Welcome And Accelerator Series Setup

Kelvin Crosby 0:06

Welcome to Investing in Accessibility, at Samaritan Partners Podcast. We're not waiting for change. We're investing in it. Join us as we speak with entrepreneurs and thought leaders that are focused on creating a more accessible world. Hey, hey, hey, it's so good to see you, and though I can't see you. It's another beautiful day in the neighborhood. I'm so excited that you're here at Invested in Accessibility. And I'm your host, Kelvin Crosby, and my co-host Chris Maher. How you doing, man?

Chris Maher 0:43

Hey Kelvin, I'm good, my friend. It's good to see you and to be with you as always. Yes. How are you doing?

Kelvin Crosby 0:47

I'm doing good, man. It's another beautiful day in the neighborhood, and just working through the journey of life, right? You just take one step at a time. And I tell you, today. I'm excited about today's guest. And what one of the things about this guest, I I got it's been fun to watch him build out his accelerator program. And man, it's gonna be fun.

Chris Maher 1:12

But yeah, I'm super excited about our guest today. And what's awesome about it is you've actually known this guest a lot longer than I have. So I'm I'm excited to have you guys chat today as well. But this this is a uh another installment of what we're calling our accelerator series, folks that are running accelerators that are focused on assistive and disability tech and and entrepreneurs with disabilities in our ecosystem. And there are a variety of them doing fantastic work, and and and this this person and his organization are towards the top of that list. And so today I would love to welcome our guest, Diego Mariscal, who is the founder and CEO of 2Gether International. Diego, welcome, my friend.

Diego Mariscal 1:56

Thank you, thank you. Excited to be here amongst two of my favorite people. So thank you for having me.

Meet Diego Mariscal And Origin Story

Chris Maher 2:01

Well, thank you so much, Diego. So so quick, quick little backdrop on how I know Diego. And so we're taping this in October. And so almost exactly two years ago, Diego and I met at a dinner at the M Enabling Conference that was hosted by our friend Sandy Lacey at the Perkins School for the Blind and the Howe Innovation Center. And Diego and I, I was very fortunate to be sitting close to him at the table and we hit it off, and and I've continued to be friends and colleagues since then and have had some pretty fun times together on the road at conferences. We've been in Vienna at conferences together, we've been on panels together with Wawa bility, and it's just been awesome. And so one quick story because I know he's gonna bring it up, so I'm gonna proactively bring it up. But this past summer, we were both on a panel that I was moderating for the Wawab ility, 35th anniversary of the ADA, and we were in DC, which which is his hometown, it's where he is based. I don't know DC very well. And after our panel, we're like, hey, let's go grab grab a bite to eat. So we go to lunch, and it it's July in DC, and it's like 100 degrees out with like 100% humidity. It is brutal. And we kind of go down the street from the venue, and like this is his backyard. So he's suggesting you know places, and one was like this really nice French restaurant, and I'm a little particular with what I eat. I'm like, I don't know if that menu is great for me. And so I encourage us to go down the street to this like hole-in-the-wall sandwich restaurant. And he was very polite and he obliged, and it was a disaster, folks. So we go in there, it's like 150 degrees in this place, the air conditioning is broke. You have to order at a kiosk. The entire place is completely unaccessible, including the kiosks. So that was kind of a disaster. We get our food, we can't eat it there because by the time our food arrives, I'm dripping, like it is so hot. So we go back into the venue where we did our panel, and we're sitting there, and and the food's not great. And I'm not gonna give the name of the place, but it's and so like at one point during while we're sitting there eating lunch, I just look up and I look at Diego. I'm like, I'm so sorry, and he was so generous and nice. But every time we see each other now on the road, he's like, I I go, Hey, hey, hey Diego, can I take you to lunch? And we just start cracking up. So that's that's that's our our little story.

Kelvin Crosby 4:28

For I mean, I just feel bad for Diego having the snow with all that sweat with you, man. You you would lose the beautiful lemon and it's just that BO man.

Chris Maher 4:38

It was it was like a scene out of a bad movie, wasn't it, Diego?

Diego Mariscal 4:42

So moral of the story is just don't let Chris pick the lunch places.

Chris Maher 4:46

Never and and I've and I've been to meals with you and your team where you folks where you select, and they're always amazing. I think so. It was a it was a tough lesson for me to learn. So, but having said that,

Diego Mariscal 4:59

forgive n, forgive n.

