Episode 2 - Buildings tools to unlock human potential

For our second episode of Promise, we welcome Paulwyn Devasundaram.

Paulwyn has a background as a software engineer, previously climbing the ranks of Australian tech giants Canva and Atlassian. She is currently creating Medoo, a SaaS platform specific to supporting the coaching industry.

We discuss Paulwyn’s lightbulb moment to focus on this space, building an intentional but high-growth company, enabling people to unlock their potential, shaping the future of work, and what the world looks like if it all pans out.

You can find Sydney University’s certification here.

We spoke about Tim Grover’s book, which you can find here.

Afterwork Ventures just supported Medoo with pre-seed funding.

You can find out more about Medoo at their website where Paulwyn and co-founder Allard have deep-dive conversations with coaches. You can sign up to work with their beta product at the time of recording.

Further updates are available on Linkedin and Twitter. Finally, for their visual inspirational content, check out their Instagram.

---

Show notes

[00:01:21] - [First question] – The definition of personal and transformational coaches

[00:05:23] - How someone becomes a life coach

[00:08:03] - The personal and professional challenges that made Paulwyn seek help from coaches

[00:11:09] - Zeroing in on the lack of tooling for coaches

[00:12:23] - Founding a company with your life partner

[00:14:54] - The story behind the name “Medoo”

[00:16:59] - Validating the early concept with coaches

[00:19:34] - The sales and marketing strategy to reach more coaches

[00:21:55] - Initial feedback on the beta product, and the importance of individualzed experiences

[00:25:39] - Designing SaaS to be a companion, not a chore

[00:28:23] - The decision to (successfully) raise money, versus continuing to bootstrap

[00:30:51] - Expanding the team, creating a company culture, and future raises

[00:32:38] - The dynamics of traditional people management, and how Medoo will be part of what needs to change

[00:35:14] - Balancing intentionality and slowness with building a high-growth startup

[00:37:47] - Paulwyn’s committment to help build this future

[00:39:26] - Getting in touch with Medoo - socials and website