've cheered myself on, I'm a woman.
19:27Women are very good at analyzing everything and not wasting money recklessly.
19:34No.
19:34So I've been very careful in how I run the company, in a very
19:38strategic, where do I raise funds, without losing control and without overselling the
19:44company, because ultimately you know that when there are problems, it gets you out.
19:48Well, then, that's the idea.
19:51Today she was one of the women at the opening of this entrepreneurship festival and they seated her
19:56Alongside Nicolás Rojas de Capta, who also worked in this space, is one of
20:01the most viewed stories and it's a boy who started as a minor to throw
20:05code, as they say.
20:07They created their first company while still underage, going through the Chamber of Commerce
20:12from Bogotá and next to him was Felipe Santamaría from Rockstar Latam, who they today
20:16What they do, so you understand, is to promote businesses and entrepreneurship.
20:19so that they are bigger and have a global scale.
20:22And sitting right there next to her was Dr. Maria.
20:24The weird one.
20:25Maria Artuandoaga.
20:26Maria, don't say doctor.
20:28The doctor is only mentioned when they are not in the hospital, okay?
20:30Or you are my patient, don't call me doctor.
20:32I always said that a doctor is someone who has a doctorate, but...
20:36No, also, in fact it's not the other way around, although PhDs get arms, it's the doctor, it's
20:40the doctor.
20:41Oh, really?
20:41Because, look, the doctor is MD, Medical Doctorate, so, one is supposed to be a doctor.
20:46Well, there it is, now study, we won because we learned something new.
20:50Yes, yes.
20:50Well, Maria, she's in the middle of a business world.
20:54And you are a doctor.
20:55Yeah.
20:56And he suffered that, let's say, rejection of not being able to practice his profession.
21:00Yeah.
21:01How are you feeling today?
21:02After having acquired all that knowledge, that training, and thanks also to education
21:07in the business world and because her husband also saw an opportunity, then surely
21:13It changed his life.
21:13Yes, I was good.
21:14Well, I'm truly grateful to have gone through that dark and difficult period of
21:23my life because starting a business is probably the hardest thing I've ever done.
21:28And I've done very difficult things, starting with medicine, I was a plastic surgeon, the first
21:33woman to transfer from a Latin American school to an accelerated program in the United States,
21:38I was the first.
21:38I wasn't the first to finish, but many more women are now going through it, I love it.
21:44But again, that period of my life taught me a lot about resilience.
21:48and believing that we have to keep working on that.
21:55So, the truth is that I live day by day, I'm not that worried.
22:01There's a lot of uncertainty, but I see each day as an opportunity to do things.
22:08cool, interesting.
22:09When people come to me with a problem at the company, I see it as an opportunity to
22:12to learn something new, which is what you're mentioning now.
22:14Okay, I'm going to learn this, I'm going to learn how to solve this problem, and I'm not afraid.
22:19I'm shameless, I ask everyone around me, from LinkedIn,
22:25WhatsApp, whoever appears on my screen, come on, you, how do I have this problem, this is what
22:29I'm thinking about what I'm going to do, and how would you do it?
22:31So, I also have a very large network, because if I live in Silicon Valley, in the
22:36Bay Area, I've done a lot of programs and I've been very good at building that network
22:40around, because I am aware that there are people much smarter than me, right?
22:44And those intelligent people are the ones who are going to teach me.
22:48So, they say that one...
22:49This is the average of the five people they surround themselves with, so hopefully that
22:53be smarter than oneself.
22:54Yes, exactly.
22:54So, I love it, I don't regret it, I'm not exactly practicing medicine
22:59Because I believe I should have been a scientist, and my mom tells me, "You really..."
23:03As a doctor, because I'm very rebellious, I question a lot, and when you're a woman
23:09And he questions it, it's not going well for him, is it?
23:11So, it was more a question of fitting, of medicine and surgery, especially for a woman.
23:17Honestly, I wouldn't have... if I had continued, things wouldn't have gone well for me.
23:20Yeah?
23:21No, that's what he would have told me, he would have attacked everyone.
23:24Life's paths then led her into the world of entrepreneurship, but with all
23:28the information he had gained thanks to his basic profession.
23:31In short, absolutely, because being a doctor, when I talk to patients, when I do studies of
23:36stability, when, I mean, that's what being a doctor gives me, it gives me such a different perspective
23:41around the consumer, the patient, and that's very appealing.
23:46When I talk to strategic people, pharmaceutical companies and all that, we're on the same page, it's the same line of thinking.
23:52Cool, right?
23:54Versus a traditional entrepreneur?
23:56No, of course not, no, no, no, it would be the same as someone trying to identify themselves, for example,
23:59that my mom had with that issue, because I don't have the vision, I suddenly have the vision
24:03I have experience in journalism and business, but I lack medical expertise. When I have a medical examination, I'll need a...
