214 | Why Human Connection Is the Most Overlooked Growth Strategy with Omar Alvarez

Omar Alvarez is on a mission to reinvent how we connect—by bringing storytelling back to the heart of technology. With his startup KINNECT, he’s doing exactly that—creating a platform that helps people share their life stories, from past experiences to future dreams, in a way that’s meaningful, inclusive, and easy to use.

Not only has he secured support for his vision, but he’s now poised to disrupt an outdated market and drive innovation, building a fresh space where technology meets human connection.

With professional experience at some of the world’s most iconic storytelling brands like Nike, Levi’s, Hilton, and Hims and Hers, Omar brings a unique blend of creative expertise and personal passion to every piece of the KINNECT experience

Creating Connections at Work

KINNECT creates social spaces for people to connect and drive belonging, whether with your family, friends, or team at work. Each environment is hyper-personalized. 

One big challenge–and opportunity–in the marketplace is creating connections in the workforce. How do you feel like you belong when you work remotely or never see the higher-ups? Employees want to know about the people they work with, who their executives are, and who’s responsible for big decisions at the company. To be effective at work, you have to feel like you're part of a team. KINNECT is hoping to help bridge that gap.

Securing Funding

In the beginning, the thought of raising capital was daunting for Omar. The odds were stacked against him. But he didn’t let the odds hold him back.

At the end of the day, investors are just people. Omar shares his story and the mission behind KINNECT (which was partly inspired by the death of his grandfather), and the right people connect with the product. Some people have told Omar it’s unprofessional to share personal stories, but he knows it’s important for investors to believe in the founder–and that means being authentic to who he is. To date, he’s raised over $400,000 in funding.

Enjoy this episode with Omar Alvarez…

Soundbytes

6:32-6:43
“I really want to think about all the beautiful and cool things about social media and ways of connection today, but I want to cherry-pick what I like about them and then build a complete opposite direction.” 

28:52-29:06
“I was like, All right, I have this amount of money. I have this big vision.
How am I going to build an AI that is not going to change the algorithm to focus on behaviors for purchasing, but instead, how can I use the algorithm to actually help people?”

Quotes

“How do you feel like you belong at work when there's such little information and little ways of actually driving belonging besides like a random Slack huddle?”

“To be effective at work, you have to feel like you're part of a team.”

“Investors are also people. They should definitely look at the needs for business growth. But why not let someone who is Latino, first-generation, English as a second language? Why can't I just act that way too in building a company that is venture scalable?”

Links mentioned in this episode:

From Our Guest

Website: https://www.kinnect.club/

Connect with Omar Alvarez on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heraldalvarez/

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