Chris Maher 5:00

Thank you, thank you, my friend. You're very kind. All right, so we're gonna kick things off here and get into Diego's organization, which he founded upwards a decade ago or so. But before we get into that, I'd love, Diego, for you to just talk about your personal background and kind of what led up to the founding of 2Gether International to start.

Diego Mariscal 5:21

Sure, sure, absolutely. So, so as you mentioned, DC is actually not my hometown. Monterey, Mexico is my hometown. I was born in the States by accident. My parents were shopping, and I was born six months and a half into my mom's pregnancy. So pretty tiny baby. My mom jokes even to this day, and she says that I've always been really stubborn, even before I was born.

Chris Maher 5:52

And what and what city were you born in?

Diego Mariscal 5:54

New Orleans, New Orleans, yeah. Party town.

From Mexico To DC And Early Ventures

Kelvin Crosby 5:57

That makes so . much more sense.

Diego Mariscal 6:01

Right? That's why I'm so..

Kelvin Crosby 6:03

You're wild.

Diego Mariscal 6:05

Right, right. That's why I'm wild. No, I actually I hadn't been there until recently since I was born. So it was a very surreal experience to go back. But yeah, born in the States, raised in Mexico, and particularly in Monterey, Mexico, which for those of you who know Mexican geography, Monterrey, Mexico is sort of the Silicon Valley of Mexico. Everybody is an entrepreneur. I actually, when I where I went to high school, the motto of my high school was a culture of entrepreneurship. And so I was around entrepreneurs, and you know, before even people knew how to spell the word entrepreneur. My dad's an entrepreneur, and so I always saw how business creation had the opportunity not just to create wealth, but to change the way people thought about a particular issue or to have a social impact associated with that, with that business. And so with that, with that frame, I actually started my first company in high school. It was focused around educating students around disability. So we would do things like eating without being able to see, or using public transportation in a wheelchair, or communicating without speaking. And that was a really good gateway for students to learn more about disability.

Chris Maher 7:26

And and Diego, Diego, one thing, maybe share with our listeners who don't know you about being born at six and a half months, how that impacted impacted you.

Diego Mariscal 7:35

Yeah. So I was born with cerebral palsy, which for me is represents or manifests primarily in trouble walking. And so I experienced firsthand how people see you differently and treat you differently. And sometimes the biggest barriers are not the physical barriers, but how society perceives people with disabilities. And so I was always very interested in how we change that. So created this first company was relatively successful, moved to DC thinking that I was gonna go into policy and politics and as far away as what my dad does, I thought I was gonna do, and got here, still in DC 13 years later, and I was really surprised by how slow things were moving in the policy and advocacy space. And most of all, I was shocked by the fact that many of the issues that I was facing in Mexico, like low employment rates, social stigma, was still very much prevalent in the states. And for me, that was a big shocker. And so I was really interested in thinking about how do we change perception. And because I had this background in entrepreneurship from growing up in Mexico, I thought, well, the disability experience and the entrepreneurship experience are in some ways two sides of the same coin, right? As disabled people, we have to be resilient, we have to be tenacious, we have to figure out how to survive in a world that's not built to fit our needs. And that is also what an entrepreneur has to do in different ways. And so I thought, why not combine those? And that was really the basis of 2Gether, and now we are the largest accelerator for founders with disabilities. We've supported more than 700 entrepreneurs all around the world, and we're uh doing some really, really great stuff that I'm excited to get into as the conversation goes on.

Kelvin Crosby 9:39

Before we go forward, I I gotta bring up one business that you started back in DC. So you were you had an apartment and you started doing something with that apartment that made you quite a bit of money, but your landlord didn't really appreciate it.

Disability As Entrepreneurial Advantage

Diego Mariscal 10:01

So the for the listeners, the the dangerous thing about this podcast is that these people know me well. So they know all the secrets behind stories. So what what Kellvin's referring to is in the early days of 2Gether International when we really had n't taken off and we really had no money. I've always been an entrepreneur, and so I thought, hmm, what's a good way to make some money so that I can keep doing this? And I thought, hmm, my apartment, I can probably fit in another bed here, and I'll do like Airbnb. And so I I did an Airbnb and got you know really good reviews and everything. And then I thought, hmm, where one person like this, what I can fit one person here, I could probably fit two people, and I kept going until it was seven people in a one-bedroom apartment, and I got a notice of not eviction, but if I didn't stop, I was gonna get evicted. I did it for a year and a half, it was awesome. Five-star review 90% of the time. Some people had a great experience, and that was my my side hustle that allowed me to continue with 2Gether for its early days.