24:07I'm going to need to turn around and find a technician to answer this technical question.
24:11Hey Maria, just tell me what that device is called.
24:14Her name is Silvi, Silvi with my grandmother, my grandmother's name was Silvia, we called her Mama Silvita.
24:20And that's why she's called Silvi.
24:21Yes, and the company is called Samay.
24:23So, tell me about the Samay company.
24:25You just gave a number at a conference where I was invited, you said we are already
24:29So many people in Colombia, I don't know what, let's talk about the company in general.
24:32So, the company is called Samay because Samay is a Quechua word that means
24:37Breathe deeply, that's the idea.
24:40We will be able to help patients with respiratory disease
24:44feel that they can do this with peace of mind.
24:48So, that's Samay's view.
24:51We are a binational company; the founders, Ricardo and I, live near San Francisco.
24:57We have 22 people among us, well, actually we have two Argentinians, I forgot that.
25:01And in Colombia, we're around 19, the idea is to grow to at least 25 or 30 in the next year.
25:07Office in Medellín, where we are conducting most of the clinical trials,
25:11We just opened an office in Bogotá and, well, I'm going to say something, and that is that I'm going to hire...
25:17starting from more or less
25:18In January of next year, we are closing a $5 million funding round.
25:21Oh, really?
25:21Yeah.
25:22We are short 1.8 and the idea is to hire at least 15 or 20 more people.
25:27I want to grow Bogotá primarily because of the issue of, let's say, market access.
25:32I want to expand the clinical trials here.
25:34I need many data scientists, a great many, engineers, any PhD with a master's degree,
25:41Anyone who has done this here or elsewhere, please contact me. I love working with scientists.
25:47and educate and train them to become founders.
25:50So, what is my goal?
25:51I want Samae to be the Nubank of Deep Tech in Colombia.
25:55That was the summary.
25:56I'm serious.
25:57That was the good summary.
25:58It's time for a segment called The Pitch,
26:00These are quick questions seeking out-of-the-box answers.
26:03So, here we go with The Pitch.
26:09Well, Maria, if I could change one rule of business after having recounted this whole process,
26:14If it were within his power to change that rule, what would it be and why?
26:19The rule is to stop making decisions based on characteristics and trends.
26:27Investors generally bet heavily on what has historically been successful.
26:32What's happening in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley?
26:34They place a lot of bets on young people who came out of Stanford, or Berkeley, or whatever.
26:39who are roughly between 20 and 25 years old, and who are usually white or Asian,
26:45whether they are southern Indians or from the east side.
26:48They don't take a chance on someone like me.
26:52I am 46, I am dark-skinned, short, and I still have an accent.
26:57So, they are very afraid of risks.
26:59The risks are that, there is no historical precedent.
27:03Cultural risk, indeed.
27:04Yes, it's like no Latina has been able to do anything extraordinary,
27:09Well, I don't want to be the first.
27:11I don't want to be the first to invest.
27:12So, that happens to me a lot.
27:14This is the first time I've heard this in this space, which has been around for more than 3 or 4 years.
27:18Ah, it's because I'm very honest.
27:19So, I really think it's interesting to listen to it and especially to publish it.
27:24Okay, 2. What business do you dream of starting, but haven't been able to due to life's twists and turns?
27:31hasn't had the time or hasn't had that partner, that person by their side to help them do it,
27:37But what if one day you say, 'I'm going to work on it'?
27:40I can only see myself doing that mesh until the day I die.
27:43What I do see myself doing is creating other verticals.
27:46In other words, I want more respiratory illnesses, I want to put it not in the lungs, but in the abdomen.
27:52I want to take this technology and, rather, test it on a number of things.
27:56to see if we are able to bring sensors that democratize access to diagnosis
28:02And care in the global south, yes?
28:06Because most of the sensors that one uses or that one makes in the United States are expensive.
28:11They are not thinking about emerging markets.
28:13It's worth 5 pesos to them.
28:14That's my dream.
28:16How do you imagine 5 or 10 years from now?
28:18How do you think it will happen now that you said "dream"?
28:21And I know that in technology it's sometimes too ambitious to talk about 5 or 10 years,
28:26But I believe that your issue, since it is not only technical or technological,
28:31but it has to do with health and with humans,
28:34So, what do 5 or 10 years look like?
28:365 years.
28:37My metric is 2030, one million people breathing better and living better
28:42Thanks to this solution, wherever they are.
28:45The idea is to launch in Latin America, starting with Colombia.
28:47and have FDA approval by at least 2030.
28:50And from then on, it's exponential.
28:53because the FDA opens up all existing markets in the world to me.
28:57I want to get to Asia, and obviously to Europe.
29:00cover all of Latin America, Africa, that is,
29:02respiratory diseases.
29:04That's a really interesting fact.
