Andrew Bolton: How a Grandmother’s Love Sparked a Revolution in Senior Tech Support (And Why It Matters) | S2 Ep. 166

0:05Hi, everybody. Welcome to Founder Story. I'm Vanessa Antonio, your host for today. And we welcome Andrew Bolton, who is the CEO of Tech Rescue, a visionary company specializing in 24-7 tech support that simplifies technology for seniors and enhances their quality of life. Andrew, welcome to the Founder's Story. Thank you so much for having me. Andrew, tell us a little bit about why you started your company. Why I started my company was I kind of just got tired of being tech support. My grandmother was only about 12 minutes away. And to get over there, say hello, help her with her issues, come back, it's about an hour and a half.

0:52And I said, there's got to be an easier way to do this. And I looked and there wasn't, which was hard to believe, but there was no service that really provided what she needed, which was a 24-hour service that didn't have a maze, that didn't have chatbots because she doesn't do well with the robots and solves your problem. No library to go through, no prompts to go through, just somebody there just to solve your problem. There was nothing. So here we are. All right. So we would like to know besides your love for your grandmother, obviously. Is there any other inspiration that prompted you to start Tech Rescue?

1:40And how does this specific company make a difference in the lives of seniors? I guess when I was working on one of her posts that she had on Facebook, one of the nurses came by and asked if I could help with another resident. And that's when And it kind of solidified the idea that, you know, maybe there was something here to that. What we had done was, and I highly recommend this to any entrepreneur, was we actually had an analysis report done prior to our hypothesis asking, was our hypothesis correct? Was there a market for this? And there was. And what we found was that over 73 % of seniors over the ages of 65 have trouble setting up their devices.

2:27More time is spent in Apple stores and Verizon and Samsung stores with people just having difficulties setting up their devices because a new device is coming out every year. So they're not having issue with that. And only 26, believe it or not, 26 % of seniors, according to New England Journal of Medicine, reported that they actually feel comfortable with technology. Only 26%. So what we're finding as we're going along is that we have an entire population base that is not moving in sync with the rest of us. They're falling very far behind and they don't want to. Right. And Andrew, what are some of the biggest, since we're talking about technology, what are some of the biggest challenges that you see seniors face when it comes to technology?

3:17and how does Tech Rescue specifically address those issues? That's a great question. So I know it sounds counterintuitive in its own way, but as the smarter we get, the more we're losing. So there's the Saturday Night Live joke with Alexa Silver where Alexa responds to any name you want. We've literally had that joke in our family that my grandmother calls Alexa Alessandra. She calls it Alana. She calls it Amanda. You know, it's grandma, it's Alexa. And, you know, there you go. So the smarter we make things, we're actually making it more complicated because everything is now becoming connected to central devices in the home.

4:03So what we're finding now is that, and it's nothing against them, but as grandkids and, you know, younger, our, our parents are buying, you know, upgrading them with new appliances and things like that, smart TVs, smart kitchens, smart microwaves, smart dishwashers and ovens, all of these are connecting to a Bluetooth, all of these are connecting to your phone and your home internet and your home, you know, connected device, you've now just made a senior's worst nightmare. Because now they have no idea how to program anything. I know it sounds as simple as we all think it is, but you have to understand these people are not working on the same level that we are because we grew up with the explosive run of technology.

4:49This generation and the one just after it grew up with dot code systems, single sheet mechanisms that read one or zeros. Computers were the size of buildings. Now the most advanced computer ever made is in the palm of our hand. That's really wonderful, Andrew. And it's good that you were able to, you know, talk briefly about the generational difference that maybe for us, it's so easy to understand technology, but for our grandparents, parents who are coming from the older generation, this is not like second nature to them. So your whatever you're doing is actually a big support for these people coming from this generation.

5:33So can you tell us a specific success story that highlights the impact of your company and not only in the life of the seniors that you're helping, but to their families that I believe you're helping more? So one of the things that we've noticed is the population base of our market that we serve is about 175 million in that market space. only less than 10 % of them are able to afford full service care facilities. These are the ones that you see in Florida, California, you know, Texas. These facilities can run anywhere between$7 ,000 to$10 ,000 in active living or independent living. Assisted living comes in somewhere around maybe between$10 ,000 and$13 ,000, depending on the area and the type of facility that you're in.

6:29And then there's what's known as advanced care or mental care. And this can go anywhere between 15 ,000 and 30 ,000 a month. 87 % of our demographic live at home. And sometimes it's not easy for them to get from one place to another. What has happened over the past five years in America, thankfully, is that telehealth has increased nationally by over 43 % over the past five years, which means that more people are able to get in contact with their doctors, specialists, hospitals, through things such as Zoom, Google Meets, GoToMeeting, and we're able to provide services to these people who are homebound, who are home-stricken.

7:15For somebody who doesn't have the ability to get tech help or somebody that doesn't have the ability or knowledge to connect Bluetooth or connect their computer to whatever devices that they have. That can be frustrating. So for what we offer at a very low price of$30 a month and$250 for an annual subscription, you can call us anytime, day or night on Christmas, Thanksgiving, the Super Bowl, even at kickoff on the Super Bowl, you will get somebody at Tech Rescue. And we'll help you solve that problem remotely, wherever you are in the world, we can be there with you with a simple connection. We gain access, which immediately deletes and is unretrievable, meaning that I cannot get back into the system ever again without your consent.

8:02We solve the problem. We don't give you a tutorial. We don't send you a YouTube channel. We solve it right then and there. And for somebody who doesn't have the ability to get help on a regular basis, you know, we could be a lifeline, which we were. A gentleman in Wisconsin, home stricken, 75 years old, Vietnam veteran, basically was getting services from Meals on Wheels and his local charity, church charity, who check on him a couple of times. And a lot of them don't have technology skills or understanding. Well, thankfully, granddaughters saw one of our TikToks and called us. I listened to the recording.

