Adriana Vazquez @ Lilu builds technology to empower new moms
Lilu builds technology to empower new moms. We developed the first automated massage pumping bra to help nursing moms pump 30% more milk, 100% hands free and hassle free. Our goal is to build innovative products designed to help moms navigate their postpartum journey, comfortably, conveniently and efficiently, because we believe moms deserve more.
What motivated you to become an entrepreneur? Is having your own business something you always wanted?
I love how technology and well designed products can make our life easier - and I love thinking about the context in which people use and interact with technology. In many ways it was my love for building great user experiences that got me thinking about starting my own thing - more than anything I wanted to work and build things that would bring joy to people’s lives or make their live easier and that’s what led me to pursue a masters in product design - and then I found this big problem that I kept seeing and hearing friends experience which was difficulties breast pumping. I was both appalled and intrigued and once I started doing more and more research I realized how much need there was to innovate in pumping and in women’s health in general - and once I had seen it I couldn’t unsee it so I had to do something! And so that desire to improve pumping tech is what led me to start Lilu.
How did you come up with your business idea? What inspired you? What were you doing before this and how did it prepare you for the entrepreneurial life?
The original idea for Lilu’s first product came to me in my last year of my Masters degree at Upenn. I had already started thinking about how to improve the pumping experience, and one day, in a robotics class (well embedded systems, to be more precise), I saw a video of a soft robotic arm picking up a fruit. I had already seen the benefits of breast massage and I was thinking about ways of how to incorporate that into pumping without moms having to do it manually - so it all clicked and I decided to look more into that technology. The program I was taking though was really helpful in putting me in the mindset of starting a user-centered business - I had spent the last year learning about user centered design and the importance of user research - so it gave me I very strong toolkit to think about how to even begin to build out a product. And prior to that I worked at Morgan Stanley in the liquidity risk tech team. While it seems worlds apart to most people, I learned what most teams building software that people will use should know and think about, but somehow is overlooked in many industries - that someone is going to be using the systems you built and that no matter how sophisticated your tech is, if it’s not intuitive or user friendly, you’re only solving the problem partially. So there’s a lot to learn from building software that can be applied to building physical products.
Do you have a fixed work routine? Is it important to have one? Any tips for our readers?
For work, I think we’re at the stage where we need to be flexible and still wearing many hats. So as much as I try to have a plan for the next 12-24 months, the reality is that my role, focus and therefore routine are constantly in flux. Some things that help me stay focused is that I ask the team to help me with a “daily scrum” slack posting of bullet points of things that they’re working on - and we have a bi-weekly meeting to go over big updates and bottlenecks. And then on a personal side, I’ve learned to prioritize myself, physical and mental health a bit more. I’m pretty diligent about sleeping 7+ hours a day, and working out. If you’re not well your business, relationships, and everyone around you will be impacted in some way or another - I’m a believer of the saying, it’s a marathon, not a sprint!
If you were a book, which one would it be and why?
House of leaves - because - I think it takes long to get to know me and some patience (mostly because I’m introverted - and I’m more picky now of how I spend my time) - but hopefully it’s worth your while!