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Photograph by Douglas Rider
Resourceful Advocates: Willow Glen resident and ResourceHunt founder Paiman Komeilizadeh (left) and Geroge Mallett started the company to help those with disabilities and the aging locate information and resources on mobility and assistive products. According to the U.S. Census, 54 million people in the United States have some sort of disability.
Willow Glen man creates company to help growing disabled population
Founder sensitized by his own disability and willingness to help
By Moryt Milo
According to the U.S. Census, 54 million people in the United States have some sort of disability. Willow Glen resident and ResourceHunt founder Paiman Komeilizadeh is part of this group.
ResourceHunt, a company that helps those with disabilities and the aging locate information and resources on mobility and assistive products, began out of frustration, passion and a desire to give back to the community.
Komeilizadeh, a native of Iran, was diagnosed at age 9 with Muscular Dystrophy. At 17, while traveling to the U.S., he saw the opportunity for life for people with disabilities to be easier and more productive. Komeilizadeh realized, "If I work here, I can make something out of my future."
In a gutsy move, he left his family in Iran and came to the U.S. to finish his senior year of high school. He went on to community college and eventually to San Jose State, where he received a degree in business administration.
While attending classes at SJSU, his muscular dystrophy worsened. He got around campus using a scooter, but after graduating, Komeilizadeh, 36, soon needed a wheelchair. His illness quickly progressed to needing a sitting lift to get inside the house and a ceiling lift to assist him to move from a wheelchair to the shower. It was during this phase that Komeilizadeh said he realized, "Oh my God, it's so difficult to find these devices. And even when you do, and you go to the Yellow Pages, it's not there. I began thinking: is it only me having these difficulties?"
He spoke with his friends, physical therapists and others needing mobility assistive products. "Everyone I spoke to said this is a nightmare."
Yet, no matter what difficulties he encountered, he refused to let his illness stop him from pursuing his goal of being a productive and contributing member of society. In 1997 he joined an Internet start-up, Autoweb.com. He ran the accounting department and began recognizing the communication value of the Internet industry that stretched beyond stock options and IPO's. While traveling to Los Angeles for customization of a van, the driver giving Komeilizadeh a ride asked if he worked. Komeilizadeh replied he was an accountant.
"The driver was shocked that a person in a wheelchair could be an accountant," says Komeilizadeh. He told Komeilizadeh he had a friend whose daughter had a disability. But the friend's family kept her home and worried about her future.
He calls this incident a huge turning point in his life. It made him realize something had to be done. It also affirmed the importance of his lifelong desire: "Always wanting to do something for the disabled community," he says.
According to Lorraine Flakes, district director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Komeilizadeh has been involved with the organization from his teens. "He wanted to give back to the association and believes [ResourceHunt] is a way of [achieving his goals]," says Flakes.
Komeilizadeh wasn't alone in his frustration and desire to share his knowledge. George Mallett, partner and vice president of ResourceHunt, whose daughter was diagnosed at birth with cerebral palsy, says, "From that day forward, I was information starved."
For the next 20 years, Mallet would look through endless catalogs, talk to parents, and go to trade shows, trying to find the best products to match his daughter's needs. He points out that unlike an adult with a disability, dealing with a disability from birth carries a "different set of difficulties."
Together, through a mutual dealer, Komeilizadeh, with seven years of financial experience and Mallett, with 20 years of management experience, combined their personal and business acumen to form ResourceHunt. They also enlisted a third partner, Arash Kouchesfehani, an Internet web developer, who worked with Komeilizadeh at Autoweb.com. They created an online catalog by building an extensive database of mobility-assistive products. Their goal was to create a one-stop location where people could easily research, compare and locate products and dealers.
Their one-of-a-kind idea was quickly endorsed by the Muscular Dystrophy Association, San Jose State, TransAccess and Project HIRED. The initial seed money of $150,000 came from Komeilizadeh's connection with the Society of Iranian Professionals. Here Komeilizadeh met Kamraan Elahian, a successful businessman and VC (venture capitalist), who with a handshake and a check said, "OK, let's see what you guys can do."
ResourceHunt approached Bay Area vendors, who willingly signed on and paid the required fee. But for customers, the service is free. The site was designed to be user friendly. According to Komeilizadeh, customers can search ResourceHunt for product information and then contact ResourceHunt, either through email or by telephone about the product they need. ResourceHunt contacts a dealer in the customer's area and checks to make sure the product is available. The dealer is provided with customer information and is required to contact the customer within 24 hours.
ResourceHunt makes a point of telling the customer to get back in contact with the company if he or she doesn't hear from the dealer within a 24-hour window. If this happens, ResourceHunt immediately follows-up to find out why.
Although the site currently focuses on dealers and vendors within the Bay Area, Komeilizadeh emphasizes that if someone contacts them from outside the Bay Area, ResourceHunt will do the necessary legwork to find a dealer who can help them. "We won't leave people hanging out there," says Komeilizadeh.
Participating vendors such as Keith Schwartz, of California Rehabilitation Equipment say, "Although I'm not his client from an end-user point of view, I would use his services because I know I'm going to be dealt with in a very personal way."
Mike Mansfield, dealer and president of Rehab Specialist, says ResourceHunt provides customers with better knowledge and understanding as to what they need so "its a win-win if my customer knows more about the equipment when they come here."
For those like Maria Nicolacoudis, executive director of TransAccess, whose organization helps persons with disabilities find the tools to keep a job or return to a job, ResourceHunt offers them the ability to have one more resource to give their clients.", "One of the greatest things this site is doing, along with adding value [for those with disabilities], is to convince VC founders that persons with disabilities are a viable consumer group," says Nicolacoudis.
Project HIRED Chief Development Officer Sherri Shaner sees ResourceHunt as a good partner. Project HIRED works with the disabled to find competitive employment. "We can refer business his way, and he knows people looking for work," says Shaner.
Komeilizadeh says one benefit of his website is it saves people time. "[If] you are working and can't take time off from work to look for the product ... on our site, you can use it during your lunch hour to locate the product or ask us to do the work for you."
ResourceHunt has 10 Bay Area dealers signed on. Its future goal is to offer dealer services nationwide. But Komeilizadeh wants the company to grow at a pace that will always support his customer base. "There is a fine line between getting excited and doing something irrational," he says.
"Our goal is to provide support to the industry and provide support to the people by giving them what products exist in the best possible way."
For information on ResourceHunt, visit www.resourcehunt.com or call 408.265.9303. Offices are located at 2530 Berryessa Road, No. 726, San Jose, 95132.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
