The Heart of Healthcare | A Digital Health Podcast Build, Scale, Repeat | Serial Founder Tom X. Lee
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Oct 13, 2025 Tom X. Lee, a serial physician-founder and CEO of Galileo, shares insights from his impressive journey, having co-founded Epocrates and One Medical. He discusses why traditional medical training doesn't foster management skills and identifies key traits that make clinicians successful entrepreneurs. Tom also emphasizes that the greatest barrier to healthcare innovation lies in misaligned economics, not culture. He outlines Galileo's innovative approach to patient care, the impact of AI, and the balance between scaling startups for impact versus financial returns.
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Clinical Training Limits Management Fit
- Medical training fosters risk aversion and research focus that don't naturally fit management or entrepreneurship.
- Tom X. Lee argues clinicians' clinical mindset often clashes with the ambiguity and delegation needed to lead startups.
Traits That Translate To Founding
- Curiosity and a learning mindset help clinicians become founders, but comfort with ambiguity is rarer.
- Lee highlights critical empiric thinking and humility as key traits for clinician-founders.
Cross-Train Into Clinical Leadership
- Clinicians should cross-train into leadership and management to shape future care delivery.
- Lee urges proactive development of leadership skills because clinical practice will change rapidly.