Day Zero

Meet Brian Wallach, J.D. and Sandra Abrevaya, J.D.:In 2017, Brian Wallach, J.D. learned that he was diagnosed with ALS. He and his wife Sandra Abrevaya, J.D. are dedicating their remaining time together to help ALS patients everywhere. They founded I AM ALS, a non-profit organization that successfully advocated for millions in research through major legislation. Brian and Sandra also launched Synapticure, a care platform for ALS patients, with the backing of GV and other investors. They are on a mission to reshape our understanding and treatment of ALS.Key Insights:Brian and Sandra are truly inspirational, revealing how a family can go forward with a devastating diagnosis and what two people can accomplish in such a short amount of time.Founding I AM ALS. Sandra and Brian founded the non-profit I AM ALS to create policy change. Their advocacy facilitated the passage of Act for ALS, which allocates $100 million annually over five years for research and expands treatment options for patients. I AM ALS also provides a platform for patients and caregivers to get support and share their stories, and for volunteers to take “micro actions” that advocate for patients. (12:32)Founding Synapticure. Synapticure provides ALS patients a care coordinator that helps manage the administrative burden of coordinating between the patient’s entire care team. It also facilitates access to cutting-edge and personalized testing and treatment; ALS is a heterogeneous disease with many sub-types that respond differently to targeted therapies. Sandra and Brian founded this company to create the continuity of care they wished they had during their treatment experience. (21:28)Power in the Purpose. Brian gets his energy from the knowledge that he and Sandra can change the course of ALS with their advocacy. He is driven partially by necessity, but also the belief that he can make a difference, and potentially save his life and 1000’s of others. (31:00)This episode is hosted by Gary Bisbee, Ph.D. He is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Think MediumRelevant Links:Learn more about I AM ALS and how to take actionLearn more about SynapticureRead “I am Brian Wallach” Read “I am Sandra Abrevaya and Brian Wallach”

Meet Jodi Akin: Jodi Akin is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Hawthorne Effect, a software service that  streamlines and decentralizes clinical trials. She is an Angle Investor and Advisor for Astia, Board  member for 510 Kardiac Devices, Inc., and the Chief Scientific Advisor for PiCardia, Inc. Previously,  she was the Vice President of Global Clinical Affairs at Edwards Lifesciences LLC. Jodi received a  Bachelor’s in Diplomacy, Economics and International Affairs from Georgetown University, and a  Master of Science in Nursing from Pace University. Key Insights: The Hawthorne Effect is changing the ecosystem of clinical trials. Defining Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is an attitude, not a stage of a company, according to Jodi. She didn’t set out to simply found a company, rather she felt a gravitational pull, a compulsion, to fix an aspect of healthcare. (10:39) Improved Patient Adherence. Hawthorne Effect brings clinical trials to the patient’s own home, rather than requiring the patient to go to a physical research institution. This removes transportation challenges for the patient, which increases adherence. Jodi cites that 97-98% of their patients adhere to clinical trials. (15:48) Hawthorne Heroes. Decentralized clinical trials are made possible by a gig network of medical professionals. This allows for geographically diverse trials, and these Heroes have additional opportunities for certification and training for different types of trials, with roles that range from patient visits to trial investigators. (18:03)This episode is hosted by Gary Bisbee, Ph.D. He is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Think  Medium. Relevant Links:Learn more about Hawthorne Effect Read “Startup Improves Clinical Trial Process To Ensure Better Healthcare For All” by  Forbes Listen to “Hawthorne Effect Founder and CEO Jodi Akin” on VatorNews podcasts

Meet the Guests:This episode showcases three guests previously featured on Day Zero. Mike McSherry is the CEO of Xealth, a platform that facilitates clinicians prescribing digital health tools to patients, tracking usage, and improving digital health recommendations. Brandon Weber is the co-founder and CEO of Nava, a benefits brokerage firm that facilitates high quality healthcare to employers. Sean Mehra is the founder and CEO of HealthTap, a virtual-first, affordable urgent and primary care clinic. Key Insights:Healthcare presents a unique ecosystem for entrepreneurs. No market is as complicated, regulated, and confusing as healthcare.Advancing Technology.  Entrepreneurism in healthcareis extra challenging because healthcare often lags in adopting new technology. A hospital may have cutting edge MRIs, and yet still use fax machines. Unpredictable adoption can be due variable reimbursement plans, conflicting incentives, and government regulations. (1:39)Fixing the Bottleneck. There is a huge explosion of innovation on the supply side of healthcare, but it is not reaching buyers. Part of the bottleneck is in the benefits brokerage industry. Brandon thinks the future might already be here, it’s just not evenly distributed. (3:30)Expanding the Production Possibility Frontier. In the next 5-10 years, Sean predicts that technology innovation will make supply and demand transactions more efficient, such as telehealth better connecting patients to providers, and make supply itself more efficient, like AI and algorithms to help providers. (5:39)

