The Impact Indicator

Blazing a trail as a double outlier with Dana Levin-Robinson (Upfront)

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Dana Levin-Robinson, CEO of Upfront, joins me to discuss how she went from cleaning half of the country's childcare data using an excel spreadsheet to licensing her system, a SaaS platform to the state of Maryland and NYC.

In this episode, Dana and I dig into how she built (and eventually monetized!) a system that cleans childcare data sets at scale. We also cover the unique challenges of being a VC-backed childcare startup selling to the government, and Dana's thoughts on the Techstars Equitech Accelerator.

Highlights:

  • Dana introduces herself and explains how Upfront became the first data company in the childcare space (0:40)
  • Dana lays the foundation for the company and what set the stage for her wanting to hold this industry to a higher standard (3:02)
  • Moving from a service business to a SaaS platform, and pivoting from consumer to government (7:13)
  • Figuring out where the money is (14:21)
  • B2G: Long sales cycles, RFP's and being in the relationship business (19:42)
  • The challenges of being a double outlier (22:54)
  • Setting expectations when going into an accelerator; thinking about your application as a political campaign (26:20)
  • Dana shares some wonderful organizations and communities that are increasing representation in the care category (32:25)

    • Links:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danalevinrobinson/

    Upfront: https://allupfront.com

    Techstars Equitech Accelerator: https://www.techstars.com/accelerators/equitech

    FamTech Collaborative: https://www.famtechcollaborative.org/

    VC-Backed Moms: https://www.vcbackedmoms.com/

    Parenthood Ventures: https://www.parenthoodventures.com/

    Anjal Z Techstars Founder Catalyst Program (Early Education and Childhood program): https://eca.gov.ae/anjal-z-homepage/


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    The Impact IndicatorBy Marielle Delphine Briant