There are over 71 million people acting as caregivers for their parents in North America, spending an average of 26 hours a week with everything from grocery shopping to health and wellness care.
It’s a burden that we all should take on with grace, but a little help wouldn’t hurt.
In this episode, we sit down with Jacqui Murphy and Mike Kirkup, two of Waterloo Region’s most respected tech leaders, who have launched a new venture, Elderella. Born from personal experience and extensive discovery work, Elderella is building tools that ease the invisible burden of elder care, starting with coordinated planning and just-in-time resources for caregivers.
We talk about:
The invisible load caregivers carry
Why AI is revolutionizing startup operations and prototyping
Building a startup that’s AI-native in structure and process
The origin story behind the Elderella name (and its Cinderella-inspired mission)
How Communitech brought this co-founder duo together
This episode is an episode for caregivers, founders, or anyone trying to do right by their parents.
Timestamps:
01:05 – Introducing Elderella and the caregiver challenge
03:07 – Alex’s discovery call with Elderella
04:46 – Caregiving is unexpected, invisible, and isolating
07:49 – Mike and Jacqui’s origin stories and why this problem
09:23 – How they became co-founders (thanks, Communitech)
13:35 – Why leaving the house leads to great ideas
14:50 – Is Elderella an AI-native company? Yes—and here’s what that means
17:26 – A product for caregivers, not institutions
18:01 – Most common pain points from discovery calls
19:48 – Why caregivers feel invisible and burnt out
21:06 – Just-in-time learning for caregiving
22:25 – The need for proactive care roadmaps
24:16 – Navigating elder care with compassion and respect
26:00 – The demographic tsunami that’s already here
27:52 – Building joy and calm into product design
28:44 – Unlocking help from your support network
30:00 – Coordination as the unlock for community care
31:33 – Parenting vs elder caregiving visibility
32:24 – We need all hands on deck
33:17 – Building a throwaway prototype in 4 days
35:48 – HIPAA-compliant infra is easier than ever
36:12 – Marketing from day one: not for splash, but for learning
38:11 – The story behind the Elderella name
39:31 – You don’t need the perfect brand—just start
40:10 – How to sign up for a discovery call
42:01 – Leave your house—good things happen outside
43:24 – Where to find events around town
