When friends share a passion, the prospects can seem limitless. When one of them becomes seriously ill, it can change the dynamic — yet it may also open new avenues of opportunity.
That is the exact scenario that prompted UCLA Anderson alumnus Dan Russ to team up with his best friend, Gal Sont, to create Click2Speak, one of the most successful “social good” startups coming out of Tel Aviv, Israel. It revolutionizes the way disabled individuals, who cannot move their hands, can use mouse replacement devices,such as eye-tracking cameras, to control PCs and tablets via an on-screen keyboard.
The idea for the startup unfortunately came when Sont was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. It’s a rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurological disease that destroys nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscles in the arms, legs and face, among other parts of the body. Many lose their ability to control everything but their eye movement.
“Gal learned firsthand about the obstacles that a paralyzed person goes through,” said Russ. “Knowing the fearless, optimist guy that he is, I knew that I should join him in his quest of trying to improve the quality of life of people who are in similar situations.”
Russ and Sont met in a Web development course almost 20 years ago. They had much in common: the same sense of humor and interest in various hobbies. They also maintained a passion for tech entrepreneurship.
Russ began his career working with startup companies shortly after earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration and IT management from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzeliya, Israel. Sont, who earned a B.A.Sc. in mathematics and computer science, became an experienced software engineer, serving as a chief technology officer for various startups.
With an eye toward working in product and/or account management with software companies, Russ felt an M.B.A. degree was needed to advance his career.
“Many friends took that path, and the Anderson name always came up in conversations and at info sessions,” Russ said. “I knew that Anderson was a ‘work hard, play hard’ type of environment, with a great network and inspiring professors. Meeting with students and alumni prior to making my decision only strengthened the choice that Anderson would be the place for me.”
Russ, who graduated with an Anderson M.B.A. in 2010, began working with Sont in 2013. Their goal was to develop software that would make PC assistive technology easier, affordable and approachable in almost every language. The result was Click2Speak, an advanced on-screen keyboard that works with Microsoft Windows 7 and 8 — both on PC and tablet — with Android and iOS. Mac OS versions are being rolled out later. The product uses SwiftKey Flow to enable users to select letters on an on-screen keyboard by gliding a finger across the screen or controlling the cursor with their eyes using an eye-tracking camera (or other mouse replacement devices).
To speed up the process, Click2Speak uses SwiftKey’s prediction engine to suggest words that will most likely come up next, based on past communication. Click2Speak floats over other applications and supports more than 80 languages.
“We quickly focused on assistive technology and how it could improve the quality of life for many of those who suffer from these conditions,” Russ said. At the same time they were working on the software, Russ and Sont were also learning about other diseases and conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injuries, and the ways their software could improve the lives of others.
“Besides reading articles and attending forums, we met with assistive technology experts and visited special-needs schools and rehabilitation centers to gain better knowledge of these conditions and patient needs,” Russ said.
When it became apparent that almost every person who cannot freely use a regular keyboard could use Click2Speak, they started reaching out to organizations, nonprofits and assistive technology groups, among others.
Much of what makes Click2Speak successful stems from the skills Russ developed while studying at Anderson. He credits involvement with the Entrepreneur Association at Anderson and insights from faculty members Jeff Scheinrock and George Geis with helping him develop a successful business plan that would accommodate this entrepreneurial venture.
Russ is quick to highlight the advantages of having access to the Anderson network, especially when considering expansion into other foreign markets.
“Besides the basic managerial and venture initiation skills at Anderson, it’s the network,” Russ said. For example, their on-screen keyboard now works with Japanese (still in Beta mode), partly because a friend from Japan, who was at Anderson with Russ, helped him understand some of the problems that had to be solved before adding the language. “It’s proving to be very insightful and helpful,” Russ said.
“Our startup is unique, offering a product to a relatively small but very important market that needs help,” Russ said. “When we share the fact that Gal codes most of our software using only his eyes (due to his illness), and that we develop features based on his experience battling with daily challenges, the people we are trying to reach become more open to trying new assistive technology solutions. It also helps our efforts to reach underserved areas worldwide.”
This is an edited version of a story posted on the UCLA Anderson School blog. The BBC produced a segment on Gal and Russ and their product.
