In this post I want to introduce two of the companies I’ve been working with through StartUpNV’s SeedVegas program, and use them to explain what starting from scratch actually looks like.
On the surface, these two companies are in completely different worlds. Readcord is an app that helps parents and grandparents record audio-visual book libraries for their children and grandchildren. WhereTu is a platform for expats moving to new countries, matching them with mentors who can help them avoid the confusion, loneliness, and expensive mistakes that come with relocation. These two companies have very different users and different markets, but when you look closer, they are built from the same source. To add value where it is missing.
Both companies are solving problems they personally lived through. It didn’t start as a “this seems like a good business idea” way, it started when the founders went through a situation that made them realize there is something they are missing and they want to fix that.
For Readcord the journey started when the founder, a military veteran of The Marine Corps, noticed separation from family meant missing meaningful moments with them so he set to shorten the gap between overseas families but at least allowing them to tell bedtime stories to their children.
For WhereTu the journey started a long time ago. The founder of WhereTu has moved between three continents more than fourteen times. Each time learning all about the process, visa, culture, and communities through Google and trial and error by herself. WhereTu is the answer for people relocating and starting over in a new country where people who have been through the relocation process help the ones going through it right now.
That pattern shows up again and again in early-stage companies that survive long enough to become real. The original idea comes from something deeply understood. The founder doesn’t need to guess what the problem feels like, because they remember it.
Readcord is not really about audio files. It’s about presence. It’s about a grandparent who can’t always be there at bedtime, but still wants to show up in a child’s life in a way that feels warm and human.
WhereTu is not really about moving logistics. It’s about the stress of being new somewhere. The feeling of not knowing how things work, not knowing who to ask, and not having anyone around you who can translate the culture.
Most people thinking about starting a business from scratch usually expect some clean sequence they have heard in class. Most successful companies start with a personal problem that won’t let go. Look at the story of DropBox or Uber. These founders thought if I struggled with this, other people probably do too. They all start with a landing page leading to a few conversations, prototype, one user, one payment.
The lesson is not to build what you struggled with. The lesson is to begin with your own problems, perhaps one that revolves around empathy. These two companies are proof that the best businesses often start as someone trying to help the version of themselves that used to need help.
Download Readcord from the Appstore and follow WhereTu on LinkedIn and TikTok.
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