We are building a platform that connects parents with vetted caregivers for childcare, aiming to create a modern village for families.

I started Poppy not because I'm an expert in child care, but because I wanted to solve the anxiety I felt about who was taking care of my daughters.

I realized that the childcare market is inherently margin-challenged, making it difficult to scale Poppy effectively.

I realized that what parents really need is a sense of community or 'village' to support them in childcare.

I hypothesized that a village could be created through technology, using a vetting mechanism and matching algorithm for caregivers.

After my first startup failed, I started talking to parents to understand their biggest challenges, which led me to childcare.

Poppy was not a failure; it achieved its mission of helping thousands of parents and caregivers, even if it didn't scale as I had hoped.

I explored three options: pivoting the business, seeking acquisition, or shutting it down completely, ultimately deciding to close Poppy.

The final decision to shut down came after realizing that the business model was not sustainable and that it was time to start fresh. I was tremendously lucky to have supportive investors who believed in the mission of Poppy, which made it easier to communicate the difficult decision to shut down.