Category Archives: Startups

The Surprising Secret to Doctor.com’s Success



Andrei Zimiles and Reed Mollins, founders of Doctor.com, are longtime friends and longtime friends of StartUp Health. The two met as pre-teens at summer camp and led parallel lives before becoming partners and entrepreneurs, dropping out of high school at age 16 and transferring out of and into the very same colleges. And just as their friendship has been something of a journey, so, too, has their professional relationship, from Doctor.com’s origins at rented desks in a dusty Soho co-working space (the two vividly recall a garbage bag duct-taped over a broken window) to its acquisition this past fall by Press Ganey.

Zimiles and Mollins joined StartUp Health back in 2013 and returned to share their hard-won wisdom at a recent Fireside Chat. In a wide-ranging conversation amongst friends, the duo explained how their attitude towards sales and approach to building partnerships took Doctor.com from its humble beginnings to its lucrative exit.

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.


Walmart Could Magnify Americans’ Access to Healthcare — With the Help of Key Startups



In the era of social distancing, a doctor’s appointment looks a little different than it did a year ago. But Evan Schnur, Director of Healthcare Information and Strategy at Walmart, says the experience will continue to evolve, even after in-person visits resume. Schnur trained as a pharmacist and currently leads the development of the growing range of healthcare services at Walmart Health, which now include primary care visits, diagnostics, and dentistry. The massive scale of the world’s largest company by revenue offers new avenues for prevention and treatment that could shatter the paradigm for medical care. In a recent StartUp Health Fireside Chat, Schnur explained what that future might look like and why healthcare startups might play a key role.

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.


Exit Strategies: M&A Wisdom From Entrepreneur-Investors Samer Hamadeh and James Marciano 



In this episode of StartUp Health NOW, StartUp Health co-founder Unity Stoakes dials up Samer Hamadeh, CEO and founder of Zeel, and James Marciano, founder of Tuck advisors, for a candid discussion on mergers and acquisition. According to both Hamadeh and Marciano – who have spent time on both sides of the M&A table – it’s important for founders to build their startups as though they’re going to sell one day, even if they don’t. That means building the systems for clean accounting and transparent business operations from day one. They also discuss the elusive UFO (unsolicited flying offer) and how to know when an offer is worth pursuing. This straight talk on M&A is hard-earned wisdom that will benefit most people in the startup ecosystem.

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.


Vinod Khosla: Investing in the Future of Healthcare & Moonshot Thinking



The global pandemic ushered in a new era of health innovation. StartUp Health founders Steven Krein and Unity Stoakes sat down for an interactive Fireside Chat with Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures to discuss the future of health innovation in a post-pandemic world, why moonshot thinking is more important than ever, and to dig deep into topics like the power of mindset and collaboration.

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.


StartUp Health Fireside Chat: Dr. Andrey Ostrovsky, Health Innovation Investor



In a recent Fireside Chat with a few dozen founders from the StartUp Health portfolio, we were joined by Andrey Ostrovsky, MD, former Chief Medical Officer at Medicaid. Dr. Ostrovsky is a practicing doctor and an entrepreneur – in fact, he founded and sold a company that was a part of StartUp Health years ago. In 2016, Andrey took on the role of Chief Medical Officer of Medicaid. Then he rolled all that experience up and became a health innovation investor. Andrey’s done it all and is generous with that experience.

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.


StartUp Health Fireside Chat: Dr. Ashwini Zenooz, GM and Chief Medical Officer at Salesforce



In this episode, StartUp Health’s Editor-in-Chief, Logan Plaster, talks (virtually) with Dr. Ashwini Zenooz, GM and Chief Medical Officer at Salesforce. Before taking on her role at the tech giant, Dr. Zenooz, who is a practicing Radiologist, oversaw the modernizing of electronic health records at the Veteran’s Administration. During her time at the VA, she was instrumental in pushing for regulations that allowed providers to be able to practice across state lines. In her role at Salesforce, Zenooz is exploring the many ways the company’s relationship management technology can be applied to health, from vaccine rollouts to individual patient records. In addition to Dr. Zenooz’s voice, you’ll hear some real-world questions from founders in the StartUp Health portfolio.

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.


Particle Health’s “Quark” Sandbox Gives Healthcare Companies Secure Access to Their Medical Data



In this podcast episode, CEO and Co-founder Troy Bannister reveals what his Brooklyn-based startup has been working on for the last 2+ years. And now, with Quark, their new HIPAA-compliant platform that converts EMR data into an easily digestible format, health tech app developers can play around with Particle’s API that makes patient data instantly and securely available. Bannister also explains why, because of shifting patient data regulations, the time is now to innovate and destroy the fax machine for good.

Connect with Troy and his team at Particle Health here.

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.


Former NFL Wide Receiver Torrey Smith Partners With Rose Health to Promote Mental Health Resilience



This week, two-time Super Bowl Champion and former Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith announced that he was joining mental health startup Rose Health as an ambassador and investor. On this episode, StartUp Health’s Logan Plaster catches up with Torrey to learn about life after the NFL, and why it was important for him to become an advocate for mental health resilience.

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.


Business Insider’s Megan Hernbroth on Pitching Your Health Startup’s Story



On this episode of the podcast we dive under the hood to talk about practical strategies for getting a startup’s story out into the world. We turned to Megan Hernbroth, the reporter who covers health tech and venture capital for Business Insider. Megan’s work has run the gamut from silicon valley PR to writing for a website that gets 375 million unique visitors per month. This episode is an excerpt from an Expert Office Hour session hosted by StartUp Health and attended by a group of Health Transformers from the StartUp Health Portfolio. In addition to our interview with Megan, you’ll get to hear directly from founders, some of the day-to-day challenges they face in sharing their stories, and Megan’s sage advice.

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.


How LifeBio Is Using the Power of Storytelling to Improve Mental Health for Seniors



In 2020, the coronavirus caused a societal lock-down like this generation has never seen before. Many who were already isolated and lonely — like seniors – were put into a desperate situation. Beth Sanders, CEO and Co-founder of LifeBio, a startup that’s been with StartUp Health since 2014, has always had a heart for isolated and lonely seniors. She’d worked with them for years, helping them to tell their stories, using what’s called reminiscence therapy. But COVID-19 put LifeBio and this important work into overdrive. Not only was the work needed more than ever, but LifeBio was able to connect the dots between fighting loneliness and improving health outcomes. Turns out a phone call with a trained conversationalist can fight depression, anxiety and keep you mentally nimble. Their findings got the attention of health systems, insurance companies, and even won them a coveted SBIR grant. Logan Plaster, Media Director at StartUp Health, caught up with Sanders to learn more about how LifeBio works and the critical role of storytelling in healthcare in a post-COVID world.

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.