20A - Growing Your Social Capital

1) One person must be a domain expert in your industry.

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Vinod Melvani is a Senior Pharmaceutical Executive. His formal title is President of Pharma Channel
Consulting, LLC. He provides advisory services to pharmaceutical manufacturers, private equity firms,
buyers, etc. He received is MBA in 1992. Much of his experience is in consulting. He worked for Deloitte
for four years before specializing in the pharmaceutical industry.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how
the person fills the spot.

Vinod is a domain expert in pharmaceutical technology. Decades of consulting experience and direct work
with pharmaceutical companies has given him expertise in this market sector.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

I found Vinod on LinkedIn. I messaged him via LinkedIn. We corresponded via messenger for our
communication.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the
return expectation?

Our exchange was on the shorter side, but Vinod was kind enough to respond promptly to my request for
advice. Vinod sees potential in Prescription Place. He was curious about how much start-up capital would
be required to start the company. He estimated that Prescription Place could get off the ground with a
quarter of a million dollars. That is very lean compared to most million dollar startups.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Having a contact like Vinod is beneficial to formulating the strategy of the business. Vinod has the
potential to help direct the company to key advertisers and marketers to promote the business, so there
would be a better chance of getting subscribers.

2) One person must be an expert on your market.

1) Who they are and what their background is.

Hunter Walk is a partner at Homebrew VC. He graduated from Vassar College in 1995 with a BA in
History. He attended Stanford, graduating with his MBA in 2000. He help create the Late Night with
Conan O'Brien show. After that, he worked for Deloitte. While attending Stanford, Hunter worked at
Mattel. Then he worked at Linden Lab as a Director of Everything Non-Engineering, before being
recruited by Google. After working at Google for 9 years and 4 months, Hunter fell into his current role at
Homebrew.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the
person fills the spot.

Hunter is a market expert. Hunter gets to invest in start-ups as his day job. He is an industry expert of
technology and business development.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

I found Hunter on LinkedIn. I messaged Hunter on LinkedIn. We chatted on the same platform.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the
return expectation?

Hunter chatted with me about the concept of providing an information database to subscribers in the
pharmaceutical industry. He agrees that the industry is an oligopoly which has resulted in consumers
having to pay higher prices for medications. Hunter likes the idea but would need to see more of a plan to
be able to take further action. He offered to share contacts when applicable.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Hunter is a market expert/venture capitalist who has the potential to fund my business proposition. He
would be a touchstone for technical references (website development, etc.) and funding.

3) One person must be an important supplier to your industry.

1) Who they are and what their background is.

I reached out to Sophia Sparks on LinkedIn. She is a pharmaceutical sales representative for Pfizer in the
San Francisco Bay Area. She graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2014 with a degree in Media
Communications. Upon graduation, Sophia became a Marketing Manager at Merchant Atlas. She then
moved over to Gatheric as a Marketing Director in 2015. After that, she transitioned to VAYA Pharma, Inc.
Her success there in pharmaceutical sales led to her current role today at Pfizer.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the

person fills the spot.

Sophia is filling the supplier spot. Sophia sells Eliquis, Chantix, and Viagra. She understands the volume

of sales and supply chain of her specialized market. She communicates with suppliers to facilitate sales.
Sophia is one-and-the-same with suppliers in this industry, expect she is on the front-lines capturing market
share.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

I found Sophia by conducting a relevant search on LinkedIn. I contacted her via email to set up a Skype

interview.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return
expectation?

We discussed my business idea for half an hour. Sophia gave me some advice surrounding the logistics of

the service and how pharmaceutical companies wouldn’t be in favor of a site that shares and compares
prices. She believes that doctors and physicians will ultimately have the final word in terms of writing the
prescription for the best medication suitable for treatment. Sophia wants me to check in with her again
once I come up with a solution to this potential threat.

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

Sophia is a supplier who could provide valuable knowledge on drug prices and manufacturing processes.

I could use her as a contact to get Pfizer on board with the idea of sharing pricing information and
manufacturing techniques.

Reflect:

My communications with these individuals was a different networking experience. This experience has

shown me that it is possible to network effectively using social media. I haven’t really networked to this
extent online before. Every time I have networked in the past has been in person, at parties, in line
somewhere, the grocery store, etc. This was a valuable experience.