Beth Sanders was selling computer software and equipment for a regional computer retailer in Ohio when she recorded her grandmother’s life stories on a tape recorder. It was so powerful she decided to create a website in 2001 that allowed anyone to journal and share their life stories. Many experiments led to her first paying customer in 2006: a senior care center who wanted to offer their life journaling software to their seniors. The LifeBio software business was born.
LifeBio is a leading “agetech” software that uses Reminiscence Therapy Method and storytelling in various media to help older people to capture and share their life stories. LifeBio’s autobiography tools are also used by the Mayo Clinic and other organizations serving Alzheimer’s patients. During the COVID crisis, LifeBio launched MyHello, a new software app that helps seniors fight loneliness.
LifeBio has grown steadily and profitably to over $2 million in revenue with 48 employees, based in a small town near Columbus, Ohio. Mostly self-funded with a little angel funding, LifeBio serves the massive senior care industry in the US with its easy-to-use mobile and web apps. Their mission is to help people tell their life stories and share them with their own families.
Best quote from Beth:
“My kids are now in their twenties. They were raised with this company in my life. I felt the company was my difficult middle child, basically. And I did all I could to shield them from the ups and downs of the business.
“My husband and I are both involved on a day-to-day basis in the business. But we can look at each other and say, Stop. We’re done. We’re not talking about business now. You have to be able to separate.
“It really makes me sad when I see other entrepreneurs that have no ability to separate their family life from their work life. And they bring it home way, way, way too much and they’re on their devices too much. I can go on vacation without this stuff in my life and I can leave my weekend and leave it alone.”
In this episode, Beth explains:
- How she experimented in her spare time for years before getting her first customer
- Why LifeBio is focused on the senior care industry even though everyone could use it
- How the COVID crisis created a new product opportunity to help fight loneliness
- How she and her CTO husband managed their growing business and growing family
- Why senior centers care about offering LifeBio to their members
- How AI is helping their mobile and web apps be easier-to-use and more useful
LifeBio Company Facts
- Founded: 2006
- Employees: 48
- Description: LifeBio is a growing agetech software company that provides simple mobile apps that allow senior care centers to help their seniors save their life stories and fight loneliness.
- Funding: Self-funded with time and personal investment with a little angel investment
- Headquarters: Marysville, Ohio (near Columbus)
Links
Find More Episodes Like This
The Practical Founders Podcast
Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies—without big funding.
Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app.
