Today we bring you our interview with SelfEcho CEO and co-founder Jacques Habra, who has previously launched and financed several successful tech firms including TrackR (Phone Halo), Web Elite, First Click and SBClick. Aside from SelfEcho, Jacques is also involved as the general manager of Santa Barbara-based incubator Noospheric and as managing director of the venture firm, Quantified Fund, also based in Santa Barbara. He’s obviously a busy guy and we’re lucky to have him respond few of our questions; here’s what he had to say…
How would you pitch your company? What’s your elevator pitch?
SelfEcho develops technology to improve wellness based on science. The company currently has two products: SelfEcho Pro is our flagship product and currently in clinical pilot phase; it empowers psychology clinicians and mental health professionals to accelerate diagnosis and improve care. Clinicians provide clients with the SelfEcho Pro app that helps them track their well-being on a daily basis. Clinicians can also monitor the activity of the client through the Web-based dashboard. The data and reporting shows valuable insights into the patterns and behaviors of clients in between visits.
Our second product is UpJoy – a corporate positivity management tool that provides wellness and HR managers a way to “prescribe positivity.” The images, videos and content on the UpJoy system are scientifically validated to increase positivity, which is again scientifically proven to increase productivity in the workplace. Administrators have access to an intuitive dashboard to measure the ROP (Return on Positivity) as well as customize the UpJoy sessions (frequency and length).
What sets you apart from competitors?
The SelfEcho team is led by world-renowned psychologists including Dan Gilbert of Harvard University, and Jonathan Schooler and Shelly Gable of University of California, Santa Barbara. Each of our scientists are leaders in their respective niche and have applied true science and research to each aspect of SelfEcho from data collection, experience sampling, linguistic analysis, and reporting.
What’s your business model?
SelfEcho provides the SelfEcho Pro system to clinicians for a monthly fee for unlimited usage. UpJoy is priced at $1.00 per employee per month.
Can you share some numbers? How many users do you have?
We keep this information confidential at this time.
Where do you see the company going from here?
Our vision is to conduct successful pilots of SelfEcho Pro during the fall of 2014 and provide the commercial version of the mobile application in late 2014. We already have hundreds of clinicians interested in using SelfEcho in their practices. UpJoy has been in the market since July 2014 and several companies have already remarked at the increase in positivity the system has proven.
Where do you see the mHealth industry going?
Mobile therapy and mobile psychology are disruptive concepts that will improve how therapists provide care by increased levels of communication and the ability to share what before has either been forgotten or held back. The connection point between an objective and very personal smartphone and the expertise of a health professional offers tremendous potential to improve care and well-being.
How long are we from seeing modern mHealth technologies going mainstream?
It is happening now. Cardiologists can provide diagnosis and prescription remotely. Surgeons are advising in real-time on procedures and techniques during surgery from thousands of miles away. The application of mobile technology towards more common weekly or daily health services is next.