Amreesh  00:00

I kind of went through this exercise at one point to really understand, like, Okay, what is it that's truly important to me? What is it that defines me, makes me different than anyone else, and from there, then how can I make the impact that I'm trying to do? It was through that kind of personal evaluation and journey that then I came up with these personal values of Inspire, influence, and educate.

Leah  00:20

Hi, thanks for being here. And welcome to Season Two of The Founder Mindset, brought to you by ATB. I'm Leah Sarich, your host, and I'm super excited to talk to more founders about the human experience of being an entrepreneur. In this podcast, we're digging into what it really feels like to build a company from nothing. I was a broadcaster for over 20 years. So I've interviewed thousands of people, but entrepreneurs, not that many. And yet they have the best stories. They're solving big problems. And they're creating incredible impact. But it is hard work. So why would they do this? Let's find out.

Leah 1:05

Joining me in studio today is Dr Amreesh, dentist and founder of OraQ, the first dental AI to standardize dental assessments resulting in personalized treatment recommendations for patients. Amreesh, thank you so much for being here today.

Amreesh 1:20

Thank you for having me.

Leah 1:21

This is so fun. I'm so glad we got to connect again after the season finale that we taped live in front of a studio audience.

Amreesh 1:27

I know, that was exciting. That was a lot of fun.

Leah 1:29

It was a lot of fun. And I'm so glad that we got these bonus episodes together, because I was like, I need to talk more to Amreesh man. He's got lots to say. So thank you for doing this.

Amreesh 1:38

My pleasure.

Leah 1:39

Terrific. So let's go right back to the beginning, shall we? So you're a dentist by trade. You've been a dentist for what, 17 years now?

Amreesh 1:47

Yep.

Leah 1:48

Wow, that's incredible. But you've always been entrepreneurial, because you have two practices going, two dental practices. Is that right?

Amreesh  01:53

Yeah, I had two practices. So, you know, going to locations in the family of dentists in town here, interesting journey through my entrepreneurial career there, I think I'd shared in the live session about how we had our first business hit by the flood. So that's, that's where I really say, you know, as a health care provider, clinician, you know, I mean, we're taught very little about business in school. We're very, you know, patient focused and treatment focused and that kind of thing. But, you know, dentistry, being a private healthcare field. You know, we get a little bit about it, right. But five years into me practicing as a dentist, and then owning my first practice, one year into that, we got hit with 100 year flood in Calgary. And so our practice was right in the middle of it, just in the mission area, and, you know, lost the whole practice one year into owning it. And literally, you know, was in there trying to bucket water out of the clinic and sandbags and a day that I'll never forget.

Leah 2:48

I bet. Oh my God.

Amreesh 2:49

But back to what you said, an entrepreneur. I mean, that was why I always share is like, you know, the journey that the moment in my journey that really, I think, shifted me from being a, you know, a dentist who owned a business, to really having to become a business owner and entrepreneur who practiced dentistry. I didn't have to learn so much about the business of dentistry in a way that probably many colleagues of mine never would have to do in their entire lifetime.

Leah  03:11

No kidding. So what happened then? So you did you lose that practice? Did it ever come back? What happened?

Amreesh  03:15

The practice, I mean, we were just a couple stairs down, like, you know, sub ground, I guess, call it. So the whole first floor of our building had flooded out, and so it was a mess. Because, I mean, nobody really knew how to deal with all that at the time. So, you know, and then you're dealing with, like, overland flooding, sewer backup stuff like all that in your health care facility and in a dental practice, all of our, I mean, when you lay down in your dental chair and all the stuff that makes everything buzz and hiss essentially is all under like, right? So how do you ensure that that's not contaminated, right? So we essentially had to gut the whole place we were able to set up. We didn't have a practice. Had some great colleagues of ours that kind of let us set up shop for a couple months in their locations and take care of our patients. Our patients, obviously, in the area, were affected as well, too. So very understanding of the situation.

Leah 4:11

Right.

Amreesh 4:12

We set up a temporary location in a building nearby, just on the eighth floor, and got some equipment and some dental cabinets that were kicking around at one of the distributors warehouses, and they help us set up something makeshift, just to kind of get going. And we were in there while we gutted the whole other place. Had to, you know, properly, go through all the ozone disinfection and all those kind of things, and then plan to rebuild the whole thing. So it took us about 10 months, almost by time we were back into the existing but now new location.

Leah 4:42

Wow.

Amreesh 4:43

So yeah.

Leah  04:43

Now that's an introduction to entrepreneurship, right there, hey?

Amreesh  04:47

Yes, exactly. Throw you into, you know, taking over an existing business to, kind of a startup dental practice, to, you know, HR, finance. Marketing, you know, 101 or whatever comes before 101, I guess, right.

Leah  05:04

No kidding. You know, it occurs to me hearing that story, that it's kind of remarkable, that you would be like, Well, hey, we figured that out. And you know what, maybe I want to try something else, still, like you still had an itch that needed to be scratched, which is kind of amazing to me.

