@bentossell Hey Ben! Thanks for asking. I'm Riley from Wiivv - thanks for the note. Many people have never considered an insole - but our shoes today are not doing us any favors! That's what we are trying to solve.
We wanted to make getting a custom insole more accessible than a prescription orthotic - and have done that by creating a smart phone app to digitize your feet from your living room. You simply follow the flow that will ask you to take a series of photos of your feet. The 2D images are then used to create a 3D printable files in seconds using our product customization engine. From here - we use industrial SLS 3D printers in our facility in San Diego to mass customize insoles that are made-for-you and delivered to your door.
We have spent the last year testing the product with a group of 100 people who live on their feet and we have really honed in on a product that is going to make you more comfortable in whatever shoes you are wearing.....and we have done this for $75 USD which is a game changer in comparison to expensive orthotics. We are on Kickstarter right now and will start shipping product to our community next month!
What a year it has been for us at Wiivv. We are pumped to share this with you all today.
Thanks for listening - and keep peppering us with questions. We are here to answer!
@jen_riles thanks for the reply!
So you say you are trying to solve the fact our shoes are not doing us any favours....but many people haven't considered an insole. Also you are then mentioning getting a custom insole is now more accessible than a prescription orthotic.
They are separate scenarios.
The market of people who currently need/get a prescription orthotic can get a custom insole using this much easier. That makes sense, how big is that market?
On the other hand, if I have no idea what damage my shoes are doing to me then I need to be made aware. It may be really hard to try and educate people as to why an insole is necessary. Are there many obvious tell-tale signs to make me take action? If there is a lump on my arm, I see it and take action. I've been on my feet for over 20 years and my feet, as far as I know, are fine. How do you plan to educate people like me :)
Are you aiming to solve the current accessibility of prescription insoles or are you trying to go after the much broader market that don't know the dangers they may be facing? I think that both require very different strategies. Keen to hear on how you plan on executing :)
@bentossell You are right Ben. There are 2 different audiences that I addressed. There is the existing market - and then the the opportunity to educate those who have not yet realized that an insole is for them.
The orthotic/insole category is currently 4B. On one hand, you can spend a lot of money to go to a specialist, where you can be prescribed a corrective orthotic for around $400 - and the methods are still not repeatable today. The other side is the 'off-the-shelf' category - which is super accessible and inexpensive - but mostly serves the purpose of comfort (cushion) with no support. There is a gap in the middle that we are trying to serve. Those with sever foot issues should 100% stay with a specialist, but the vast majority of us need a couple of things:
1) Alignment: most of us are not aligned naturally. Pronation happens to the majority of us.
2) Foot fatigue: This is caused by the muscles in your feet collapsing without arch support during the day.
3) Comfort: most of could use something as simple as more comfort for heel striking etc.
You can solve #3 with off the shelf . The more expensive ones solve #1 & #3 in some cases. The kicker really is arch support. Every foot - person to person, even left to right - is unique. Arch support that is made for the masses can't help you there.
As for the point about 'tell-tale signs' - foot pain (and the knock on effects to other areas of the body) - is the best one. 8/10 Americans suffer from it at some point! Our go-to-market strategy on attacking education is a longer conversation - but in short strokes - digital content, grassroots influencer marketing and experiential in places where you spend a lot of time on your feet are elements of our strategy.
PHEW! Long one. Thanks for the discussion. Keep 'em coming @Ben!
Hey @Dan - Thanks for the note! We have some pretty brilliant humans with superior computer vision talents - coupled with a biomechanical engineering team that work hand in hand with them. We are lucky enough to have been wearing them for months - and even my mutantly high arch has been mastered!
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