GrepBeat last wrote about Mindr in the fall of 2023. Mindr is a Durham-based startup co-founded by Adam Schultz (CEO) and Inna Marquart that provides digital solutions to help users screen for cognitive decline and track personalized plans for preventing cognitive conditions like Alzheimer’s.
For this piece, we caught up with Schultz to learn a bit more about him, how his startup has evolved since our last feature, and what might be next for Mindr.
GrepBeat: When we got in touch, we asked you to look back on your last feature in GrepBeat. Reading about where you were then, what stands out as the biggest change?
Adam Schultz: Since our GrepBeat feature, the most striking change has been moving from the pilot stage to a point where we’re [approaching launch] Back in 2023 we were a tiny team trying to fundraise on a successful pilot during one of the worst times to fundraise in 20 years. Now we’ve grown into an eight-person squad working together to give people the plans, education and daily support they need to lower their risk of Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
We have completed alpha and beta testing and are weeks away from launch. It took us a while to find a path forward when traditional roads proved difficult, but now, it feels we are inches from the first finish line.
GB: How has your team evolved since we last spoke?
Schultz: Our team has really grown, not just in size but in capability. We’re now eight people strong, all working for equity because we truly believe in Mindr’s mission and enjoy working with each other.
The main thing I didn’t realize back in 2023 was how many incredibly talented people are out there, looking for something meaningful to pour their talents into, [and] who also have been touched by Alzheimer’s or dementia in some way. We spent a lot of time early on trying to fundraise and applying for grants to build our product. Only when those efforts failed did we start pursuing equity-based employment as a path to market. We could have started there and made a lot of progress even sooner.
GB: What milestones or accomplishments are you most proud of?
Schultz: Our big early milestone was our 90-day pilot program, which delivered real results and proved our approach works (over 71% of participants saw memory improvements). Off the back of that success, we even signed up our first paying customers and presented our findings at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam. Having our data recognized on that stage felt like huge validation.
But the most important piece was all the feedback from our pilot customers letting us know what they liked best and where they wanted to see improvement. Since then, it’s been a slow but steady climb through alpha and beta testing with tons more customer input up until now—[when we finally have] a commercial candidate for launch.
In an early-stage, mission-driven company like ours, customer guidance and quality data are everything. We are really excited to repeat the pilot study with our fully functional MVP in the coming months.
GB: Has your funding situation changed?
Schultz: Unfortunately, funding is still our toughest challenge. We even tried for NIH and NSF grants without luck, so we’ve remained scrappy; our initial fundraising efforts fell flat due to the tough climate, and we had to pivot by recruiting a team willing to work for equity. We’re still actively exploring funding options, but in the meantime we’ve learned to do a lot with a little.
One vital win was landing $10k in AWS credits so we don’t have [to use] any cash out of pocket to fund our technology infrastructure, for now. That said, with the funding environment being what it is, there are a lot of great companies that have failed or are stagnating because they need cash to do anything. A lot of those companies have folded or stopped making progress. Because we aren’t currently reliant on funding, while we are moving slower than we would if we had funding, we make steady progress regardless.
GB: You’ve been on the scene for a little while now. People may know you as a founder, but perhaps less so as a human being. Tell us something we don’t know about you that has nothing to do with your life as a founder.
Schultz: One thing people might not know is that I perform improv comedy in my spare time. I’m part of a local improv team called Rigsbee Ave; we even did a show at the Raleigh Fringe Festival this year. You can often catch us on stage at spots like Mettlesome Theatre in Durham or Black Sheep Comedy in Carrboro.
Playing make believe in front of a room full of strangers helps me not to take myself too seriously and is an amazing outlet for all my pent-up creative energy. It’s also a great reminder of what you can achieve with just a couple of people who have your back, 45 minutes of stage time, and the willingness to look like a fool in the pursuit of joy.
GB: What partners or organizations (service providers, advisors, investors, if any) have been most helpful to you?
Schultz: We’ve been really fortunate with supportive partners in the aging-in-place and agetech communities. Partners like Teepa Snow were vital early on as we locked in on our target market and clarified our business model. Communities like Startupbootcamp and StartUp Health gave us access to mentors and a huge network of like-minded experts and entrepreneurs that helped refine our approach and expand our visibility.
We also have a strong advisory board of cognitive health experts guiding us from incredible organizations like The Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, Duke Clinical Research, the Alzheimer’s Association, and AARP. Most recently, the community at American Underground and the FCAT Fellowship program have been a huge boost. All of these allies have kept us focused, supported, motivated and growing.
GB: What is your next, biggest challenge?
Schultz: Our next big challenge is executing a successful launch and scaling up from there. We need to prove that we can sustainably deliver value at scale. Balancing rapid growth with our limited funding will be a real test, so we’re focused on finding smart ways to scale our impact without compromising quality.
GB: If you could go back in time to the day you founded your startup, what advice would you give your younger self?
Schultz: I’d just tell myself to start with the team and go from there. It’s possible to build something early with limited capital if you have a great team. That would have saved me a lot of effort and heartache. There is a larger lesson there too: In lean times, we have to find our people first. Only through mutual aid and support can communities thrive.
GB: Finally, you finish a long, grueling day of starting up. You’re hungry and/or thirsty. Where in the Triangle are you headed?
Schultz: There are so many amazing places in town. Lately, I’ve been enjoying Velvet Hippo or Queeny’s for an after-work drink. Great vibes, awesome food, tasty drinks and generally not too crowded after work.
