Interview with CEO of the Stealth Startup: ESAIYO
Left to right: Mikey Lee (Advisor), Arno Kolster, Andrew Van Valer, Roberto Clemente Jr. (Ambassador), Duane Reider (Museum Owner), Merle Giles, Roland Hall, Raymond St. Martin, (Not in Photo)–Kwasi Asare, Ryan Quick.
ESAIYO…what?
When we learned about ESAIYO from Santa Cruz entrepreneur Andy Van Valer, my first question was - what does “ESAIYO” mean? It is a code name for their new patented technology: SIO. Significant Internet Other? Senior Investigation Officer? Nope. Read on! In this article, we interview CEO and co-founder Raymond St. Martin.
SCW: What sparked the idea for ESAIYO?
St. Martin: I was driving by Costco in Santa Cruz, and saw an unusual, unique car. I wondered what the story and history was behind the conception and build of the car, the owners and their stories. I started seeing the world differently. There were hidden stories everywhere. It took a while to get the seminal patent and form the right team, but I am fortunate to be a part of a world class team that has been working on this for the past two years.
SCW: And the meaning of “SIO”?
St. Martin: Social Identity of Objects. With the mission of building and scaling the ESAIYO platform, we have set out to undertake the biggest challenge of our lifetimes. To connect everything in the world, actually, the universe, with SIOs! Our goal being to be the one platform that brings to life the interconnectivity of everything.
SCW: What is the difference between SIO and NFT?
St. Martin: NFTs are particular non-fungible tokens. Hashes that are related to an object that is unique in the universe. SIOs are a unique digital asset that represents a digital or physical object, including its relationships, context and history.
SCW: Ambitious! Are we talking thousands, millions, billions of objects?
St. Martin: In order to do this, we had to build and test a framework that can immediately create and adjust data, relationships, and categories on the fly, and scale to trillions of objects. Oh, and quickly deploy and integrate new services.
SCW: That is a hefty MVP. Do you have market validation?
St. Martin: We decided as a team to skip over the MVP–Feedback–Iteration model, and are instead choosing to build-out the team and deliver the enterprise platform to customers who have said that they want our technology. Yes, we tested the market to see if owners and manufacturers of significant physical and virtual objects would want a platform to create value for their objects by capturing and recording data, connecting, and displaying their objects while also measuring their ability and interest in curating the online identities of these objects. A resounding “yes”. Furthermore, we built a framework that many large institutions stated they needed and would use. The feedback has led to actionable items and now we are on the doorstep of closing a series of major deals.
SCW: Anyone with an ounce of sports knowledge knows the name Roberto Clemente. Roberto Clemente, Jr.?
Roberto Clemente with his son Roberto Clemente, Jr.
St. Martin: Roberto Clemente, Jr. is a universally respected philanthropist, humanitarian, entrepreneur, producer, former broadcaster, and former professional baseball player. And yes, he is the son of MLB Hall of Famer and Humanitarian, Roberto Clemente. Roberto Clemente was the 1st Black Hispanic pro baseball player. Roberto is our Platform Ambassador.
SCW: Would you consider participating in the Community Speed Investing event on March 31?
St. Martin: sign us up!
ESAIYO was named by Santa Cruz Works as one of the 12 Santa Cruz Startups to Watch in 2021. Learn more about ESAIYO and other exciting new startups at Community Speed Investing on March 31, 2021.