The Journey to Launch: 157 Parts, 60 Beta Testers, Five Years, Two Buttons, One Reliable Dose
Peter building a Gofire Inhaler in 2018.
After growing up in a small town in Vermont and moving to Colorado to pursue a career in consulting, Gofire CEO Peter Calfee found himself working for an R&D laboratory out of Evergreen, Colorado. He had spent part of his high school years living out of his car and since graduation, had dedicated his time working for others and helping them achieve their dreams. But he felt unfulfilled. He was ready and determined to build his own dream in the plant-based medicine industry.
After this realization, Peter was introduced to John Woodbine, who would later become Peter’s business partner and Gofire’s Chief Innovation Officer. John approached Peter through a mutual friend with the idea of building the world’s most advanced plant-based medicine inhaler. At first, Peter wasn’t completely onboard with the idea, but after some consideration he realized there was a place in the market for an improved inhaler experience, so Peter agreed to join forces with him. Shortly after coming together to start building out the current vision they had for Gofire, fate intervened.
Just four days after picking up the very first funding check for Gofire, a friend of Peter’s suffered a seizure while driving him to an event. The resulting accident left Peter hospitalized with a broken back for more than a month, bedridden for six months and unable to walk without assistance for months afterward. Doctors prescribed him a hefty list of opioids that kept him in a never-ending fog. He was barely able to function, much less work. So, he took a chance and abandoned the prescriptions and turned to plant-based medicine to help him find relief.
It wasn’t until after the accident that inspiration struck. While attempting to regulate his own pain levels with alternative medicines, Peter recognized that the “perfect inhaler” should do much more than provide an enjoyable experience. The vision for Gofire became to create a product that allowed patients to truly take control of their health through microdosing and tracking the results. Peter used the very first prototype of the Gofire Inhaler to control his alternative medicine use, substituting it for his opioids to heal and manage pain. This is the moment when Gofire came to life, and Peter’s journey toward healing became walking proof for everything the company was intent on proving.
John helping out with a Gofire video shoot in 2017.
During Peter’s time confined to a bed, he and John kept moving forward with the idea that they could create a community where patients could identify plant-based medicines and remedies that actually help them — and anonymously share that information so that everyone could benefit. Peter’s bedroom became the office and the team worked around the clock (and around Peter’s bed) to create the Gofire Inhaler, which is able to microdose plant-based medicines in 2.5 mg increments.
Fast forward almost five years later and we now have a medical-grade, metered-dose Inhaler, microchipped SmartCartridges and an entire community using the Gofire App daily to track and journal their experiences with plant-based medicine.
We’ve helped push the envelope for alternative health by providing a safe and reliable way to dose plant-based medicines — not only for patients, but also for nurses, physicians, researchers and so many others.
In an industry with so many different moving parts, building a safe and accurate dosing platform from the ground up was no walk in the park. It took a lot of time and dedication from the entire Gofire family and many sacrifices were made along the way. That being said, every breakthrough during the journey helped to light the fire — and every hurdle encountered just pushed the team to work harder.
A patient using the Gofire Inhaler and App to dose her plant-based medicine.
Now that the vision has officially come to life, we get to witness patients finding relief and living better, more fulfilled lives with the help of our products every single day — just as Peter did after his accident. There is simply no better feeling than that, and we cannot wait to impact the millions more who need Gofire’s help as well.
The Gofire Inhaler is officially available for purchase, and the Gofire Health Suite is now complete. We want to thank each and every one of you who supported us along the way. We cannot wait for you to experience what it’s like to have complete control over your dosing regimen.
We may have completed our journey to launch, but that does not mean we will stop furthering the research and data behind connected drug delivery and all of the ways that it can help. We will continue to innovate and be thought leaders in the health technology industry with you all right by our side. We can’t wait for you to see the new innovations we plan to introduce in 2020.
You can purchase the Gofire Inhaler here: www.gofire.co/launch
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