Tech Founder Spotlight - Myke Bates

Meet Myke Bates, a cockeyed optimist obsessed with leaving the world a better place as the Co-Founder and CEO of Hearo

January 24, 2024

If you’ve landed here, we have a pretty good idea that you can relate to Myke Bates, Co-Founder and CEO of Hearo.¹ Myke is just like you – both extraordinary AND ordinary. He took his innate skill of uniquely solving problems, paired with a natural ability to communicate well with others, and driven by his desire to leave the world a better place, he created the perfect path for himself as a tech entrepreneur.

Sound like you? Watch the full interview above to learn more about him and his tech entrepreneur journey.

Prefer to read? No problem! Get the full interview below.

Introduction

I'm Myke Bates, and I am the CEO and co-founder of Hero Technologies. I would describe myself as an obsessed problem solver who doesn't stop, and some might say I'm a cockeyed optimist.

It's interesting in this disability space, a lot of people have a story or a life connection about how they got into it. I don't have that, I don't have that direct connection, and so for me, I kind of in a sense found myself in this, and then it became a passion for me when I started to realize exactly what we were working on. I didn't really know what we had at the time, and then once we started realizing the impact it could have, at that point is when I started really having a passion behind it because a lot of my worldview comes from a standpoint of equality and how to – it’s so cliche to say – make the world a better place but truly, even if it's a small amount, you know, how can you do that? That's where a lot of my passion comes from, which is not how most people will find themselves in that industry.

Q&A

Codefi: What did you think you needed to get started?
Myke Bates: Once you build something, your experience snowballs, and you realize quite quickly, you did not need a traditional education or degree to get that. And then later, when starting a business, a popular misconception is how much money you need to do that. You do need money – don't get me wrong – but as far as fundraising, I think that's one of the things that probably should be talked about rather quickly, and businesses educated when you're starting out, that funding is probably the thing you need to focus on, not getting. You need to focus on getting customers and getting revenue. So as long as you can start somewhere, start small, iterate, get something, get somebody paying for it, and rinse and repeat that process.

What was your biggest obstacle when starting?
Definitely was making that decision to quit the JOB and leaving that safety net. After that, it was most certainly figuring out how to run a business without having any business education or background.

What was your biggest fear when starting?
My biggest fear, along with I think anybody's biggest fear, is that it's simply not going to work. You pour all that effort in and there's no guarantee. In fact, the odds are stacked against you that it's not going to work. So of course, that's gonna be the scariest thing.

How long did you take before going full-time?
I kept my job for several months before actually forming the company. Our company had another company that preceded it, but it was about a good three to six months, maybe a little bit more because we were even in an accelerator program. And so that was a three-month program itself. So I still had that as a buffer and it was shortly after that concluded that I decided to quit the day job. So it was about six to nine months total that we were working on it before I decided to make the jump.

What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of one of the achievements that came later on after the company was formed well into the, we had customers, paying customers, all of that. But the part that I am proud of most from a technical standpoint is we've gotten now into building our own hardware, specifically sensor devices. And that is a full-on electrical engineering feat, none of which are capabilities that any of us had in the company, and we were able to figure that out within a matter of weeks and actually produce a custom circuit board and get it working, and we're well on the path of being able to create our own hardware. And that was something that felt like an impossibility until we made it happen in a matter of weeks.

What makes a great entrepreneur?
I think one of the best things that makes a tech entrepreneur is actually not necessarily their technical prowess, but it is more their ability to communicate with others. And that can be hard sometimes in tech. If you've got the drive and you have the desire to learn, you can do damn near anything.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
My advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is only start something you're passionate about because even the thrill of starting something that may not be a passion of yours…it's gonna be fun…but once that kind of immediate fun dies out, you really need to be passionate about what you're doing to kind of keep that drive going 'cause you will need that motivation.

People Like Me…don’t stop until the problem is solved.

About Hearo

Hearo is a remote support system designed for independence. By integrating security, reminders, notifications, and environmental controls into a single hub, Hearo helps people living with disabilities live without full-time in-person supervision.

Bounce Your Big Idea With Us

Do you see yourself in Myke's story? Bounce My Big Idea² is a 4-week, cohort based, online workshop to help you test the potential of your tech idea and set you on the path to success as a tech entrepreneur. Applications are open for two upcoming cohorts in February and March. Learn more and apply here: