Andrew Dudum | Reimagining Healthcare with hims & hers
Mar 29, 2021
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Andrew Dudum, founder and CEO of hims & hers, discusses his journey in starting the telehealth company and reimagining healthcare. He talks about the challenges in the healthcare industry, going public via a SPAC merger, and the impact of COVID-19 on telemedicine. They also explore the qualities of successful entrepreneurs and the potential of hims & hers in revolutionizing the healthcare market.
Hims & Hers aims to break down barriers and eliminate stigmas in healthcare by providing access to quality healthcare and personal care products online.
Hims & Hers successfully tackled stigmatized topics in healthcare through innovative marketing strategies, fostering conversations and removing taboos.
The ability to present a bold and confident vision, backed by facts or enthusiasm, is a key characteristic of successful founders in fundraising and entrepreneurship.
Deep dives
Building a Telehealth Company with a Vision
Hymns & Hers, a telehealth company, aims to eliminate stigmas around health and wellness issues while providing quality healthcare. Their mission is to break down barriers and offer access to prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and personal care products online. With a valuation over two billion dollars, the company has seen rapid growth since its founding in 2017.
Early Passion for Music and Business
The CEO of Hymns & Hers, Andrew, shares his early passion for music and growing up in a family of entrepreneurs. Despite wanting to be in a rock band, he started playing the cello and even began performing at weddings and on the streets. Andrew eventually pursued a business education at Wharton and surrounded himself with mentors and entrepreneurs to learn from their experiences.
Building the Brand and Breaking Stigmas
Hymns & Hers took a unique approach to brand building by tackling stigmatized topics in healthcare, such as hair loss and sexual health, with humor and authenticity. They used innovative marketing strategies, including New York City subway takeovers and podcasts, to foster conversations and remove taboos. By addressing customer concerns head-on, Hymns & Hers quickly gained traction, proving the demand for their products and services.
The Power of Storytelling in Fundraising
The podcast episode discusses the importance of storytelling and fundraising, highlighting the experience of a founder named Jack Abraham. Jack's ability to tell captivating stories and secure funding from venture capitalists impressed the speaker, demonstrating the significant impact storytelling can have on fundraising success. The speaker recalls an instance where Jack confidently predicted that a company in its early stages would be worth billions of dollars in the future. This ability to present a bold vision with confidence and back it up with facts or enthusiasm is a key characteristic of successful founders. The distinction between confidence and lying is also stressed, emphasizing the importance of integrity in entrepreneurship.
Starting Companies Based on Personal Needs
The episode explores the strategy of starting companies that address personal needs and problems faced by the founders. This approach, employed by the speaker and their team at Atomic, allows them to build products and brands they are deeply passionate about. One such company, Terminal, was born out of the struggle to recruit engineers due to competition from tech giants. Terminal helps companies hire engineers by establishing engineering hubs and connecting talented engineers with startups. By focusing on building solutions to problems they personally experience, founders can maintain a high level of passion, dedication, and interest in their businesses, leading to rapid growth and success.
Andrew Dudum is the founder and CEO of hims & hers. He’s also a co-founder and General Partner at Atomic, a venture studio backed by Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and many of the leading venture funds in the world.
Founded in 2017, hims and hers is a telehealth company that sells prescription and over-the-counter drugs online, as well as personal care products. Their mission is to eliminate the stigmas around health and wellness issues and break down barriers for people when it comes to obtaining quality healthcare. The company debuted on the NYSE in January of this year and is currently valued at about $2.5 billion.
We spoke with Andrew about his early days growing up in San Francisco and what some of his early passions were, his experience going to college at Wharton as well as his early career, what sparked the idea for hims and the problems he saw with healthcare, the early challenges he faced while building the business, why he decided to take the company public via a SPAC merger, and much more.
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