29:0510% of the global population will have a respiratory disease
29:10chronic in the following 50, 30, 50 years due to pollution and climate change.
29:16So, there's a huge opportunity.
29:18A golden opportunity.
29:19Obviously, then, I'm not going to tell him the story.
29:20I want to do a unicorn IPO, honestly, I don't know.
29:22I would love to be the first to get on the public stock exchange
29:25And do this with the little bell, so the videos come out.
29:27that everyone, especially girls and women, let's say,
29:30If she can do it, why can't I?
29:32But I don't really know, I'm not a witch yet.
29:35Okay, fourth, there are five, we're almost done, fourth.
29:39What is the worst mistake you've ever made in your life?
29:41But from whom has he learned the most?
29:44My God, I make so many mistakes.
29:46I think I still need to control my impulsiveness a little bit.
29:49Sometimes I get very emotional, I don't know if it's the hormones or what the hell.
29:53Yes, yes, it is, but I think that's what makes it attractive.
29:57The discourse and the information behind it, I feel, but oh well.
30:00It's strange, no, no, it's strange because you know that one of my biggest challenges right now
30:04It's operations, it's the people.
30:06Yes, sometimes I wish I were better at managing people.
30:13In other words, like the manager, the administrator,
30:15That's one of the things I have to work on.
30:17And the truth is that unfortunately, when one is a doctor
30:21It teaches you a lot of skill, right?
30:24And that part of the trick is being at someone's beck and call, right?
30:27So that part, that sensitivity, that emotional intelligence,
30:31I think I still have a lot of work to do on it.
30:33A lot, because everyone is talking about results, investment rounds,
30:37acquisition, acquisition costs, products, patents.
30:40Thousands of things.
30:41But people don't talk about the process, and the process is a very complicated thing.
30:44And it's very difficult. How is your mental health today?
30:46Let's see, they are removed here.
30:49I have been diagnosed with major depression and generalized anxiety disorder.
30:52because of what happened to me after the residency.
30:55I'm not on medication, I healed myself with animals.
31:00Yes, I do have my emotional support animals.
31:03What's going on? And I became a mom four years ago.
31:05So, in terms of mental health, it's difficult because, yes, one lives with anxiety.
31:10You never know what's going to happen today.
31:12I try to do a little meditation, I try to have a lot of conversations with other founders
31:17that we are all here, we all feel the same, we all go through the same thing.
31:23I'm having a lot of insomnia right now, I'm trying to solve that little problem.
31:26But it's difficult.
31:26It's difficult because, well, I mean, I have the responsibility of feeding 22 mouths.
31:32I believe it's inevitable that as a founder, you'll experience some mental health impact.
31:38In other words, anyone who wants to be a founder has to know that their life will probably be shortened.
31:45Because it has a physical impact; you hardly have time to even exercise.
31:50Stress ages you a lot, so I'm even more eager.
31:52There are thousands of studies, seriously, and on the other hand, mental health is also greatly affected.
31:57I don't know what to do, I have a coach, lies, I just...
32:00What I'm trying to do is implement what other founders have told me.
32:04I just hired a coach who is a psychologist and I meet with him every two weeks
32:10to bring all this part, let's say, from the heart, from the mind,
32:14How to try to solve the problems, but nobody has the answer for this.
32:18I mean, honestly, I don't think this is going to disappear.
32:22It will remain there until the end of my days, or at least until it is no longer like that.
32:26And what a paradox, isn't it? Because it's being said by the same doctor.
32:30But hey, that's life, isn't it?
32:32That's life, and the good thing is...
32:33Exact.
32:34And that here, above all, there is a little more information to make informed decisions.
32:37Exactly, exactly.
32:38It's more of a support role, isn't it?
32:40So, medication if necessary, meditation, lots of exercise,
32:44And the social network around oneself, I don't exactly have many friends,
32:48But I talk a lot with the founders, my mom, my accomplice,
32:52We spend every day together, and I kind of tell her everything, you know?
32:56So...
32:56Very good.
32:57That works.
32:58The value of mothers.
32:59Yes, a lot.
33:00Well, María Artunduaga, the CEO and co-founder, was here.
33:06Because I'm talking about the husband too, we shouldn't take away his credit.
33:10from a company called Samai, very well presented here at Go Fest,
33:14the most important entrepreneurship festival in Colombia.
33:17Maria, give me your hand, it's a pleasure, thank you for what you're doing.
33:22Thank you for making the decision to do it, and I say this especially because of my personal experience.
33:25Because I also saw my mother suffering from that while she was alive, obviously, so
33:29Thank you very much, this will be saved at www.lespectador.com.
33:33There is a free version available on YouTube, and there is also a text version.
33:37for our subscribers, and of course it has distribution on social media.
33:42Maria, thank you again, and see you at Entrepreneurship and Audience Leadership.
33:46in the next interview.
33:47See you soon.
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