Category Archives: Insights

From the Archives: A Look at How Andreessen Horowitz Invests in the Future of Health

July 27, 2023Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, Startupsa16z, Andreessen Horowitz, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, Health Startup, Healthcare, HealthTech, investing, Investors, Julie Yoo, Logan Plaster, Startup, WisdomNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:41 — 45.4MB)

On this week’s StartUp Health NOW, we look back at one of our most-popular podcast episodes: a chat with Julie Yoo, a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz – where she leads investments in healthcare technology, with a focus on companies that are modernizing how we access, pay for, and experience the healthcare system. During this chat in front of a live audience of founders from the StartUp Health community, Yoo talked about the growth of home health, fintech for healthcare, and her personal passions around solving for provider shortage issues and the mismatch of supply and demand.

Listen in for insights that are just as relevant today as in November 2021, such as Yoo’s tip that top investors like a16z are less interested in startups who have all the answers – because they don’t – than in entrepreneurs who can identify and overcome obstacles and can communicate that journey with clarity.

We will be back with fresh episodes after Labor Day!

Founders: Health Transformer University fuels your health moonshot

Funders: Become a Health Moonshot Champion
Want more content like this? You can subscribe to the podcast as well as other health innovation updates at startuphealth.com/content.
Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.

Looking to break down health barriers? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our Health Equity Moonshot.
Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our T1D Moonshot.

Scaling Your Health Tech Business to $100 Million, Featuring Sofia Guerra of Bessemer Venture Partners

July 21, 2023Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, StartupsBessemer Venture Partners, Entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Funding, Health Startup, health startups, investor, Investors, Jamey Edwards, Logan Plaster, Sofia Guerra, StartUp Health, startups, WisdomNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 41:56 — 33.6MB)

On our episode today we are getting down into the details, deep the weeds, in order to understand what it takes to scale a healthcare business to $100M.

For that wisdom we turned to Sofia Guerra, an investor at Bessemer Venture Partners. We recently had her on our Health Transformer University Masterclass series to share top takeaways from a recent benchmarks report published by her firm. She distilled their very detailed work into five key takeaways and then hung around to answer questions from our audience of StartUp Health founders.

In this session, which was hosted by Jamey Edwards, Chief Platform Officer here at StartUp Health, Sofia gets into all the critical operational, financial, and clinical performance metrics that health tech companies need to care about if they’re going to thrive and scale.

For the purpose of this podcast, we’ll drop right into the middle of the conversation between Jamey and Sofia, focusing on her advice for founders.

Enjoy!

Founders: Health Transformer University fuels your health moonshot

Two Top Health Investors Share Their 2023 Tips for Founders

July 6, 2023Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, Startups7wireVentures, Digital Health, Distributed Ventures, Entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Funding, fundraising, health innovation, Health Tech, impact investing, investing, Lee Shapiro, Logan Plaster, raising funds, Shawn Ellis, WisdomNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:15 — 29.2MB)

Whether they like it or not – and they probably don’t – every health tech founder needs to think about money. How much they need, and how to get it. For many founders, raising outside funds becomes a whole new full time job that they have to take on. This year, funding in the sector has dipped sharply, making that job even harder and more stressful.

On our podcast this week, we hear from the other side of the table. We sat down with the heads of two major health tech investment firms and got their advice for health innovation entrepreneurs in 2023.

First up is Lee Shapiro, managing partner at 7wireVentures and long-time collaborator with StartUp Health. Shapiro is a luminary in digital health investing so we asked him for his macro view of the industry and got a few practical tips for founders raising funds today.

Then we hear from Shawn Ellis, managing partner at Distributed Ventures, a $100M fund that invests in Seed and Series A deals and has a strong health tech focus. In our chat Ellis broke down where his firm has found success recently and exactly what he looks for in a pitch.

Founders: Health Transformer University fuels your health moonshot

How One Founder Raised $5M to Help Women Detect Breast Cancer Earlier

February 24, 2023Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, StartupsBreast Cancer, Cancer, Funding, Gabbi, Health Mindsets, Health Moonshot, Insights, Kaitlin Christine, Logan Plaster, Mindsets, Moonshot Mindset, womens healthNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:22 — 24.2MB)

On this StartUp Health NOW episode, we go to Portland, Oregon, to meet a Health Transformer helping women assess their risk for breast cancer. We chat with Kaitlin Christine, CEO & Founder of Gabbi, because she successfully raised more than $4M in 2022, at a time when many other young startups were struggling to raise. We stress with the startups in our portfolio that raising capital is just one small piece of the health moonshot journey, but there is no denying that it can give rocket fuel to a great idea, so we wanted to hear how she did it. What were the strategies and mindsets that helped her grow from a passionate solopreneur to building her first executive team and scalable product? And, what lessons could she share with other founders who find themselves facing a similar challenge?

