Lyman Starmer says he is addicted to startups.
The 19-year-old launched his first innovative platform — Highlands Marketing — while still a student at Wolfson High School. Highlands sought to connect local vendors with local restaurants through advertising placemats.
Covid-19 wiped out the effort, but Starmer didn't let that deter his spirit. The tech-savvy teen graduated from high school and merged his second platform Perspective to create PeerLyfe —a new private social engagement platform designed for and by those who live in age-restricted communities.
“ PeerLyfe is essentially a web application,” Starmer said. “It’s a content engagement system for the administration and a social network for the residents all bundled up in one private online community. ”
The idea for PeerLyfe came to Starmer while visiting his grandparents at The Villages.
Last year, his grandmother invited him to pitch the Perspective platform to 40 of her friends who liked the ideal and gave feedback.
Starmer then thought: How can we change the product to appeal to a demographic of people who don’t trust platforms like Facebook or Nextdoor but still seek to engage online?
“What makes PeerLyfe different from Facebook and other platforms is that the decision makers are the administrators,” Starmer said. “They are the ones trying to increase engagement and retention, so they need new data that’s been previously gathered in an archaic way like newsletters. Peer Lyfe gives control back to the people who are curating the community.”
Residential administrators pay $2 per head per month for a facing side of the application, or dashboard, holding data. Administrators can view how many residents are creating new groups, membership, events planned, amenities used and which residents are actively engaging.
"PeerLyfe is spending the next eight months on customer centric research and raising funds,” Starmer said. “We are focusing on active senior facilities and continuing care retirement communities.”
Starmer’s entreneurial spirit stems from his parents, who chose to forgo college but are successful career entrepreneurs. Following their example, Starmer is also not attending college but has invested his $12,000 college fund toward building his brand.
He has raised $600,000 in funding through varied angel investors, many of whom are repeat investors from Perspective. Starmer still needs an additional $500,000 to fully launch PeerLyfe and has mailed handwritten letters of appeal and been fortunate to attract strangers who simply believe.
One such supporter is business partner Vince Cavin, who serves as co-founder and COO. Cavin is a 46-year-old professional who brings business acumen and operations experience to PeerLyfe.
Notably, he was the first hire at the One Spark innovation festival and for two years served as the executive director of Hemming Park — now James Weldon Johnson Park — pioneering making the park a family destination.
More staff might be on the way, with the fledging company looking to spend about $100,000 to hire a chief technology officer.
“Some investors say if you are making tech, you need a technical leader on board,” said Starmer, who isn't yet taking a salary from the company. “The lack of one can cause some investors to back out before even investing and 20% say it’s a problem. We've probably interviewed 20 people for the position.”
The team rents space at Fresh Cowork which has allowed them to vacate Zoom, use a white board in person and scoot chairs together to brainstorm.
While PeerLyfe is in its infancy stage, Starmer says he remains focused on a singular goal: “I’d like to be a staple that is a beacon of true innovation supported by people who live here and support the city.”