Amreesh  05:21

I think that's the blessing and the curse of founders. Let's put it that way. We do crazy things when we go through crazy things, like, when do we just stop?  

Leah  05:31

No kidding, right? And you just didn't. So tell me, then how you went from having these two practices and recovering the flooded out practice to all of a sudden trying to figure out maybe I want to do this whole other thing, and this, like the OraQ. How did you even get there?

Amreesh  05:46

Yeah, so between our practices, multiple dentists, hygienists, since everybody working for us, I started really kind of looking into how tied a business like ours is to the person you see, right? And, I mean, we get attached to our doctors, our dentists, our hygienists, like in our world, right? And you want to see them, so they get busy over time. But then, if you're trying to scale and grow a business, well, you have other practitioners that need to do it too. So when we went from one location to the second, that's when I realized, like, I can only be in one place at one time too, right? I need, you know, other people to be, you know, also providing the same level of care, looking at the same type of philosophy around care with our patients. I'm booked out, you know, a month and a half producing at a high revenue level, taking care of my patients. But how do I get my other doctors and other practitioners to also see and practice that way. So, you know, at the same time this is all kind of started happening, kind of just around the pandemic, really, and I had my own little education platform that I was, you know, formalizing as well too, where I'd be working with dentists who would say, Hey, can you help me on some business or clinical coaching and development, because of all the crazy things that I’d been through, priors, how can I help lend a hand and look at things differently. But when it comes to replicating our minds like, you know, when you have that perfect care provider of yours that you're like, hey, well, they can't get me in for three months. Wouldn't it be awesome if they, you know, could get me in next week, right? Well, we have to be able to replicate that way of thinking, right? Yeah, and that's the hard part, because in healthcare, we kind of do it with just continuing education and mentorship and things like that, but implementation is where the rubber meets the road. And you know, statistically, when I looked into this, it's like 11% of what we learn actually gets implemented.

Leah 7:36

11?

Amreesh 7:37

11%. So, you have to kind of keep learning again. That's why we keep kind of reading the same books or doing different things to develop ourselves, whether it's as leaders or business owners. You know, in our world, in clinical care, like you're doing a lot of continuing education, and then you learn a little bit, you put into practice, and then you're back into your busy old habits, and then you're doing it again, maybe six months later in another course. And little by little, you keep getting better and better, right, huh? But I'm like, There's got to be a better way, because that's just not a way to accelerate, you know, implementation. And ultimately, if we're losing dollars because of that in a business and patients are losing out on outcomes, we have to solve it, right? So I started diving into that whole world and saying, you know, how do we make sure that you know, regardless of your dentist's training, years of experience, where they were trained, where they're from, anything like that, like, how do we make sure we have the same level of care from a business perspective, if we're not looking at everything in a patient, I mean, we're leaving lost treatment opportunities on the door for what's best for the patient, but that's dollars that we're not even talking to patients about so it quantifies to a major business lost opportunity in a dental business. So that's where I'm like, we gotta find a better way. And so I started diving in this whole AI world back in 2019, 2020, when the pandemic happened, I had a little more time on my hands, because for a couple months, all of our dental practices were closed. I went back to University of Alberta, where I did my dental school, and said, you know, got this idea, and could we look at machine learning applications? I don't really know anything about AI. I'm just starting to educate myself too on clinical data and start to draw patterns in a different way than were traditionally thought to think about patients’ findings. And worked with Amy, an Alberta machine intelligence student on a technology validation and then went to the market and said, Hey, is this just a me problem, right? Or do other people also think this is a problem? And once I got all those check boxes, then I, you know, had a resounding yes to all three that, you know, this is something that needed solving. We were doing it the same old way for how many years? And so that's when OraQ was born.

Leah  09:44

I love this story because it fits that same pattern where an entrepreneur will identify, there's got to be a better way, right? But what I'm so curious about is that difference between going, there's got to be a better way and thinking, okay, someone's going to have to figure that out. And instead, you're. Like, I'm gonna figure this out myself. You know, why did you think that you know you were the one to solve this problem, or you just were curious enough that you had to tackle it?

Amreesh  10:10

That's a good question. Sometimes we want to just call and hang up the drill, or whatever you want to call it. When it's easier to do that and like, say, hey, well, somebody else is gonna solve this. I'm doing good in my life here. I need to go down this crazy world, right? But, you know, I think my experiences prior, especially when I look back, like the flood incident was, you had to make a decision quickly, like, do I want to just call it whatever, and say it's okay, fine. It's a loss to you know, some businesses go well and some don't, and there's luck and there's this and that, and just move on. And, you know, hey, we'll I can easily just get a job as a dentist somewhere else, or buy another business or whatever, right? Or do I want to figure out how to solve this and not kind of give up, or that resilience side of things, right? And I think from there, maybe that's where that curiosity maybe stems, I think is maybe the right word. I think you're like, I don't think I had anything that told me, like, I'm the guy to figure this out at the time, right? But I was curious enough to say I I'm curious enough that I need to try to figure this out, and then see where it takes me, right.

