Mission Governance: Founder Control to Protect Purpose

Most companies optimize for profit. Devoted Health was built to serve people.

In this episode of The Eric Ries Show, I sit down with Todd Park, co-founder of Devoted Health and former U.S. Chief Technology Officer, to explore what it looks like to design a company for human flourishing at scale.

Todd shares how Devoted earned one of the highest trust scores in the industry and how he and his brother, Ed, built a business that treats every member like family. We talk about what it takes to operationalize love inside a system as complex as healthcare and how Devoted never saw any problem as outside its mission.

In our conversation today, we talk about:

• What it means to have love as an operational framework 

• How Devoted’s unambiguous mission became a superpower for alignment and trust

• The formula Todd uses to define what world-class healthcare really means

• Why Todd believes hard problems belong inside the company’s mission, not outside it

• The role of trust as both Devoted’s core metric and its greatest moat

•  Lessons from Howard Schultz on scaling culture 

• What it takes to design an ecosystem where business, technology, and community all serve the same goal

• And more

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Where to find Todd Park:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-park-3232573

• X: https://x.com/Todd_Park44

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Where to find Eric:

• Newsletter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

• Podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

• YouTube:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

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In This Episode We Cover:

(00:00) Intro

(03:04) How Todd turned Devoted Health’s founding vision into a full-stack healthcare system

(13:09) How Devoted’s virtuous performance cycle turns love into trust in action

(20:51) Guide: the guardian angels who embody Devoted’s mission

(29:21) How loyalty drives Devoted’s word-of-mouth growth

(31:02) Why Devoted’s marketing materials don’t mention love

(32:27) Harder is easier: Why Devoted built a full-stack healthcare system 

(37:54) The four powers ‘harder is easier’ unlocks

(46:57) The case for radical transparency with your investors

(51:20) The elements of alignment and the power they unlock 

(55:13) Howard Schultz’s advice for scaling culture 

(1:05:23) A story from Starbucks about creating culture

(1:06:50) How Devoted addresses different determinants of health through separate entities

(1:13:00) Inside Devoted’s Elders Councils 

(1:19:43) Building mission protection into Devoted’s DNA through founder control

(1:25:55) Final thoughts from Eric and Todd

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You can find episode references at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Production and marketing by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pen Name⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.