Chris Maher 11:16

That is awesome. I have not heard that story. I am so glad, Kelvin, you brought that up. Diego, well, I mean, here's the thing, right? It I think that people with disabilities or people who are living with people with disabilities, like me with my two daughters, by default, you need to become problem solvers, right? And you need to figure out how to adapt and be resilient. And like you were just going into kind of problem solving mode, like, okay, I need to provide another stream of income. Like, how could I do that? And so, like, and and and all those traits are we we talk about this a lot on the podcast, and and I know Diego, you you talk about this with your the companies that go through your cohorts, those are all traits that are essential to entrepreneurship, right? And so you were living it before before you started coaching and mentoring and advising.

Kelvin Crosby 12:10

Literally living it in it,

Chris Maher 12:11

Living it, living it. Oh my god, that's that that is fantastic. Kelvin, thank you for bringing that up. So, so Diego, go ahead.

Diego Mariscal 12:20

I have many stories, uh like that's one of many stories. So maybe another time.

Chris Maher 12:24

Well, I know, I know, and you feel free to share it. Another one was you did like a Kickstarter campaign in the early days, right? Getting to get in, didn't you like convince someone in an elevator to give you money like on the spot or something?

Diego Mariscal 12:36

I did. Yeah, I would take Uber, Uber rides, and this was a strategy that I would uh that I would that I would deploy back when there was Uber pool before COVID, that you could get rides with strangers and that way it would be cheaper. I would purposely go from one extreme to the city to the other. I had really no place to really be, but I would just do it so that I could get with as many strangers as possible in the Uber so that I could pitch them on what we were doing, and that's how we raised our first $7,000.

The Airbnb Hustle And Grit

Chris Maher 13:08

Incredible. Incredible. Like, listen, it it it's such a wonderful example of how you just have to grind it out when you're in that early stage of entrepreneurship. T hat's fantastic. So you're renting out your apartment to strangers, you're taking Uber rides with strangers, and you figure out how to get 2Gether International off the ground. So let's talk about 2Gether International, kind of where it started, how it's evolved to where it is today. And we can, I know you do more than the accelerator, but let's try to focus mostly on accelerator, but you can touch up on the other stuff. But yeah, let's let's let's start to talk about what is 2Gether International and how is it supporting that startup ecosystem.

Diego Mariscal 13:51

Yeah, so so 2Gether is the largest accelerator for founders with disabilities. And what we do is really what how it sounds, right? Where we accelerate companies depending on various stages that they're at. We have sort of three complementary programs, if you will. So one is the Get 2Gether Platform, which is for people who just want to learn more about entrepreneurship and maybe want to be with like-minded people, et cetera, et cetera. Then we have Venture Labs, which is for people that have an idea that they want to get off the ground, but they don't really know how. And then we have the accelerator piece, which is okay, I already have some customers, I already have some traction, maybe a little bit of revenue or some investment. How do I put fuel to the fire? Right. So those are the three kind of pillars. In in some ways, we are like any other accelerator or sort of entrepreneurship support organization. But what is unique about us is that we really look at how is disability a competitive advantage for business. So, to give you an example for my own personal life, as somebody with CP, I have literally fallen thousands of times in my life, and thousands of times I've had to get back up. And so that level of tenacity, resiliency can still be translated into business context. I mean, these stories that we share, right, are proof of that, of that frame of mind. And so our secret sauce really is how do we think about the disability experience in the context of a business? How do you manage benefits as an individual person, but also from a business? How do you manage rejection as an individual person, but also as an entrepreneur? That's really, I think, what sets us apart. And that community and camaraderie with people that are going through similar experiences is is our secret sauce that I don't think can be replicated, you know?

Chris Maher 15:59

Yeah, that's it's it's I I think that's absolutely a differentiator that you you folks focus on entrepreneurs with disabilities, that that disability is a competitive advantage. With the companies that go through the accelerator part of your program, so one requirement is the the founder or co-founder has to have a disability themselves. Are their companies also have to be serving the disability community or not necessarily?