Leah  11:15

Yeah, I love that. Yeah. Curiosity. Big fan of curiosity. Yeah. Journalists are very curious people. I love it. Okay, so let's tell me a little bit about the birth of OraQ specifically. And you know, when you sort of made it a business. And in fact, what it is.

Amreesh  11:30

Yeah. So as I was sharing it that, you know, while I was doing the call that clinical validation, technology validation, market validation, I was still practicing, you know, full time as a dentist as well, too. Once I got those three check boxes through that journey, too, like, you know, I started realizing, okay, this needs to be a tech company. What is a tech company? I hear about it all, but, you know, nothing I'd ever dabbled in before, right? And learning a lot about it, even from Amy Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, and just different people and just started getting connected with good people, right? And I think, again, we talked about that a lot in the live session about, you know, the community and the village and that we have here, I think, in Calgary and in Alberta. And it's just, you know, I think when you take the time to actually, you know, see the clouds part a little bit and watch what's going on. You can't really always explain what's going on, and it's easier to do that when life is not so crazy. I'll put it that way. So yeah, earlier days, I would be like, Whoa. I met this one person, and all of a sudden, months later, somehow that person connected me to that person, and that person was like, exactly who I needed at the time, because I had a question. I'm like, I don't know what to do now next, right? Like, great. I figured out there's some value to this, right? I figured out AI is the right technology to employ. But now, what do I do, right? And so how do we start kind of connecting the dots with the right people? And, you know, my co founders got brought on to this, and just, you know, advisors and mentors that kind of said, okay, here's maybe how I can help you a little bit further to figure out what you got to do, and you got to define your problem and your solution, and start going down that whole pathway. And then, oh, I know somebody else here that maybe had set up a software company before. So let me connect you with them and talk to them, right? So just kept kind of going, I guess, where the universe was taking me. And then, little by little, then you start hearing about what you're doing, enough so that I think people were validating that I was on the right track, but had a lot to figure out still, versus like, I don't know, you need to go figure out a lot of this before you move forward.

Leah 13:36

Okay, so early validation.

Amreesh  13:39

Yeah, so validation in the sense that, you know, I wasn't out to lunch. maybe what I have gone down this route, right, right, right. So you're on to something. Yeah, on to something. But there was a lot to still come to figure out. And so enough of the initial early validation that said, Okay, I need to figure out how to now take the next step of building out an MVP, assembling a team, starting to raise capital, formalize us as a company, yeah? And that's when everything formalized in 2021,

Leah  14:08

2021 Yeah. Okay, cool, yeah. So where's arc you at now? Yeah.

Amreesh  14:13

So fast forward. It's three to four years here. Now. I mean, we built out a big team, you know, I have two co founders and other dentists, and our CTO, a great team of many who are here in Alberta, and some, you know, other parts of Canada, you know us overseas. We built out our MVP. We had, you know, tested this in market. We got the validation there. Went to the next step to build a commercial solution. Got Health Canada FDA approvals. Launched live in the market at our first, you know, set of paying customers last year started to get partners in the distribution space and, you know, dental education space and things like that. So now we are pushing on that big journey of sales and continue to grow our, you know, the market that is excited about what we've brought, to be able to provide a different, unique solution now.

Leah  15:01

No kidding, and maybe just for the listeners, maybe or help us understand exactly what OraQ does.

Amreesh  15:06

Yeah, so you know, sharing that kind of inconsistency picture and with you know what happens between doctors and how we look at a patient, right? But because this podcast is not for dentists, but everybody listening is a patient of a dentist right, and the story that so many patients have is that one dentist told me one thing, and other dentists told me something else. I don't know if they're trying to sell me on something that I don't need, right? So why is that happening? Why do you have one doctor tell you need Invisalign and orthodontics, and the other one's like, no, just watch this. Like, everything's good, right? And it's because there's a lot of gray, right? Like, there's a lot of gray in terms of how we bring our own subjective opinions to a patient's assessment. And we're not dealing with life and death here, right? So some of this is very preventative and early intervention type in nature. So could you watch it till it's a problem? Yeah, could you intervene early? Yeah, but how do you know when to make that right decision? Right? And so that's where OraQ comes in, is that when you see your dentist. Now, we really believe in standardizing a comprehensive patient evaluation, bringing medical and dental the connection together, so looking at a patient as a whole and then evaluating key areas. We have seven AI models that assess a patient into what's called a wellness profile. So now we equip the dental team with key insights on that patient that they might not be thinking about even before you're in the door, so that now the dental team is like, whoa. I never thought there was something going on in, you know, Leah's bite, like, maybe I should be talking to her about this when she's in today, right? Because I've just been focused on the cavities or the gum health, right? So now we can open up that conversation, standardize how we look at the patient, so that if we're not looking at the right data, how can we make right, you know, insight around it, and then believe in full transparency and ownership of that, or health data back in the hands of a patient. So with a click of a button, we can give you your wellness profile and help connect the dots for you to understand the why. So now, if one dentist is telling you you need Invisalign, and the other ones told you in previously that you didn't, you can say, hey, well, you know, you've got some risk here with your bite and the way your teeth are positioned. You know, it's causing further compromise that if we fast forward this picture 10 years down the road, this is what this could look like. So do you need this today? I mean, it's up to you. But if we did that now and got your teeth in a better position, it might save you from losing bone or having gum recession. And also, yeah, sure, byproduct, it might look a little nicer, but that's not your number one concern right now, but this other stuff might be.

