Concept to Care

Simon Hayhurst, Chief Product Officer at Virta Health

Jan 15, 2025

In this insightful conversation, Simon Hayhurst, Chief Product Officer at Virta Health, recounts how a personal health journey sparked the company’s mission to reverse Type 2 diabetes. He dives into the evolution of their go-to-market strategy and the innovative blend of AI and human coaching for personalized care. Simon emphasizes the importance of starting small for true learning and crafting flexible product strategies. He also discusses how continuous retrospectives fuel growth and how AI is set to transform member experiences in healthcare.

01:10:57

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Episode guests

Simon Hayhurst

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Virta Health's mission to reverse Type 2 diabetes is driven by a personal health journey that inspired its innovative approach to chronic disease management.

The integration of technology and human coaching at Virta ensures efficient care delivery, emphasizing behavior change as a key to patient success.

Adopting a three-legged stool framework helps health tech companies balance patient value, payer ROI, and operational efficiency for sustainable growth.

Deep dives

Evidence of Value for Employers

Understanding what drives excitement among patients is crucial for attracting employers. Before engaging employers, it's essential to gather clear evidence that potential members are eager for the service being offered. This can involve finding enthusiastic individuals who resonate with the health technology concept, regardless of their affiliation with specific companies. By showcasing compelling stories and experiences from these early supporters, a company can demonstrate value to potential employers, making it more likely for them to invest.

Intro

2min

Transforming Diabetes Management

12min

Launching Health Tech Startups

9min

Embracing Flexibility in Product Management

24min

Navigating Product Discovery

7min

Leveraging AI for Enhanced Feature Velocity

14min

The Shift in Product Management: From Engineering to Data-Driven Roles

2min

Simon Hayhurst is the Chief Product Officer at Virta Health, a company on a mission to reverse Type 2 diabetes and improve metabolic health for millions. With a deep background in product strategy and a passion for tackling one of healthcare’s most pressing challenges, Simon has played a key role in scaling Virta’s innovative care model. At the intersection of technology, behavior change, and clinical excellence, Virta is reshaping what’s possible in chronic disease management.

In our conversation, Simon shares his insights on:

The Virta Mission and Founding Story: How a personal health journey inspired a company to tackle metabolic disease at scale.
The Evolution of Virta’s Go-to-Market Strategy: Lessons from clinical validation, early patient success, and building payer relationships.
Leveraging Technology for Personalized Care: How Virta combines human coaching and AI to deliver scalable, high-quality care.
Frameworks for Product Success: Simon’s “three-legged stool” approach to balancing patient value, payer ROI, and operational efficiency.
Doing Unscalable Things First: Why starting small is key to learning, building empathy, and refining workflows.
Planning with Now-Next-Later: A simple, flexible framework for focused product strategy in dynamic environments.
The Power of Retrospectives: How continuous improvement drives sustainable growth and team empowerment.
AI and the Future of Member Experience: The role of AI in scaling personalized, proactive, and efficient healthcare delivery.

In this episode of Concept to Care, Simon provides a fascinating look into how Virta Health is leading the charge against Type 2 diabetes and redefining health tech success. His insights into product strategy, scaling care, and leveraging AI offer actionable lessons for health tech leaders, operators, and entrepreneurs.

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Where to find Simon Hayhurst