Uber Pitches And First Funding

Diego Mariscal 16:28

Not necessarily, no. We've had we've had to make some exceptions, and I think that that is a lesson that I've learned along the way. So not in the US, but our work has expanded in such a way that we are replicating our model on our work in Latin America with the Inter-American Development Bank. And they follow or they're regulated by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. And there was a real fear or uh or a or a real fear that program that was specific to entrepreneurs with disabilities would be perceived as a segregated program, which there are nuances. We can get into that if if we wanted to, but there was a fear that a program that was exclusively for founders with disabilities would be perceived as segregated. And so criteria we we expanded our criteria to include both founders with disabilities and people who are working in the disability space. But we still very much at our core prioritize supporting founders with disabilities because we don't want those voices to get lost in the shuffle.

Chris Maher 17:41

Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. So let's let's talk a little bit more and you you touched on it a little bit, but can you elaborate on what a, generally speaking, a typical experience might be for a company or an entrepreneur that goes through your accelerator cohort experience?

Diego Mariscal 17:59

Yeah, I think it's it's standard, you know, your standard accelerator experience, which is 10 to 12 week program. You you are in a cohort, you have classes with your with fellow cohort members, classmates, you go through various curriculum, and the curriculum is always slightly different depending on the focus of the cohort. So we go through various curriculum, and then throughout the week, you also have a chance to learn from guest speakers, which I know, Chris, you've been a guest speaker a number of times, mentors, coaches. So again, I think that our structure as an accelerator isn't necessarily that different, but the the framework in which we talk about all these things, that's what's unique.

Chris Maher 18:46

Yeah, that makes sense. And with your accelerator, you know, like a traditional accelerator like a Techstars or Y combinator, if you agree, if you are accepted and you move forward, there's capital, but you're giving up a chunk of equity. There are some other accelerators that maybe it might be a grant, or some they're not giving you any moneG. How does that work? What's the funding model, I guess, for the companies that go through your accelerator program?

Inside 2Gether International’s Programs

Diego Mariscal 19:15

Yeah. So for the companies that go through our accelerator program, we we do not take equity, so we're equity free. Our are, I mean, we're structured as a not-for-profit, and that was very much an intentional choice because we didn't want to be beholden to stakeholders, or and we really wanted to make sure that our ultimate metric, when we're having a board meeting and conversations, really our ultimate reporting duty is how are we helping and supporting as many people as possible in the most effective way possible. So that was a very much an intentional choice, although we do operate very much like a like a for profit startup, right? When we think about profit margins, when we think about there's there's This misconception that because you're a non-for-profit, you're mismanaged. That is like so not our case, especially because we're working with startups. We have to know what we're doing.

Chris Maher 20:11

Yeah. and I know from getting to know you that although you're set up as a nonprofit, you run it very much like a for-profit enterprise.

Diego Mariscal 20:19

Exactly, exactly. And and I mean, I can talk to you about cash flow, I can talk to you about runway, burn rate, all of the things all day, right? Because of those are things, sophisticated for-profit terms that that that you really have to be mindful of. It's equity free for the for the founders. And the way the our business model is we bring on partners. So think of the Googles, the Amazon, the PayPal, JP Morgan, and we really say, hey, you you want to have access to these high talented people that are creating these really innovative companies and that are really reshaping the way you're thinking about disability. If you want to do this in a very efficient and authentic way, you want to be supporting these founders. And so through partnerships is really how we how we fund the work and how we continue to grow. There are other models that we're exploring and that we're trying, and I'm happy to get into what that looks like. Excited to, as we grow, also explore other aspects.

Chris Maher 21:23

Yeah, that's awesome. So kind of shifting a little bit, you've now been doing this upwards of like a decade, right? And and what are some of the common, and there's I'm gonna frame it up two ways. When entrepreneurs come into your program, are there some common themes that they the questions that they're that are top of mind for them that they ask where they where they think they need the help or where they where they want guidance? And then where do you what have you and your team seen where they actually need the most help? Because those are two different things. Like, what are the questions they ask and versus where are you seeing commonalities across most entrepreneurs where they really need the most help? Does that make sense?