Leah  17:32

Rught. So it's really this idea of personalized medicine, isn't it?  

Amreesh  17:36

Exactly, yeah. That precision care, and just bringing that, that whole view and from a vision perspective, what I'm really excited about is is truly like in when you look at what's happening in the medical world right now, personalized medicine, you know, there's this cool concept of the digital twin, and so I'm excited to bring in the first of this kind, the Dental digital twin.

Leah 17:56

Wow, you heard it here first, the dental digital twin.

Amreesh 18:01

So that, I mean, because we get asked all the time, like, page will say, Hey, can I wait on doing that crowd until my insurance turns over next year or what? Right? And, of course, how do I know what's gonna happen between that time and what you're gonna bite on and, you know, break a tooth or not, and these kind of things, right? But if we can use the power of this data effectively, we can simulate and understand where you are going, and how that's different than the next patient and the next patient, right? So ultimately, I think that's the real power in where we're going with all this, the predictive side of things, and being able to understand how you get healthier or decline in health. .

Leah  18:34

Wow, that's cool. Do I have this right, that you've now raised 4 million.

Amreesh  18:39

We have raised 4 million.

Leah 18:41

Wow, congratulations.

Amreesh 18:42

Thank you. Thank you.

Leah 18:43

How does that feel?

Amreesh 18:44

It's crazy when you say it out loud, I guess because it's a long journey to get there as a founder, definitely has been a big journey to get there, a big part of having great people believe in what we're doing and the vision and where we're going, especially at these early stages, and put money behind us so we can make it happen.

Leah  19:05

No kidding, the one thing you mentioned when we talked on the stage was the feeling specifically about that first cheque, you know, like, just what it feels like. You get in your car and you're like, wow, I just did that. Talk to me a little bit about what that feels like.

Amreesh  19:21

Yeah, so again, when I learned that I need to raise capital.

Leah  19:26

Right? Oh, is this part of the job?

Amreesh  19:29

Yeah, exactly. And then thought at the time, you know, jokingly, it's like, Oh yeah, I'm gonna, like, raise capital for a couple months. And when we done my whole runs, it was good to realize how so many people will say, as a founder and the CEO. You're never done fundraising, and you're never done community doing right, totally. And so learn that now. But that initial summer when we formalized this all, and I said, Okay, now I need to, like, hire my first data scientists, and I need to it was all about, like, building out on the engineering and development side, because I had zero idea to code or do anything for sure that I can understand the business piece and the clinical and things like that. But I can't build a software, right? And so starting to create, like a deck, and creating some form of a presentation that, you know, I could circulate to other people involved. And my initial set of investors were other dentists, right? And who also saw what we're doing here and said, this is definitely needed in the marketplace, and I'm willing to put some money behind this to help you, right? Yeah. So there's a colleague of mine that, you know, had I had approached and been talking about this and, you know, and here I am now saying we need to raise big dollars. And we were, you know, I wanted, I learned about a cap table, and I know that got to minimize numbers of people on my cap table. So how does that equate to a minimum cheque size and all these things, and what, what is my ask, right? And walking away from when that, that first dentist said, I believe in you, and here you go, and given me like, you know, I'm going to his office and picking up a, you know, money order, bank draft, or whatever it would have time from them saying, like, there you are, and it was a big cheque. It was $50,000 so it was not something small. So I'll never forget that. I mean pretty much driving home crying along the way, that I can't believe that somebody actually gave me some money, you know what I mean? So that's a feeling, I think, as a founder, whether you bootstrap it or not, or whatever you're doing, as soon as somebody, I mean, gives you their hard earned money around it, I think, you know, it's something that I take very, very seriously, because I do take it to heart. I'm like, these people are, like, believing in me, right? And, you know, of course, they're raving about the concept and the attraction and all these things that we do, but in the early stages, they're believing in the person in front of them, right?

Leah  21:50

Yeah, they sure are. Wow. What a feeling. I can't even imagine. That must be incredible, amazing.

Leah 21:59

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Leah 21:22

I asked every founder, I said, Okay, obviously there are many very pivotal moments in your journey building your company. I asked you the same question in the pre interview. If you think about a moment that was extremely pivotal, that was almost like a do or die moment, or that it was just something massive that you had to deal with, what comes to mind for you?

Amreesh  22:43

I mean, I think when you asked me to prep for this, I said there's, like, so many moments.

Leah 22:50

Most founders say that.

Amreesh 22:51

Yeah, okay, a few of us, not just me.

Leah 22:53

No, no, it's really not.