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

Investors: Contact us to learn how to invest in Health Moonshots
Want more content like this? You can subscribe to the podcast as well as other health innovation updates at startuphealth.com/content.
Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.

Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our T1D Moonshot.

Looking to break down health barriers? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our Health Equity Moonshot.

Raising My First Million: The Health Moonshot Mindsets & Tactics That Helped Perceiv AI Close $1.5M During a Down Market

February 2, 2023Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, Startups, UncategorizedChristian Dansereau, Funding, Health Mindsets, Health Moonshots, Health Transformers, Insights, Logan Plaster, Mindsets, Perceiv AI, WisdomNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:35 — 19.8MB)

Welcome to StartUp Health NOW, the podcast where we celebrate the entrepreneurs and innovators who are transforming health.

It’s no secret that 2022 was a down year for health innovation funding. Earlier this month we published our Year-End Insights Report, which showed a 50% drop-off in digital health funding compared with 2021. Of course, you have to take those numbers in context. For one, 2021 was a crazy, exuberant year for funding, fueled by a COVID-induced rush to virtual healthcare. Second, when you look at health innovation funding over 10 years, we’re still on a dramatic upward growth curve.

That said, 2022 was a scary year for startups that needed to raise funds, so we called up a founder in the StartUp Health portfolio who’d made it happen. Christian Dansereau, PhD, CEO and Co-founder of Perceiv AI, closed his first round, $1.5M, in November 2022, while many other companies were experiencing down rounds, acquisitions, and or even closing their doors.

So, how’d they raise their first million plus in spite of rocky market conditions? What strategies and mindsets did they use that other founders can learn from? In this podcast episode, we get tactical about lead gen, decks, and nailing your first meeting, and also talk about the importance of aligning with partners at a health moonshot level.

Learn more and connect with Health Transformers like Perceiv AI.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our T1D Moonshot.

Looking to break down health barriers? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our Health Equity Moonshot.

How to Partner with Investors to Grow & Scale Your Company w/ Cheryl Cheng, CEO & Founder of Vive Collective

October 11, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, StartupsCheryl Cheng, Digital Health, Health Tech, Innovation, investing, investment, Logan Plaster, mindset, Vive Collective, WisdomNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:34 — 65.9MB)

This week we welcome Cheryl Cheng to the interview chair. Cheryl is the CEO & Founder of Vive Collective. Previously Cheryl was a Partner at BlueRun Ventures, one of the top VC firms in Silicon Valley.

At Vive, she’s taking her 15 years of experience growing startups and putting it specifically into building, funding, and scaling digital health companies.

Cheryl is also an advisor to the Stanford Biodesign program and is on the advisory board for Yale Medical School’s Digital Health and Innovation Center.

We wanted to have Cheryl on one of our Fireside Chats to learn about Vive Collective – since it’s a relatively new kid on the block – and hear what kinds of opportunities she’s seeing in the market. We held this conversation in front of a live virtual audience of Health Transformers from the StartUp Health Portfolio, so you’ll get to hear some of their tactical questions mixed in throughout the session.

The goal for these sessions is to have candid conversations with people who can cut through the corporate speak and investment jargon, and Cheryl Cheng understood the assignment. We hope you enjoy.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots healthmoonshots.com
Want more content like this? You can subscribe to the podcast as well as other health innovation updates at startuphealth.com/content.
Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.

Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our T1D Moonshot.

Looking to break down health barriers? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our Health Equity Moonshot.

Living the Moonshot Mindset, with Lee Shapiro of 7wireVentures

June 14, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, Startups2022 StartUp Health Festival, 7Wire Ventures, 7wireVentures, Health Moonshots, Lee Shapiro, mindset, Moonshot Mindset, StartUp Health, StartUp Health @ ViVE, StartUp Health Festival, Unity Stoakes, ViVE, ViVE 2022, ViVE MiamiNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:54 — 23.9MB)

This week we bring you a conversation between Unity Stoakes, President & Co-founder of StartUp Health, and a very special guest, long-time StartUp Health investor, collaborator, and friend Lee Shapiro. Lee is the Managing Partner at 7wireVentures, a leading health tech investment firm, but that’s just one of the many hats he’s worn in recent years.