Equity Free Model And Partnerships

Diego Mariscal 22:07

Yeah. So everybody always talks to us about funding. Like everybody's always like, How do I get more funding if I just had more money? And I think that's often a misconception. And I'm glad we have Kelvin on the line too, because he'll attest, right? Like when we started, we had no money. And I think what I have always been good at is how are we creating value in spite of money? And then the money will follow. So when we started, what we did is we hosted monthly meetups. That's how Kelvin and I met, monthly meetups, that then during COVID became weekly meetups. And then through those meetups, that was the basis, those conversations were the basis for our curriculum. Because in those conversations we were talking about are unique, that was really the basis. And then from that, those meetups, it just so happened. And then Kelvin, I think you were on the on the line or on the meetup when this happened. A woman from Google came and she was like, Oh my god, no one is talking about this. And because she saw the value that we were creating, she went back to her team and said, Hey, we we need to fund this organization. And so they became our major sponsor. And with that money, I hired Keevin, who you know, Chris, and then the rest is history, right? But I share this example because so many entrepreneurs think, if I only had money, and our answer or our framing is well, yes, obviously money is great and necessary. How can you create value and then the money profit will follow?

Chris Maher 23:48

Gotcha. And and then in your experience, and I'm guessing that these companies or these entrepreneurs are entering your program at various stages or of the evolution of their their companies. Where have you folks seen that that early stage entrepreneurs need the most help?

Speaker 1 24:13

Well, certainly, uh certainly in getting them to think less, like more about value creation, right? What I was what I was sharing. And then the other piece too is like really knowing your numbers and really understanding what what's your burn rate, cash flow, how are you thinking about scale and growth from a financial standpoint? What is a realistic growth trajectory? And this is standard wise, but but typically males would look at 30% growth year over year, which is pretty aggressive. We we follow that trajectory, and I'm as a male, I'm kind of guilty on that. But that's that's aggressive, right? And and female entrepreneurs look at a growth trajectory or a smaller growth trajectory, which in the long run really greater sustainability, team morale, et cetera, et cetera. So all that to say really around kind of the financial literacy of a business, right? I think that that's really critical.

Chris Maher 25:16

Yeah. And then are they do they typically also need help on is it like product and product market fit, or is it more kind of go to market? How are you going to generate revenue? Is it B2C, B2B, all the above? Like what like where are you seeing they they need the most assistance?

Common Founder Gaps And Money Myths

Speaker 1 25:34

So so certainly around MVP, sort of what I was sharing earlier, right? How do you create value without being overly relying on on funding? And again, I mean I don't wanna I don't want the takeaway to say like money isn't important because certainly it is, but there's this misconception, I mean, you know, this concept of minimal viable product, how are you creating something that shows that there's value even before there's there's real investment, right? I think that that's really critical. And then the other piece too, and this is very unique to entrepreneurs with disabilities, how are we balance, how are you balancing benefits as an entrepreneur with a disability? So many of us, including myself, rely on Social Security and Medicaid to have our healthcare needs covered and met. And so many entrepreneurs do not want to make a lot of money because they're afraid of losing those benefits. And that is a real concern and a very real talk about policy, a really very big policy barrier for entrepreneurs with disabilities specifically. And so we focus on how do you navigate that in a way that helps grow your business and keep your benefits.

Chris Maher 26:53

Yeah, that's that's fantastic. I I think that's probably also something that's very unique to your program that that other programs are not addressing. And it it is because many times an entrepreneur, a person with a disability starts a business just to support themselves financially, right? Our our friend Bob Ludke talks about that a lot, not only in his book, but you know, when he's out there on the road speaking. And that that's fantastic that you do that. I think that's I think that's a big differentiator for you for sure. So as we're kind of getting close to wrapping up here, uh what are your there's a lot of opportunities with accelerators within the disability space, within the more traditional space. What are your, I think, I think a lot of startup entrepreneurs think two things. One of which is like, oh, I've started a business, I should join an accelerator. And two, like, I got to get venture capital money. And and and you've kind of addressed the kind of money side of things. Like you gotta, you gotta show value before you can really go get professional money. But any tips to entrepreneurs as they're navigating those earliest stages, and whether it's an entrepreneur with a disability or it's an entrepreneur that is building a company that's serving the disability community, any tips or advice for them on how to navigate those early stages on on do you join an accelerator? How do you find people who can be mentors and advisors outside of accelerators? Any advice to entrepreneurs on that front?