Amreesh 22:54

But, yeah, it's like, it's hard to, you know, pinpoint sort of one exact moment to share, I think. But there's, there's a lot you go through in trying to build something from nothing, yeah, and, you know, I will share and say, like, this journey of what I'm doing now and what I've gone through, bringing OraQ to market and stuff is probably one of the hardest things like, I've ever done, right? And so there are the swings of the ups and downs and the swings of like those moments where like it is, there are Do or Die moments in very big ways sometimes, like that can completely shape the next direction of where you're going. Right. If something goes the way you anticipate, all of a sudden, it opens up all these doors. If it doesn't at the time, it at least feels like everything is shut right.

Leah  23:45

I mean, so as the non entrepreneur over here, I'm thinking to myself, how do you even emotionally process that? Like, how do you, how do you not curl up in a corner and just go fetal in the corner? Or, do you? Maybe you do.

Amreesh  24:01

Let’s put it this way. I've had moments where I am curled up and like, why am I doing this? Like, I was practicing dentistry, making a very healthy income, right? Owning a business, multiple businesses. Like, why did I do this? Like, this is kind of crazy, because I go from that to like, you know, a poor startup founder kind of thing. But it is because whatever you end up doing, you do believe in it that much. So even when I've had those, like, really down moments, days, sometimes even multiple days or weeks, right, where you're just like, this is like, nothing is going the way I want, right? The itch that you talk about is like, you feel that there's, like, what else would I do? I mean, like, because I got into this in the first place because of that itch or whatever, right? So as much as your down, you're like, Okay, well, this. Sucks, but then the alternative of not going forward with it just doesn't feel comfortable either. Right? Like you want to, because you believe in it that much. That's why you've sacrificed so much and done so much. So it's just, how do you pick yourself up? How do you find those moments of validation again. How do you find those moments of talking to the right people that help bring you up to your mentors, your advisors, your friends, your family, right, that are like, no, no, you're on something here, right? And, and that's why I've always tried to be very conscious as a founder, to say I can't be going into these things with blinders on, because, you know, if I'm blinded by my own ambition, and other signs are telling me I'm not in the right direction, well, then I'm just truly crazy. So, yeah, you know, so I have to be like, so aware. But then when I'm aware, then I see, okay, there are all these signs still, like, I'm struggling with a certain challenge right now, or do or die moment, but look at this validation. Look at that validation like that's telling me I'm on the right direction. We just got to solve this right? And you have people believing in you and your company, right? So have they seen me and had seen me down and had those vulnerable moments? Yeah, absolutely right. But then I also know, like, I can't be down for their livelihoods, like they're believing in me. I'm they're my employees, my team. Like, yeah, I have to, I gotta get up, because that's the only way they're gonna get up, right, right? Otherwise, this ain't going anywhere, right, right?

Leah  26:34

So now that you've ridden that wave a few times, how do you think about moving through those challenges that you know are inevitable now.

Amreesh  26:43

I was on a couple other podcast interviews a few months ago. Tim Sweet here from from town and stuff, right? And talking to even just other people in The Ecosystem, and friends and colleagues, and we're talking about, like, how we frame our understanding around what we call failure, I think, right? And so a really interesting conversation with Tim on about that, because, you know, I'm not wired to think that failure was acceptable, right? And as a healthcare practitioner, you don't, you can't fail with something and that you treat a patient with and assume that, Oh, it's okay. We tried it, it's all good. They'll be back, right, right? Like, there's serious consequences to the wrong decision here. And it's not just a consequence to me, it's consequence to somebody else in their health, right? So we're really wired from that, you know, I don't know if it's health or science or whatever, and maybe you have other founders and totally other industries that are wired the same. But I found in my own experience, like it's like everything has to be like, perfect. You got to be right. Like, you got to make that right decision. But in this world of like startups, like, you can't do that really, like, you have to be okay with something not working, or something not going the way you want, and and taking that step back and understanding that is something that I'm constantly working on in myself, because I, if I, if I don't, I put so much pressure on myself that it's fully drains you, exhaust you, wipes you, right? So I'm not there by any means, but I'm trying to be like, Okay, listen, like, you know, whatever you call it a failure or a decision that didn't go the right, or some direction of, you know, company, like, some things are in our hands and some things are not right, but like, how we frame our own mindset around it, and then, you know, making sure that we are actually testing things and trying things, and whatever that is, messages in the market or something in the product, but quickly, you know, the whole fail fast bit. But I think it's it for me. It's like, yes, like, how do I, I think, cope with it in a way, or set myself up to it? So I got to change my mindset. First of all, that's what I'm working on around it. You call it the The Founder Mindset, for a reason, yeah. But it's like, you know, I have to be okay with every decision not being the right decision, right? And then learn and make the right decision after and pivot quickly and validate what you need to validate and keep going, but then having, I think, the right support around you to taking the time to actually do what you need for yourself, right? Yeah. I mean, on those tough days, like, go to the gym, have get enough sleep, even though you can't sleep. Like whatever, do things to remain healthy, because whatever it is will pass and you're gonna be on to the next thing soon enough, right?

