In this episode of Grit Daily Startup Show, host John Biggs sat down with Meghan Joyce, the co-founder and CEO of Duckbill AI. The conversation dove into the tech company’s hybrid approach that combines AI with human oversight to create a personal assistant service that is effective and accessible. This is particularly important as the boundaries between work and personal life are increasingly blurred.

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Personalized Assistance Tailored to Modern Needs

Modern life, with its dual-income households and complex personal and professional responsibilities, demands more than what traditional digital assistants offer. That is the gap Duckbill aims to fill by providing a service that not only anticipates the needs of its users but also actively manages those needs with minimal input required from them.

Duckbill accomplishes this by integrating seamlessly with users’ lives, connecting to personal calendars, analyzing routines, and even incorporating data about family members to offer proactive assistance. This could include:

* Scheduling healthcare appointments.

* Ensuring all preparations are made for a child’s summer camp.

* Managing home maintenance schedules.

In this episode of the Grit Daily Startup Show, host John Biggs was joined by CEO Stacey Yudin of NEP Services, a leader in the communications space that is providing nonprofits and other organizations with best-in-class software. Named one to watch by Fast Company, NEP Services has helped clients raise $65 million for their communities and $7 million for the “Help a Hero” crowdfunding campaign. The discussion dove into what NEP Services is doing and facets of the nonprofit sector as a whole.

Nonprofits, much like startups, find themselves scrounging for resources. Not only are pickings slim, but the sector is notorious for its slow adaptation of technology. Yudin observed this fact and formed NEP Services, in part, to fill the game.

Jens Petter Wilhelmsen, CEO of Ohdoki, a sex tech company, discusses the challenges and importance of sex tech. He shares the journey of bringing their product, Handy, to market and the ups and downs they faced along the way.

Despite the difficulties, they persevered and successfully raised capital.

Wilhelmsen emphasizes the need for persistence and a solid business case when approaching investors.

“Persistency and follow the strategy that you set out” have been his watchwords. He also highlights the importance of sex tech in enabling sexual intimacy and connections, especially for individuals with physical or cognitive limitations. Odoki focuses on building trust and maintaining high-quality products through encryption and security measures.