With minimal funding, Gloria Kolb and her husband Eric Kolb have created a device to treat urinary incontinence that has received a coveted clearance from the FDA. Elidah, their startup, expects to exceed $3 million in DTC sales this year. I really enjoyed this story of a couple bootstrapping a promising business together.

Highlight:

·       Sal Daher, CFA Introduces Gloria Kolb, Co-Founder of Elidah ·       Elidah Is Solving Urinary Incontinence in Women – Device Induces Kegel Exercises ·      Just Got FDA Clearance for Overactive Bladder ·       “She only needs to wear it for 20 minutes a day, and then it turns off automatically.” ·       Differentiation from Other Devices: FDA Cleared for Incontinence ·       Randomized Control Trial Result: 75% of Women Experienced Statistically Significant Improvement ·       “It drives me crazy that women do wait so long and they don't tell anyone and they just deal with it for a long, long time. I think part of it is they don't think that there's any other good options for them.” ·       Seeking FDA Clearance for Over-the-counter Sales, Like Gelesis ·       Medicare Covers the Device ·       About 8,000 Customers Have Purchased ELITONE, Elidah’s Device ·       “You have shocked me. I'm not easily shocked. That airline magazines will not talk about urinary incontinence.” ·       “It's not quite the razor blade model. It is definitely about the treatment kit, which cost the $400.” ·      Have Built Sales of $3 MM with Just $750K in Angel Funding Plus $1.8 MM in Grants ·       “A third of women have the issues, over the age of 30, but then you go to over the age of 50 and it's 1 out of 2.” ·       “It's actually the number one issue of why people entered nursing homes. “ ·       “To women out there, I just encourage them to get treated early.” ·       How You Can Help Podcasts Like Gloria’s Be Found ·       Gloria Kolb Studied Engineering at MIT & Stanford, Worked at Johnson & Johnson then Got Her MBA at Babson ·       Wife-and-Husband Founding Team ·       “...over the counter doesn't mean it's less of a product. It is a medical device, regulated product that went through all the hoops.”