Leah  29:36

Yeah, that's one of the things I love about this world of entrepreneurship, is this idea that there's no real failure. It's really just learning, right? So that didn't work, all right, let's try something else. And it's like, there's not this sort of pressure in terms of failure, and at least not in the experience that I've had speaking with founders, they don't think of it that way. To your point, it's this mindset that's different, where they just are like, Okay, that didn't work. Let's. Something else, what do we learn? Try something else. What's next? And they just keep moving forward, like it's never this giant thing. It just is a learning. And then you learn, and you move forward, yeah? And I think that's really exciting, really creative, yeah.

Amreesh  30:13

I think you need it to have, o be to have innovation and disruption, because it's not a nine to five. No kind of thing, right? So no, you know, it's you're actually doing things that have never been done before. Yeah. There is no right answer half the time.

Leah  30:28

Right? Exactly, yeah. Which brings me just to this next question, which I ask every person that sits in the chair too. Which is, you know, to your point, being an entrepreneur is not nine to five. It is all consuming, and it often consumes the entire founder and their family and friends and support network and that kind of thing. So how does being an entrepreneur affect your personal life or your family life?

Amreesh  30:49

Yeah, I mean, it definitely affects it in many ways, right? And, you know, I have an amazing wife who's also a dentist, and two young girls, six and eight, and so they've been very much involved in this journey with me, right? And when I had to go full on on this and figure out, okay, this is gonna affect our family in a big way, right? Somethings positive. Hey, I'm not in the dental chair and is stuck in an office all day now, right? Like I am virtual, I'm remote. I can maybe be more available at times, which doesn't always happen. But, you know, it was funny because, like, I think my kids probably didn't totally understand why I stopped wearing scrubs and leaving the office and going out in the morning. I didn't all of a sudden, they're like, why is this guy in his office at home still? And now, all of a sudden, he's talking and on the computer, all day long, right? So they definitely see things in a different way. And but my wife has been a key support through all of this, because without her, I couldn't do any of this, and she's involved in the company too, and so many things in the background. But it's also like without her and her taking care of the kids, like, how could I do any of this stuff, right? When you have a family, like, you know, I'm not a founder. That's like, 20 years old, right? Yeah. And so how do you do all these things when you have all these other priorities in your personal life around it? So you can't do it alone? There's no way.

Leah  32:13

No. There's no way. Yeah, supports are essential. No question. You briefly mentioned this, but I am very curious, and I ask all founders this too. How do you stay well, like, what do you personally stay mindful of to make sure that you're okay, so that you can continue to build and lead your team?

Amreesh  32:29

I was fortunate that, you know, brought up in an East Indian household and East Indian parent and stuff. My mom was a yoga and meditation teacher.

Leah 47:37

Oh, amazing.

Amreesh 47:38

From, you know, and introduced us to that side of things, as at an early age, you don't really know necessarily what you're doing or why, but giving us some, you know, emotional and nervous system regulation type things, right, whether it's just breathing, yeah, right. And so I've always understood the value of that, and know how important it is to keeping those anxious, crazy moments in check, or at least I know what I can go to. And how do we bring that into how we, you know, do our day to day leadership in general too? Because, you know, I think it shared one of the programs I did, and it was actually during the pandemic. There was a program put on NYU. It was supposed to be kind of a hybrid program. It ended up being all virtual called the Inner MBA at NYU, yeah. And it was about, like, socially conscious leadership, but the first part of it is understanding yourself, right? And the EQ side of things, and understanding, how are you showing up? Because if I'm not in a good state, how am I going to show up to my family? How am I going to show up to my team? How am I going to show up to my clients? Like, I have to keep going back to those things, right? Yeah, and so you know, whether that's yoga, meditation, you know, different types of breathing stuff, staying active from a physical activity perspective, trying to find the times to take away and get, you know, check out from your inbox and teams and all that kind of stuff too, right? Is, I think, so important so you can deal with the crazy highs and lows, right? Yeah, absolutely.

Leah  34:04

So it sounds like you're very mindful about that, that you do make an effort to do all that, not that you get to do it as probably as much as you may want to or need to, but you're mindful of it at least.

Amreesh  34:13

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So it's something that I definitely is part of my day to day or week to week, in some way, shape or form, for sure. And I had to be, because otherwise the craziness of this journey is like, if I didn't know how to deal with those crazy moments, like you were talking about the Do or Die moments and stuff like that, yeah. Doesn't mean I don't get anxious. It doesn't mean I don't get stressed out, not like a Zen monk or anything like that. But at least I have some tools at my disposal to understand or check in and know I'm not, I'm not on today. I'm a little off, so.

Leah  34:45

Yeah, right. That’s amazing. It's good to have those tools in the table. Yes, I know something else that really drives you. Amreesh, are your values. In fact, when I was poking around on your website, they're right up there, right at the front, you know, inspire, influence and educate. Can we talk a little bit about those. Why are those so important to you?

