From Aspiring Musician to Entrepreneur: Meet Nate O’Keefe

Nate O'Keefe is the founder and CEO of the CAN portfolio company, Roobrik . Nate’s presence in Carolina Angel Network has been invaluable as an entrepreneur with a passionate spirit and endless supply of innovative ideas. These traits have propelled his career and driven his success throughout his career and in the world of Venture Capital.

In 1999, Nate graduated from The 美国北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校 with a degree in English. He described his feelings toward Carolina as a “love at first sight” connection to the campus and university. His adoration of the university has made it easy to give back to, and partner with fellow Tar Heel alumni.?

Nate has always had a passion for music and songwriting, and originally planned to pursue a music career post-graduating. However, his career began in the Duke Neurobiology Department (maintaining his Carolina allegiance of course), as a Research Associate doing post-doctoral research, building websites for Duke departments, and helping form early digital learning tools, such as interactive modules for teaching pharmacology or undergraduate information.

In 2006, Nate co-founded the mobile medical app company Modality, which created 4 out of the first 500 apps in the 苹果 App Store, and was one of 10 companies featured on stage for Apple’s App Store launch event. Modality created over 100 iOS apps for health and medical education, pushing for more effective patient/doctor interaction, and was acquired by Epocrates in 2010.?

Nate joined Epocrates from 2010-2013, working as Director of Product Management. At Epocrates he led the development of Epocrates for iPad, an NCCN Guidelines oncology decision support app, and the Epocrates App Network, before founding his company, Roobrik , in August 2013, where is now CEO.

Reaching its 10 year founding anniversary last month, Roobrik was founded with the mission to provide decision support for difficult senior care decisions. The difficulty of making these decisions is often underestimated, involving deep uncertainty and doubt, and the negative stigma surrounding nursing homes often deters families from making the wisest move for their family.

Roobrik is a tool that helps seniors make a positive, proactive choice for their aging, instead of waiting until crisis compels action. Roobrik has taken models for medical decision making and packaged them as a consumer decision support tool that feels trustworthy and is easy for senior-living providers to provide. It includes conversational interviews designed to educate you along the way, and provides a personalized set of results to propel you towards a wise decision.?

Nate was inspired to start Roobrik from his personal experience with his first child, being born 14 weeks early and facing weeks of “panic Googling” how to make difficult medical decisions. Disappointed by the results of his search, this posed the question: “Why can’t the internet help us get helpful information in times of real crisis, and how can we apply that to an audience with an acute need?”

Nate saw that need—and met it with Roobrik.?

Nate’s passion for the process of entrepreneurialism is deep and vast, and he has even found parallels to other creative processes.?

“I have found that the creative aspects of building a company from nothing were as satisfying as writing or creating music.”

How unique and fascinating that entrepreneurialism can mirror songcraft—and the products of both have the ability to empower, inspire, encourage, and incite change.

Nate learned about CAN through Jan Davis , who introduced him to Randy Myer and Chelsea Eshraghi . Reaching five years since his first investment last month, Nate has been a valuable part of our portfolio. Nate shared that it is the informal support of CAN that he has appreciated, always feeling like investors are easily accessible.?

“It is the diversity of experiences and types of folks that are members that are just as valuable as the checks they wrote.”?

Nate shared that his favorite aspect of CAN are the individuals that make a personal decision to invest in what CAN is building, and the interest and passion they bring to the table. CAN has taught him the true importance of tenacity in business—getting back up when you’re been knocked down. He is grateful for the continued support from those who have invested in Roobrik, and is excited for what lies ahead.?

For the prospective member, Nate shares that “whether or not you receive funding, you will gain added value experience just by being a part of the process.”

From his first job in Wilmington, Delaware as a 10-year-old delivering newspapers, to an aspiring musician, to a successful entrepreneur, Nate’s career journey is an inspiration that a creative idea can be brought to life, and that passions can shape shift into something unexpected and monumental. He embodies the passionate nature of CAN, and brings a unique, fresh perspective to Venture Capital.