Episode 69: Rising Tides, Forcing Mechanisms, and Keys To Entrepreneurship W/ Aakash Shah
October 9, 2024
My guest on today’s podcast is Aakash Shah. He is the founder of Wyndly, an at home allergy testing and treatment company, designed to provide personalized immunotherapy treatment plans from real doctors delivered to your door. In this episode Aakash shares his journey which is truly remarkable. He shares about his struggle with allergies and realizing that much of the current healthcare system is not available to many people struggling with allergies, because it is hard to get into see an allergist. He and his cousin discovered a way to provide this treatment, and after fixing his own allergies realized that there is a huge need to be solved and began solving it. Aakash and his cousin used the application for Y Combinator, a startup accelerator that has worked with companies like facebook and google, as a way to think about their business, but then also got accepted and went through the process with Y Combinator. He shares about that experience and how being surrounded by other founders growing their businesses at instance rates created a rising tide that challenged him to rise with the tide and grow his business well too. Aakash has big dreams to cure allergies in America and then all across the world which is inspiring to hear. This episode is filled with incredible nuggets of wisdom for all entrepreneurs. So with that introduction, I hope you enjoy this episode of the Self-Employment Success Podcast with Aakash Shah.
My guest on today’s podcast is Aakash Shah. He is the founder of Wyndly, an at home allergy testing and treatment company, designed to provide personalized immunotherapy treatment plans from real doctors delivered to your door. In this episode Aakash shares his journey which is truly remarkable. He shares about his struggle with allergies and realizing that much of the current healthcare system is not available to many people struggling with allergies, because it is hard to get into see an allergist. He and his cousin discovered a way to provide this treatment, and after fixing his own allergies realized that there is a huge need to be solved and began solving it. Aakash and his cousin used the application for Y Combinator, a startup accelerator that has worked with companies like facebook and google, as a way to think about their business, but then also got accepted and went through the process with Y Combinator. He shares about that experience and how being surrounded by other founders growing their businesses at instance rates created a rising tide that challenged him to rise with the tide and grow his business well too. Aakash has big dreams to cure allergies in America and then all across the world which is inspiring to hear. This episode is filled with incredible nuggets of wisdom for all entrepreneurs. So with that introduction, I hope you enjoy this episode of the Self-Employment Success Podcast with Aakash Shah.
wyndly.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mraakashshah/
Transcript:
Yeah, I mean, it's not like I woke up one day and was like, yes, now my life's mission is to fix allergies forever. Instead, I spent 20 years waking up with a congested nose and 20 years not being able to breathe when I went for a run and just like generally feeling like crap and never getting to the bottom of it. And eventually after trying to invest in my health and you know, so many people have this story of a personal health journey.
Leland Gross CFP® EA (00:17)
Mmm.
Mmm.
Aakash Shah (00:32)
I realized, okay, it's allergies. And when you if allergies are stopping you from breathing, and breathing is a critical life function. Look, without breathing, you are literally dying. So, right? Who would have thought so I was like, I think I really it blew my mind, right? It reminded me when someone told me I was just complaining about life with somebody and they're like, What do mean you've never had to
Leland Gross CFP® EA (00:41)
short.
Sure, I heard that one.
Aakash Shah (01:01)
nostrils to breathe out of. Like you've always had two nostrils. I was like, no, they switch off one at a time. They're like, they're, they were like, so confused. Right? It's like when someone tells you, yeah, when I eat, you know, peaches, I break out in hives. And you're like, that's not supposed to happen. So anyway, I basically realized, okay,
Leland Gross CFP® EA (01:17)
Yeah, you're like, that's not normal, actually.
Aakash Shah (01:26)
I need to be able to breathe. I went through so many doctors eventually tried to go and see an allergist and it was just fundamentally impossible to actually get in and see one. There's just not enough allergists in America, right? There's like 120 million people with bad allergies, but only like 4 ,500 practicing allergists. It's just not enough. Eventually I was just complaining to my family as you...
Leland Gross CFP® EA (01:40)
you
Hmm.
Aakash Shah (01:54)
as like, is family there for except complaining about your health too? So I was complaining to my family at Thanksgiving and my cousin's like, I'm an ENT. Our job is to make sure that your airway functions and I can help you and I'll actually be able to help you without you having to even come into my office. I was like, what are you talking about? He's like, basically when you go into a doctor's office, they're gonna put you on allergy shot immunotherapy. So it's the same concept.
Leland Gross CFP® EA (02:05)
Mm.
Aakash Shah (02:24)
that I described earlier of increasing doses of what you're allergic to until your body stops having a reaction. It's done through shots in the office. However, the ENT society, and it's just a different medical branch, the same way you might have neurology or cardiology, they like to do what's known as sublingual immunotherapy, which is a pill or a tablet or