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.

You can watch this episode below or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts (search for “Ventures”).

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