Meet Sean Lane:Sean Lane is the CEO of Olive and CEO of Circulo Health. Previously, he was an Intelligence Officer for the National Security Agency. He was also founder and Chairman of the Board for Betamore, and Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Digital Harbor Foundation. Sean received a Bachelor’s in Political Science and Government from Miami University. Key Insights:Sean Lane is freeing up healthcare’s scarcest resource: time. The Inspiration for Olive. Sean was trying to address prescription drug abuse challenges in his community when he realized that healthcare doesn’t have the internet. Healthcare systems and software don’t communicate, rather healthcare relies on humans as routers to complete repetitive tasks and manually share data. (7:46)What Olive Can Do. Using artificial Intelligence, Olive automates repetitive healthcare tasks to free up human capacity. It started with revenue cycle, but expanded into areas of administration and operation. (15:05)Challenges. To Sean, Olive’s biggest challenge is scale. There are billions of hours of human capacity wasted on repetitive tasks that could be automated. In order to have an impact on the industry, Olive needs to get big enough to matter. (16:26)This episode is hosted by Gary Bisbee, Ph.D. He is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Think Medium. Relevant Links:Learn more about OliveCheck out Sean’s websiteWatch “A plan to redirect a trillion dollars in the US healthcare system with Olive CEO Sean Lane”

Rasmus Hougaard, founder of Potential Project, shares his mission to create a more human world of work. He reframes the great resignation as an opportunity for compassion. Self-compassion and getting enough sleep are fundamental to resiliency.

Meet Leah Sparks:Leah Sparks is the CEO and Founder of Wildflower Health. She is also a co-chair and Board Member of HT4M. Previously, Leah was the Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for DNA Direct and the Vice President of Oncology Solutions at McKesson. Leah received a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Tennessee and an MBA from the University of Virginia. Key Insights:Wildflower bridges gaps in women’s healthcare with digital solutions.Complimenting Partnerships. Leah had industry knowledge and a vision to make women’s care better. So, she found a co-founder that complimented her skill set, who knew how to build a product and manage engineers. Additionally, Leah knows she is a big-picture thinker, and so surrounds herself with detail-oriented team members. (4:54)The Value of Feedback. Leah recommends that entrepreneurs listen to market feedback and seek industry experts. Having a variety of advisers from different perspectives will put your company on the right path. (6:40)Wildflower Expansion. Wildflower’s immediate priority is to scale up existing contracts and better support customers. On the horizon, Leah envisions an advanced primary care model that leverages the close relationship women have with obstetricians. (15:51)This episode is hosted by Aaron Martin. He is a member of the Advisory Council for Day Zero and is the Vice President of Healthcare at Amazon.Relevant Links:Learn more about WildflowerWatch Leah’s TEDMED talkRead “Smarter Health Care on Your Smartphone: An Interview With Leah Sparks, Co-Founder and CEO of Wildflower Health”

Meet Rajeev Singh:Rajeev Singh is the Accolade CEO and Chairperson. Accolade is transforming employer health benefits programs through providing personalized, continuous and integrated health services. Rajeev is also a board member of Avalara and Amperity, and a Trustee of the Seattle Children’s Hospital Foundation. Previously, Rajeev was the Co-founder, President and COO of Concur Technologies, which was sold to SAP for $8.3 billion. He graduated with a B.S.E. from Western Michigan University.Key Insights:Rajeev Singh is a successful entrepreneur who pivoted to healthcare to make tangible, positive change in people’s lives.Identity. Like many entrepreneurs, Rajeev saw his company as part of his identity. After he sold Concur Technology, Rajeev went through a period of depression. He took nine months to reinspect his identity and rediscover himself before he was ready for the next challenge. (9:18)Leadership. Rajeev shares that sometimes leaders try to replicate a leadership style they read about in a book. He encourages leaders to be themselves, and embrace their unique strengths. Don’t copy someone else, be you. (10:51)Introspection. Entrepreneurship is rewarding, but inspect and understand your motives first. Do you love creating things from scratch and can’t image your life any other way? Then follow your entrepreneurial dreams! If you just want to make money, maybe do something else. (32:52)This episode is hosted by Gary Bisbee, Ph.D. He is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Think Medium.  Relevant Links:Learn more about AccoladeFollow Rajeev on TwitterRead “Q&A with Rajeev Singh, CEO of Accolade”