Amreesh  35:02

So before or OraQ, you know, when you're talking again about, like, why do you start things like this or whatever? There was something that actually kind of struck in me before that. I'm like, I knew I wanted to do something more to make an impact in a bigger way. You know, not that what I was doing as a dentist wasn't enough or something, right? There was just that itch, again, right? Like that. Yeah, I felt like there was something calling me to do more. I believe in, again, having the right people around you been part of different coaching and business development groups, have my own, you know, business coaches, mentors and things, you know, Tech Canada, and different people that helped me along that journey. And it's through that, that I kind of went through this exercise at one point to really understand, like, Okay, what is it that's truly important to me? What is it that defines me, makes me different than anyone else? And from there, then how can I make the impact that I'm trying to do versus seeing that somebody else does this? I should just try to do that. So it was through that kind of personal evaluation and journey that then I came up with these personal values of Inspire, influence and educate. And I found, if I looked at my past, things that I did, and what I was doing in the present and where I want to go in the future, those three values kind of spoke or came out in every way. So, so at the time, I had no idea anything about OraQ When I made those, right? But then I was like, for me, then I know that became a guiding principle to me as a person, just like core values are a guiding principle within a company, yeah. So I started with me figuring out me first.

Leah  36:37

Yeah, yeah, I love that. I love that. So I'm assuming that's what led to things like ADAPT and Cause to Smile. Why don't we talk about those briefly? Let's start with ADAPT.

Amreesh  36:45

Yeah, sure. The ADAPT is my dental clinical and business coaching training program, so I provide continuing education to other dentists and help them on their journey. I really believe going through what I did again, I really focus on aligning personal, professional, financial goals, like, with whatever it is you do. Because, no matter, I mean, running a dental business and doing that data is not easy either, and it's like a lot of stress and lot of things behind what's procedures with your patients, your team, you're running a big, you know, business as well, right? But then going back to, like, the why? Because after a while, like anything that you keep doing, you can be great at it, but it's kind of like, well, what's the point? Right? Am I trying to grow my business just because I think I need to grow it and make more money? But what's the expense of that? Right? So really helping other people start looking at that from a strategic planning perspective and execution perspective, threading these things in and then how to look at clinical and business. I'm a numbers geek, so before OraQ days, like I did, a lot of other, you know, educating myself and doing certification programs on the financials and understanding PNLs and balance sheets, and these are all things that most dentists don't really look at enough. You rely on your accountants to do that. But how do you drive growth if you don't understand this stuff yourself. So that's where I really focus on, there helping on a one to one basis with dentists on clinical and business coaching. And it just formed because I had colleagues that were coming to me and saying, Hey, can you help me with this? Like, I'm running into this problem with my business. Do you know what to do? Or, hey, I want to learn how to do this procedure to help my patients, wheredo I go and I'm kind of like, well, I can help you, yeah. And then it just kind of, I was like, okay, they want to help them. People actually are inspired, influenced and educated.

Leah 38:31

Amazing. Look at that.

Amreesh 38:32

Let's, uh, let's create this into something formal. And I find that part really fulfilling, too. And I can help somebody else make a difference in their journey too. So that's ADAPT. Community also really important to me as well, and that's what Cause to Smile all about is. How do we do good beyond the walls of our clinics? We have been involved in various types of giving initiatives, all the way from dental school and founding a student run clinic at the U of A to some scholarships in honour of my late father to support these students who run that in Edmonton. And then I wanted to find a way to give back. It's just another bucket that I found, no matter what else I was doing, it doesn't get filled unless I'm doing something to feed that. So Cause to Smile is all about, how do we bring the dental community and larger business community together to support local grassroots needs? So we identify needs that exist within the community, outside of dental care, because dentists are all doing great things to give back to their patients, and there's a lot of amazing dentists. Lot of amazing dental charities. But how do we just bring people around, other ways to connect, learn as a community, get together as a community, and give back to somebody, some organization, that's in need.

Leah  39:33

That’s incredible. It's also a lot. Emery just covered a lot of stuff that you're doing. Does that ever occur to you? Like, wow, maybe I'm doing a little too much. Have I bit off a little more than I could chew here?

Amreesh  39:48

Oh yeah, yeah, for sure. But, and I've also just had to become comfortable with, I can't do it all, all the time, right? And what's most important to me, my family and right now, most importantly, all my time is dedicated to OraQ. So how do I keep nudging away on these other things that I'm doing and just do the best I can.

Leah  40:07

So amazing, and we all benefit, how wonderful. I mean, you obviously already talked about this a little bit, but I'm curious just to see what you would say in response to the notion of impact. And I know it's come up a bit, but at Thin Ai Labs, we talk about creating meaningful human impact, and that's sort of one of the foundational cores of not only our investment thesis, but how we work together and the companies that we support. And I know you've thought a lot about impact, and I'm wondering if, how you think about impact, when you think about creating impact in the world, even maybe personally or through any of your various initiatives that we've discussed. How do you think about impact?

