Britt Gottschalk: How Can Data Change Healthcare?

Britt Gottschalk is the CEO and a dynamic creator of change, thriving in the challenging world of health data management. We explored her extensive career, which spans from waste management to management consulting, highlighting her 'figure-it-out' mentality and her role as a jack of all trades. Britt's current focus is on empowering individuals to control and benefit from their health data, a mission that bridges her passion for problem-solving with her entrepreneurial spirit.

Britt began her career in corporate America, leveraging her dual master's degrees in business administration and industrial organizational psychology. Her initial roles involved navigating the complexities of process improvement and project management, where she quickly learned the harsh realities of corporate structures. "You think that coming fresh out of grad school, everybody's going to listen to my ideas. I know what's going on, and you don't know anything. You really don't know anything," Britt reflects on her early career experiences, underscoring the steep learning curve and resistance to change she faced.

The transition from consulting to entrepreneurship was driven by Britt's frustration with the status quo and her desire to solve significant problems. She shares, "I really did start a business out of being disgruntled. I was very upset with the way that things were going, and I didn't feel like things were going to get any easier." This pivotal moment led her to launch her first business during the COVID-19 pandemic, which focused on aiding teams with remote work transitions.

Britt's second venture, Genome, emerged from her realization of the dire need for integrated and accessible health data. She explains the genesis of Genome, "The healthcare industry is worth trillions of dollars here in the US, and they're not broke. It's a matter of figuring out how to get the money from the outcomes they're developing from data that's already being collected on us and looping in the consumer into that process." This model not only addresses data accessibility challenges but also compensates individuals for their data contributions, thus democratizing the economic benefits of medical research.

Throughout the interview, Britt highlights the crucial balance of sustainability and innovation required to scale a tech startup successfully. Her insights into securing investments and managing cash flow are invaluable for any aspiring entrepreneur. "You have to make sure that you are sustainable, getting revenue as much as possible, as quickly and as much as possible based on what you know," she advises, sharing the lessons learned from both her businesses.

The episode is packed with enlightening discussions about the intersections of biotechnology, healthcare, and entrepreneurship. It provides a deep dive into how visionary leadership can harness the power of health data to revolutionize medical research and patient care while also offering a pathway for individuals to participate in and benefit from their own data.

Listeners will come away with a profound understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the evolving landscape of health data, inspired by Britt Gottschalk's relentless pursuit of innovation and equity in healthcare.