97. Sandra Nam, Co-Founder and CEO of Qiqo Chat, on Creating Community and Startup Culture

How do we create community in a post-pandemic world? How do you reinvent your company and what does it mean to create a startup culture again?In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda interviews Sandra Nam, Co-Founder and CEO of Qiqo Chat. Sandra discusses:How Qiqo stands for Quality In, Quality Out.How Sandra was studying to become a landscape architect when she and a friend came up with the idea to develop a community platform to help her find fellow students and study effectively together.How Qiqo was an early Zoom API integrator, stringing Zoom meetings together to create breakout rooms.During the pandemic, she and Lucas Cioffi decided to focus on Qiqo full-time to help associations and nonprofits create a variety of different online meeting formats.How she calls the entrepreneurial journey “crazy fun.”The company’s pivot away from virtual meetings to an online marketplace, or a Buyer’s Guide on steroids, to help association members connect and find partners.One lasting effect of the pandemic is that today, we are able to meet and connect in a meaningful way online because that’s now an acceptable way to connect.Qiqo’s goal to help their clients be THE network, be THE community for their members.References:QiqoAssociation Marketplace