Brokering trust, bringing transparency into medical supply sales, and distributing COVID-19 rapid antigen & antibody tests :: with Susie Kataoka and Norris Liu

In this episode of Ventures, my guests Susie Kataoka (https://www.linkedin.com/in/susiekataoka/), Norris Liu (https://www.linkedin.com/in/thenorrisliu/), and I discuss the origin story of Zebra Health, the work they are doing to bring transparency to the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) global market, starting a joint venture between their startups, distributing rapid antigen and antibody tests for COVID-19, and aspiring toward blockchain/Web 3.0 opportunities for any marketplace that involves brokering trust. 

Visit https://satchel.works/@wclittle/ventures-episode-34 for detailed notes and links to resources (videos, articles, etc…) mentioned. 

You can watch this episode via video here. 

In this episode we cover the following:  

1:45 - Susie introduction and background, Transpara to Zebra Health

3:00 - Norris introduction and background, EHLP to Zebra Health, describing the origin of the name “Zebra Health”

7:43 - for Susie and Norris, was being entrepreneurial something they did as kids or was it something they picked up later in life?

10:00 - What was the process like of starting a formal Joint Venture? At what point did Susie and Norris know that was a good idea?

13:59 - Regarding trust, communication, and transparency (or lack thereof); what is going on in the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) marketplace globally? (A discussion about the fraud and scams going on in the industry)

18:35 - More discussion about the “good” and “bad” side of the global PPE market. 

27:13 - What products and services does Zebra Health offer? 

29:30 - What is the vision/mission of Zebra Health today? 

31:03 - What is the difference between a COVID-19 antigen test and antibody test? (FYI, Zebra Health is a distributor of these tests - visit https://zebra.health to learn more)

39:04 - Does having COVID-19 make someone immune from getting it in the future?

41:23 - Who is Zebra Health for?  (Geared toward health care professionals, health care organizations, and governments)

41:59 - Would manufacturers of PPE/tests and distributors be partners with Zebra Health? 

43:27 - What needs to change in the USA and the global system regarding PPE distribution? (Setting standards, transparency, and open markets) 

46:57 - Web 3.0 / Blockchain considerations for brokering trust / supply chain management, even outside the PPE world (e.g. in commodities trading).

55:26 - Call to action for Web 3.0 developers to help build a decentralized application for brokering trust. 

55:39 - How can people best find Susie/Norris and learn more about Zebra Health? Go to https://zebra.health and feel free to contact susie@zebra.health and norris@zebra.health

56:25 - Zebra Health is more than just PPE. They are distributing test kits (antibody and antigen) and equipment such as air filtration systems and sanitation stickers).

57:39 - Results from testing internally. We tested 13 members of our team, check out https://zebra.health/blogs/news/thirteen-members-of-our-team-were-given-covid-19-rapid-antibody-tests-here-s-what-we-learned