8:41They had a quick conversation. She subscribed him. And he's been with us for about four months now. And I personally check in on him to see how he's doing. And this is one of our success stories. And I hope that we can be a provider of a pathway. I hope we can be a pathway to more help that people need. Because with technology the way it is, We can get in contact with relatives and friends anywhere in the world with WhatsApp, with Facebook, with Instagram. But you need to have the ability to get there. And I think, I hope, that's what I really hope. I hope we can be part of people's journey getting back connected to everybody.

9:24I hope we can be part of that. That's amazing, Andrew, because sometimes because of technology, we tend to, you know, we happen to alienate the seniors or the older ones. just because they're not adept to run this technology. But can you tell us specifically how do you provide the support? Do you go into their homes or do you call them and teach them step-by-step and be very patient with where they are in terms of technology in order to do whatever they intend to do? So I'll answer that as twofold. So how we do what we do is we get a call in. We send you an email, you click our link, we gain access.

10:07We have our signed consent form and release form. Once we gain access to the computer tablet, we can basically handle whatever it is that's going on. Now, as our client goes through the list of issues that they're having, we can easily solve those. And as we're going along, and this is the second part, every one of our call center members, which is currently 15 right now, are personally screened, are field tested in terms of agitated callers, non-topic to script type callers. And what I had a great conversation with Ms. Samantha Wallard from BPO was that I want everybody on the team to think this is their grandma.

10:46And I stress this every time I ever have a conversation with the team over in South Carolina is that this is somebody, somebody, all right? This is somebody, somebody, this is important to them. they're calling because they need help. You know, we're not a cat, you know, we're not Tesla. We're not, you know, we're not, you know, the insurance company, they're calling because they need help. And, you know, when you're frustrated, you're going to be a little agitated. I get it. Believe me, I get it. So we're here to help. So for anybody watching, you're calling in the tech rescue. We understand you're frustrated.

11:16We're here to help. We're going to get you there. Don't worry. You're in good hands. I promise you. Andrew, that is such a heartfelt mindset to put your team into. And more than anything, that's what we need in this world of tech service. If you could change any misconception about seniors and technology, what would that be and why? One of the misconceptions is seniors don't like technology. That could not be any further from the truth. What we saw last year and what we saw this year is affluent seniors ages 55 to 75 hold the highest demographic in purchasing power. They have the largest stake in assets in all technology sectors.

11:58They have the most consumption out of any demographic in the past three holiday seasons in terms of technology. Yes, in 2024, the number one purchase item was apparel. I personally equate that to an oversaturation of technology in the market that just got flooded throughout the year. So Christmas, everybody was burnt out, I guess. But the misconception is that seniors don't absorb technology. They do. They are the number one purchaser in the space alone. So they are curious. They are purchasing. They are getting connected. virtual reality sets in 2023 were one of the highest purchased items in the senior in that semi demographic so being able to visit places that you've never been to that you may not have the ability to visit so walking through antarctica through a virtual reality set that is something that my grandmother would have never imagined herself doing but she hasn't my father-in-law my father-in-law we we filmed his reaction through a virtual reality set i was down in colombia visiting my wife's parents and we brought them a virtual reality set for christmas and he sat in his favorite chair and he was just exploring a world he's never seen outside of bogota colombia we have technology now that that can do that so the misconception that people have about seniors is completely wrong they are very curious they're very engaging and more importantly they have disposable income to invest in it.

13:34Thank you, Andrew, for sharing that. Let's go back a little bit about Tech Rescue. And can you tell us what is the simplest support or ask for support that you have that you had to help seniors with? And what could be like one of the most complicated? The simplest thing that we do right now is password resetting. That's right now the number one thing that we're working with. The most complicated thing that we deal with are trying to understand people's requests. So every, I would say about every hundred phone calls or so, we get a request to find files that at the end of the call, we find out we're completely mislabeled or not even labeled at all.

14:22And trying to understand what people are trying to accomplish is interesting. And I give the team a lot of credit who can sit there, walk through the process, understand what our clients and our customers are looking for, and still be able to deliver on our quality. That's a hard thing to do. That's amazing. And kudos to your team for being ever so patient with the service that you're providing. When you realize you need to hire, it's usually already too late. I've been there wasting weeks waiting for decent candidates. If I had used Indeed, I could have hired way faster. So when it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need.

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16:24I can't right now because it's not done. And I know, I know, I know. But my mother always gave me advice. You don't ever count them until they're hatched. So it ain't over until it's over. Until until it happens. I really want to talk about it, but it's not, I can't, but I'm looking forward to it. I hope we can have one of these conversations again and we can discuss, you know, how the thought process, um, the deals that had to get done for it, you know, uh, you know, what led to it and, you know, hopefully what we expect out of it. I'm excited. I'm excited for 2025. Yeah. Well, we look forward to having you again, Andrew.

17:04Andrew, is there anything else that you'd like to share or invite the families of seniors or the senior themselves to work with Tech Rescue? I wouldn't say, I would say this to more of my generation, 27 to 45. Don't let technology be the reason why you visit mom. Call Tech Rescue. You handle life, we'll handle the tech. Simple as that. for$30 a month. You don't have to worry. We take the stress off your hands. Don't worry about it. We got you. We'll take care of it. Ma is in good hands. I promise you. She's in good hands. And with that being said, don't let tech be the reason why you call her.

17:48Andrew Bolton, thank you so much for joining us again. Thank you so much for having us. It is our pleasure to hear a little bit of something about, you know, a service that's centered in love and family. See you and we welcome you in the future for Founder's Story. Thank you so much.