The “beachside chat,” which was held live at the 2022 StartUp Health Festival @ ViVE in Miami Beach, covers a range of topics, from what 7wireVentures looks for in a startup to how healthcare can learn from adjacent industries, like gaming and banking.

Lee Shapiro is one of those rare voices in the industry that combines hard-earned operational experience with the health moonshot wisdom of a philosopher. He embodies the characteristics of tenacity and humility that he looks for in a startup founder, and he’s always a pleasure to talk to. Enjoy the conversation.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

With Particle Health’s API, Troy Bannister Is Making Health Data Interoperability a Reality

May 31, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, Startups2022 StartUp Health Festival, Cost to Zero, Health Moonshot, Health Moonshots, Health Transformer, Health Transformers, Katya Hancock, particle health, StartUp Health @ ViVE, StartUp Health Festival, troy bannister, ViVE 2022Nicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:01 — 26.1MB)

A 2021 report in Bloomberg Law stated that though “Health IT pros and federal regulators dream of a healthcare system in which the flow of information happens seamlessly through a simple mouse-click, at least 70% of healthcare providers still exchange medical information by fax.”

In the world of health innovation, we know what can be unlocked when patient data can move safely and quickly from point A to point B. We know it because we saw it in the world of personal finance. Interoperable financial data empowered normal people to take charge of their finances, sending and receiving money, investing with a click of a button. It also empowered a new generation of apps like Venmo and Robin Hood.

This week we bring you a conversation with Troy Bannister, CEO and Co-founder of Particle Health, a StartUp Health portfolio company that is working to bring to healthcare the same level of data interoperability that we’ve experienced in personal finance. Their API framework is a foundation for healthcare innovators to build upon, so really we’re just at the very beginning of seeing what’s possible.

Troy explains what they’ve built, and what’s coming next in health data interoperability in this conversation with Katya Hancock, partner at StartUp Health. The chat was held in front of a live audience at the StartUp Health Festival @ ViVE in Miami Beach in March.

Learn more and connect with the team at Particle Health.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

Does Teladoc’s Stock Drop Matter? Jamey Edwards on Achieving Health Moonshots in the Face of Rocky Public Markets

May 3, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, Startups, UncategorizedDigital Health, Entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Innovation, Jamey Edwards, Logan Plaster, mindset, Mindsets, StartUp Health, Teledoc, Telehealth, telemedicine, WisdomNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:40 — 26.3MB)

This week’s episode of StartUp Health NOW is a conversation with Jamey Edwards, Chief Operating Officer at StartUp Health. Jamey has been working in the telemedicine space for more than a decade, and his last company, Cloudbreak, went public via SPAC last year. So when we saw the headlines that Teladoc’s stock dropped 40% – alongside other dips in the telemedicine public market – we called him up for a dose of perspective. In this conversation with host Logan Plaster, Edwards breaks down the news from Wall Street and gives startups some health moonshot wisdom. Bottom line: stay focused on the mission because improving global health is a marathon, not a sprint.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

Alyssa Jaffee of 7wireVentures on Finding Balance, Authenticity, and Founder-Market Fit

April 26, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, Startups, Uncategorized7Wire Ventures, 7wireVentures, Alyssa Jaffee, HealthTech Investor, impact investing, investing, investment, Logan Plaster, Moonshot MindsetNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:06 — 51.4MB)

This week’s episode of StartUp Health NOW is pulled from a recent Fireside Chat we held with investor Alyssa Jaffee, a partner at 7wireVentures who focuses on digital health. Jaffee sits on the board of Ayogo Health and works with five health companies as a board observer, so she’s got a very hands-on understanding of what’s working and what’s not.

In the interview, Jaffee shares some best practices for breaking through the noise and landing a meeting with an investor. She talks through the importance of founder-market fit – why passion is particularly important in healthcare – and why she’s so bullish on the health innovation market as a whole.

We hold these candid conversations in front of a live audience of founders from the StartUp Health portfolio, so you’ll get to learn from their questions as well.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com