Amreesh  40:44

I want to be able to walk away knowing that I made a difference in a way that wouldn't have happened if I wasn't there to do that, right? And so people talk about, okay, what would you say at your funeral, and what would you do in those ways? And I think that's something that is like a you know, has been core to why did I try to create my personal values? Why did I kind of go into this? Why do we take these crazy plunges? Is that I want to do something that really made a difference. I don't know what that was going to be when I went on that journey, right? This could be very well it right, like hey, leading the charge in this way, and incorporating AI and dentistry is like a huge beginning here for healthcare and my profession and dental, right? Yeah, but knowing that ultimately, what I'm doing is going to help people and have the power of helping people all around the world. Like, when I was in owning my downtown practice, I was like, okay, like, maybe I want to own more dental practice. I gotta see more patients, and I can help them with, like, I can help them with my care that I'm providing. And if I own more practices, I can help more patients. And, like, that's a way to serve more people. But that didn't really like happen, probably because there was a different plan for me, right? And so if this was the plan, this actually allows me to help people in, like, a global scale, and like, one day be able to think that OraQ if you could be in a dental office anywhere in the world and in communities and places that we're bringing that ability to take care of patients in a way, like, we call it “the mind and wisdom of 1000 dentists,” like, if you could bring that to communities or countries in the world that don't have the technology or the resources that we're blessed with the North America, the patient can still be evaluated in a way to know that there's something going on, right? So it's incredible.

Leah  42:29

Yeah, it's amazing. I love that. Well, as we wrap up these conversations, I always end on the same two questions. And you know about these questions, they're forward thinking questions. So you're the co-founder, you're writing the story for OraQ. How do you hope it goes?

Amreesh  42:42

As founders, we put so much energy, blood, sweat and tears into what we do, so you obviously want to see it go through. And so, you know, when we talk about all those ups and downs and all those things like, you know, I think we're at this really exciting and critical stage of our company that, you know, there's just so many like, amazing things ahead of us, or amazing potential people I'm speaking to all around the world today, that you're just like, if one of those clicks, like, what would this look like go forward, right? So I would love to be writing that story to know, hey, and all those times when I'm sitting here like, oh my god, like, you know, we're doing good, but it just, how do you see that, you know, little thing that happened to, you know, take you on that hockey stick forward, yes, that to be able to look back and say, you know, there was those times when I was just like, Oh my God. Like, I'm getting close to done here, right? And to know that I did hang in long enough that I did, you know, believe long enough and know that, you know, yes, that's all I needed to do. And hey, that one thing was right there that I didn't realize at the time, but that was, like, the next big thing, right? And, you know, I shared in the beginning about, you know, I think it was easier and earlier days when things were less chaotic for me to step away and see the clearing between the clouds and see all the orchestration of all of this happening and be truly grateful for that. And, you know, I just want to be able to look back and say, wow, it happened, and look, right?

Leah  44:20

So, yeah, it happened. It happened. I love that. And then think about yourself personally, as the Founder, as the Co-Founder of this company. How do you hope your personal story goes? What would you like to tackle in the future?

Amreesh  44:33

You know, when I was sharing the thing about the personal value story piece too, like I wanted to be someone in something that made an impact and had an influence and helped people in some way, right? And at the time was, was it like, did I own more dental practices, or did I become this dental educator on some clinical care, or something like that, right? But for those things, I would still be one. One of many, and however life took me here to go this way, I'm now one of a few, right? And so wherever this goes like I hope that I can take you know my journey and my story, and help others with this, whether they're other founders, whether they're other people, and say, healthcare and dental business even, because that's not a typical pathway for clinicians to go right and help them know that, hey, you've got an idea and an ability to do something. Where do you start? What do you do? Right? And just like even my kids to be able to see like, it's okay to take a chance and a step and, you know the thing about failure that we talked so those are the things that I, you know, I'll feel for them to especially grow up one day and be like, yeah, like, I saw this all happening, and it was okay, and I could do this, and I can do that, and I can do that. I still have a foundation of this great education behind me, but I can do things, and I can shape the world and change it. And you need people like that as crazy as we are, right?

Leah  45:59

We absolutely do. We absolutely do. Amreesh, thank you for this conversation.

Amreesh  46:04

Thank you so much. You know, I appreciate you having me on the podcast and love what you're doing and everything for the community and bringing so many great people together on your podcast as well. So I hope this was, gave some valuable things for your listeners, and really appreciate you having me on here.

Leah  46:22

As the lead investor in Thin Air Labs - Fund One, Sandstone Asset Management believes in building the commons through innovative founders who are creating meaningful, positive impact, both locally and globally. Sandstone is doing just that by backing the next generation of emerging entrepreneurs. Picture this, a founder start-up goes from idea to international impact supported by strategic investors who believed in their vision. That's the power of Sandstone's approach. Sandstone doesn't just manage wealth, they cultivate it, supporting founders at all stages. Visit sandstoneam.com to learn how sandstone builds legacies that last.

Leah 47:07

The Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund finds, fuels, and fosters opportunities in sectors like aerospace, agribusiness and tech, creating a resilient and diverse economy, attracting world class talent, and solidifying Calgary as a launch pad for innovators. Discover more at www.opportunitycalgary.com    

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