After much analysis and reflection, I have decided to shut down Obi Helpers.

To start this journey I raised a small venture capital round from Floodgate. This amount of money gave me the runway to work on this business until the end of 2023. I stretched that money as much as I could and was able to make it last until February. But at this point that runway has run out. My options at this point are to raise more money or to close down.

The quantity and intensity of the interest that my service has gotten doesn’t indicate this solution is truely solving seniors’ problems. At this point, we have matched six households with a housemate. All individuals involved were excited about who they were matched with and the services we provided. I believe that the relationships we created will extend for years to come.

With that said we have been open for almost four months now and have gotten interest from less than ten people considering opening their home to a housemate. I have spoken to hundreds if not thousands of seniors in the Austin area. I have hosted vendor tables at dozens of senior events, given presentations, spoken to church leaders, spoken to every organization in the area that works with seniors, tried advertising, and many other methods to try to reach seniors. The result of that is lots of people who “love the concept” or “might need it someday but not now”.

It is a tremendous life change to open your home to a stranger and have them move in with you. I knew in starting this service that the biggest question was whether or not we could convince people to open their homes to do this. I hypothesized that due to the high cost of care and tremendously negative effects of social isolation the demand for our housemates would overcome the uncertainty of welcoming a stranger into their homes. It has been my goal for the last few months to test this point and do everything in my power to get people over the hurdle. My conclusion at this time is that the need for affordable care and companionship does not outweight their objections to accepting a housemate. It’s just too big of an ask on families for this service to become widespread.

While disappointing that my service must be shut down I am tremendously grateful to everyone who has contributed to this journey. Floodgate opened a way for me to test my theory by funding this journey and providing thought-provoking instruction on entrepreurship. The other founders I got to work with in Floodgate Reactor inspired me to take a big swing and see if I could make this crazy vision into reality. My advisor Dr. Miguel Galindo and lawyer Gary Papilsky were both tremendous in sharing their knowledge and business advice to steer me in the right direction. Finally, all my family and friends who had to listen to me obsess about this business, thank you for your patience and interest.

While this business won’t continue I don’t think the impact it has had should be understated for any of those who contributed. I started this business very much inspired by my own family. I wanted to reduce the burden on family caregivers caring for aging parents and reduce the social isolation of seniors living alone. Obi Helpers accomplished that for six families who are all better off for it. Three housemates that we placed are watching over the aging parents of adult children who are now less burdened and able to travel and live more freely. Two housemates are providing companionship and assistance to seniors who live alone. Finally one housemate is providing continuity to a young girl who’s parents are in and out of the hospital due to the fathers unsteady health. Throughout the process I’ve been told that our service was a “God send” by multiple different people. To those who contributed, I am truly grateful. 

I am honored to have gotten to be involved in the process and proud of the work I have done. I am excited to apply the many learnings from this business to whatever comes next.

On to the next adventure,

Calvin