At K4Connect, we’re focused on serving and empowering older adults and those living with disabilities. We do that by integrating the best in technology to help them live more independent, healthier, and more connected lives.
January 26, 2021
By: Brooks Malone
Scott Moody is Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Raleigh-based K4Connect. K4 is a mission-centered company that integrates the latest advances in technology to serve and empower older adults and those living with disabilities. The company has raised more than $25 million in venture funding. Moody previously co-founded and was Chairman/CEO of AuthenTec, a leading provider of fingerprint sensor and security solutions, acquired by Apple. He is known in the Triangle area for a willingness to help other entrepreneurs and startups.
1. What is in your pockets?
The answer is: not a single thing. Nothing in my front pockets, nothing in my back pockets. I really don’t need my wallet walking around my house. I don’t need hand sanitizer walking around my house because we have a bunch of sinks with soap.
You’ve caught me on a unique day because I’m actually wearing pants. It could be pajama bottoms. I’ve often been wearing compression tights for just the soreness in my legs because I’ve been running more. Half the time we get in the car and realize I have to go back in and get my wallet.
2. What exciting thing has happened recently for you or your organization?
I don’t know if I would use the word “exciting.” What I would use is “important.” The foundation is to serve others, and there is no more important time than now to serve those that we serve. Our average member is an 85-year-old woman living in a senior living community. To keep them safe, to keep them fed, to keep them engaged, to keep them connected—particularly when we’re all managing through this COVID crisis—is particularly important.
At K4Connect, we’re focused on serving and empowering older adults and those living with disabilities. We do that by integrating the best in technology to help them live more independent, healthier, and more connected lives.
In today’s world, there are just so many various technologies that we all live with on a day-to-day basis. Everything from home automation devices to wellness devices and apps, to engagement tools like video chat and texts. We integrate them into a single system, then a single app specific for older adults and people living with disabilities.
That’s what we do in senior living communities. At the resident level, in their apartments, in their cottages, in their homes—we integrate all of these devices. All kinds of health and wellness apps from exercising to drug-fill reminders. Then we integrate a number of engagement apps, everything from video chat to ordering foods, to staying engaged at the community level. We integrate that into a single app.
Whether it’s at the resident level, at the community level or the staff level, we integrate everything that’s used technologically in that building into a single system. That makes it much easier for the residents to live there and for the operators to run their community. We all hear about video chats, staying engaged, and knowing that somebody is safe in their apartment, and our application K4Community actually does all of that. It’s particularly important at this time.
3. What is your favorite coffee spot?
I would love to speak of a local place, but I am a Starbucks fan, or at least I used to be a Starbucks fan. That usually doesn’t involve sitting in any coffee shop anymore, but it does usually involve grabbing a cup of coffee and then going out meeting with somebody outside in a park on a bench. Or a couple of times more recently as it’s gotten cold, in my backyard around the fire pit.
4. What keeps you up at night?
I’m not a good sleeper, unfortunately, like many CEOs. I have this habit of being up from 1 AM to 2 AM, or from 1 AM to 4 AM. As I get older, I’m trying to manage through it but once I wake up, my mind starts running. That’s through good or challenging times. It’s always, “What’s the next step,” and that could be in the good times.
Early in the COVID pandemic, it was, How do we manage through this? Our big thing now is, How do we meet the demand going forward?
Everybody recognizes the importance of technology and keeping people engaged and safe. Most of the time, it’s just a matter of speed. How fast can we go? Whether it’s our product roadmaps, whether it’s our overall growth. At the end of the day our mission is to serve others, and we want to do that for as many people as possible, as fast as possible. That’s why I felt I was originally called and why we founded the company. So, that’s probably the thing that keeps me up at night the most.
5. What is your favorite restaurant or happy hour?
So, I’m not a happy hour guy, but by far my favorite restaurant is Rey’s in Cary. I am a creature of habit. I only go to one restaurant. Whether it’s a business or a personal dinner, people will ask, “Well, you’ve been here so many times, what’s your favorite meal?” I’m kind of a bad person to ask because I’ve only ever ordered one thing and that’s the New York Strip.
6. What is next for you or your organization?
I believe that we are all put here to serve others and that a corporation’s purpose is to form a group of people that can serve others better than we could have done individually. Our big focus is growing our business. Hopefully, we will eventually move that into the home. I don’t know if it’s the next thing we do, but certainly, it’s our intent.
[Editor’s Note: Scott was also a guest on the Pete Meets… podcast.]