Meet Leshika Samarasinghe:Leshika Samarasinghe is the Founder and General Partner at Twine Ventures. She is an investor in a number of companies including Waymark, Stealth Fintech, Apella Technology, Teiko.bio, Rupa Health, and Alaffia Health. Previously, she was a Venture Partner at Future Positive and Managing Partner at The Production Board. Leshika received a B.A. in international Relations at Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.Key Insights:Leshika Samarasinghe works with mission-driven, early-stage founders.Founder Relationships. Leshika chooses founders that have a strong founder-market fit and who are excellent at communicating their company’s story. She also emphasizes the importance of the investor-founder relationship, which should be based on trust and shared vision. (6:48)Intentional Fundraising. Twine Ventures raises money from investment funds that are dedicated to investing in venture funds. These types of funds are nimble and have experience helping new companies ramp up. Additionally, Twine Ventures is intentional about seeking individual limited partners (LPs) that provide complimentary abilities or expertise. (9:21)Time is Scarce for Founders. It’s important to create time and space to learn, think, and voraciously read. Leshika anchors that time to her investments, diving deep into the industry or product. This way she is prepared for conversations with founders. (14:56)This episode is hosted by Julie Yoo. She is a member of the Advisory Council for Day Zero and is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz.Relevant Links:Learn more about Twine VenturesLearn more about Leshika Samarasinghe

Meet the Panel Guests:This panel features three guests previously featured at Think Medium. John Glaser, Ph.D. is an Executive-in- Residence at the Harvard Medical School Executive Education. Suchi Saria, Ph.D. is the founder and CEO of Bayesian Health. She is also an Advisory Council member for Day Zero. Kaveh Safavi, M.D., J.D. is the Senior Managing Director at Accenture. Key Insights:Three health technology and data experts discuss healthcare trends and innovations that emerged during the HIMSS conference.Uneven Distribution of AI. Dr. Glaser points out that AI technology has made huge advancements; however, it is unevenly distributed throughout healthcare. AI itself isn’t purchased, rather there is a product that performs better because of AI. Advancements in AI need to effectively solve specific problems for adoption to occur. (17:33)Challenges to AI Usage. Dr. Safavi points out thata challenge to AI usage is the privacy and consent necessary to utilize patient data. This is a policy and regulation issue that requires government intervention. Additionally, for AI to be reliable, bias in data needs to be mitigated, focusing on quality over quantity. (22:35)We Have the Tools! Dr. Saria adds that there are many tools and techniques available to monitor and measure bias.However, those tools are variably implemented across the industry and understanding of best practices is inconsistent. (23:46)This episode is hosted by Gary Bisbee, Ph.D. He is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Think Medium.Relevant Links:Learn more about HIMSSCheck out The Gary Bisbee Show interview with John Glaser, Ph.D.Check out Day Zero’s interview with Suchi Saria, Ph.D.Check out The Gary Bisbee Show interview with Kaveh Safavi, M.D., J.D.

Meet Nina Tandon, Ph.D.:Nina Tandon, Ph.D. is the CEO and co-founder of EpiBone. She is a TED Senior Fellow, Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Cooper Union, and a former Staff Associate Postdoctoral Researcher in the Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering at Columbia University. Dr. Tandon is also the co-author of “Super Cells: Building with Biology.” She received a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from MIT, and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and an MBA from Columbia University.Key Insights:Nina Tandon, Ph.D. realized that the technologies running our bodies are a lot like the wires and hard drives that we build with our hands. Nina works in the technology between cells and circuits.Alternative Funding. EpiBone was incubated in Academia. Initial funding for research came from a translation grant. Grants are a good option for academic entrepreneurs like Dr. Tandon, because writing grant proposals is familiar, the rigorous peer review serves as due diligence, and the grant funding de-risks the investment. (8:03)EpiBone Explained. EpiBone technology utilizes a patient’s own stem cells to grow bone or cartilage into the shape and structure that patient needs. EpiBone has started with facial bones, but sees a future with orthopedic applications. (11:52)Entrepreneurship is like the Olympics. All Olympians should have coaches, and CEOs are no different. What is demanded of Dr. Tandon is constantly changing. Coaching helps her understand her weaknesses, manage stress, and realize problems before they magnify. (23:47)This episode is hosted by Aaron Martin. He is a member of the Advisory Council for Day Zero and is Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at Providence, and Managing General Partner of Providence Ventures. Relevant Links:Learn more about EpiBoneRead “Why Every Life Science CEO Needs a Leadership Coach” by Nina TandonWatch “Personalized Surgery: Growing Your Own Bone” by Slice of MIT