MVP, Benefits, And Policy Barriers

Diego Mariscal 28:18

So the biggest advice I would say is focus on a problem you're trying to solve. I think a lot of entrepreneurs and a lot of wannabe founders think about what am I passionate about? You know, and what do I want, what do I want to create? And the reality is not everybody is meant to be a founder, and not everybody should, even people with disabilities. Like you said it, right? A lot of us fall into entrepreneurship because we have to create, we have to create value for ourselves because of the low unemployment rate for people with disabilities, right? But entrepreneurship can also be a very wonderful workforce development strategy, right? You can be a much more competitive employee candidate if you go through the stages of setting up a business. All that to say that I think people mistake it, mistake and often mistake their passion for a real drive to solve a problem. When I was hosting Airbnb, when I was catching rides, you know, with strangers in Ubers and all these things, what was driving me, what was motivating me was really that I was pissed off about how disabled people were being treated, how I was personally treated and perceived, right? And that that anger, because I I was, you know, and I still am. If if you get me in the right headspace, I will still get very angry about what I see, and anger you know in some ways has been my best motivation. And so I think if you can frame it that way, uh that's to me the most the strongest indicator of success.

Chris Maher 30:08

Yeah, I think it's I think it's a great point. I think that whole idea of really solving real problems versus coming up with a solution that's seeking a problem, you know, that that's a really bad place to be as an entrepreneur where you've got a solution that's seeking a problem.

Diego Mariscal 30:24

And we are we are we are a testament to that. I mean, we like I'm always been I've always been really interested in how do we change the way people think about disability. And we started, the reason we're 10 years old, right? And and I've been doing this for a while, is we started by doing workshops in schools. That didn't work for a variety of reasons, and then we moved to how is it that we work on providing advocacy campaigns and allowing people with disabilities to be sort of self-advocates, and that didn't work for a variety of reasons, and it wasn't until our third iteration that we realized okay, really entrepreneurship is the way to go. But the reason, the reason that was successful is because the problem of shifting the way people think about disability was always the root of all of the things that we were trying.

How to Connect with Diego and 2Gether-International

Chris Maher 31:17

Yeah, that's a fantastic example. Again, lived experience comes into play in so much of this. And the fact that you and your team have been through that and now you're advising companies, it makes total sense. And not surprised that all of the companies I've talked to that have had uh the good fortune of going through your cohort experience have all had super positive experiences, which is a testament to you and your team. All right. So as we wrap up here, how can people, specifically entrepreneurs out there that have either thinking of starting something or have started something, how can they, one connect with you and your team and learn more about the work you folks are doing at 2Gether International?

Speaker 1 32:00

So Diego Mariscal on all platforms, you can find me uh at pretty much anywhere, and 2Gether International, together with a number two. So two G E I can't even say it myself 2 G E T H E R- international.org. We need to fix that. Okay, for other for simplicity purposes, we also have this domain twogi.org. So if you type in two number two g i.org, we uh we got you as well.

Chris Maher 32:32

You got it. We're gonna we'll put all of those links in this in the show notes so it'll be easy it'll be easy access for people just to click in and go over. Well, Diego, my friend, you are the best. Always a pleasure to spend time with you. I'm looking forward to our next meal, which you will pick and I will follow. Just thanks for spending time with us, and and the work that you and your team are doing is just phenomenal and super excited for moving forward. Thanks so much for being with us.

Diego Mariscal 33:01

Amazing. Thanks for having me.

Kelvin Crosby 33:03

All right, that wraps up Investing in Accessibility. As I always say, go live be yond your challenges, and we'll see you in two weeks. Thank you for listening to Investing in Accessibility, a Samaritan Partners podcast, where we invest in change for accessibility, not wait for change. If you want to follow us, you can find us on YouTube or LinkedIn at @Samaritan Partners. If you would like to invest in Samaritan Partners, email Chris at chris@samaritanpartners.com. If you'd like to learn more about us, go to www.samaritanpartners.com. You can take the first step in investing in change by giving us five stars and sharing this podcast with everybody that you know so we can spread the word so that we can give access to all by investing in accessibility.