In this episode, we connected with Josh Hix, Co-Founder and CEO of Season Health. Season Health is a platform that connects members with healthy meal ideas and grocery options to help members and providers manage chronic conditions. Prior to starting Season Health, Josh co-founded the meal prep delivery service Plated, which led to an appearance on SharkTank. Season Health recently raised $34M in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. LRV Ventures, Company Ventures, Cityblock CEO Toyin Ajayi and other angel investors also participated in the round. Prior to this, Season Health raised $11M in seed funding. We discussed: Leveraging Josh’s prior experience co-founding Plated to realize a vision of creating a consumer-grade software platform that connects food and medicine. Season Health’s mission to make nutritious food more accessible by shaping the increasingly digital food environment and partnering with payers to make food more affordable to improve health outcomes for patients with chronic diseases. Partnering with healthcare industry leaders Geisinger, CommonSpirit, and Cricket Health to scale Season Health’s offering and enrich scientific research linking nutrition with better chronic disease management.

In this episode, I sat down with Chris Altchek, CEO and Founder of Cadence. Founded in 2019, Cadence is a health tech platform that combines personalized clinical care with a breakthrough technology platform. With this Cadence offers consistent care for people managing chronic conditions, such as congestive heart failure, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and COPD, from the comfort of their home. Cadence recently raised a $100M Series B round, putting its latest valuation at $1 billion. During our conversation, Chris and I discussed: Chris’s career journey and entry into healthcare How Cadence is scaling remote monitoring to serve large patient populations How the pandemic changed the healthcare system’s perception of remote care The future of Cadence and his advice for MBA students interested in the space

Our guest on this episode is Dr. Jerrica Kirkley, co-founder & Chief Medical Officer of Plume. Plume delivers gender-affirming care via telehealth for trans and non-binary individuals, currently operating in 41 states. Plume provides hormone-replacement therapy, such as estrogen and testosterone, as well as letters of support for gender-affirming surgery or changing name or gender markers for its patients. Jerrica and her cofounder, Plume CEO Dr. Matthew Wetschler, raised a $14M series A round of funding last year Craft Ventures. In this episode, Jerrica and I discussed: Her journey to starting Plume Her experience as a patient and provider of gender-affirming care The current anti-trans political climate and Plume’s role as an advocate for the trans and nonbinary community To celebrate Pride Month 2022, please consider a donation to The Trevor Project.

Our guest on this episode is Kelsey Mellard, founder & CEO of Sitka, a virtual specialty consultation company facilitating primary care and specialty communication via video consults, also known as eConsults or “curbside consults”. Sitka and their virtual specialty provider network, Sitka Medical Associates, work with payers, provider groups and accountable care organizations to improve access to specialty care while avoiding unnecessary specialist costs. Last year, Sitka raised a $14M series A round of funding led by Venrock. In this episode, Kelsey and I discussed: (1) her journey to starting Sitka and how her time in the public sector has impacted her career (2) how Sitka closes the specialty access gap by removing scheduling inefficiencies and virtually connecting PCPs and specialists, and (3) her experience as an early-stage founder, including how she navigated taking parental leave as a Series A CEO

In this episode, we chatted with Dr. Somi Javaid, Founder & Chief Medical Officer of HerMD. Dr. Somi Javaid is a board-certified OBGYN and pioneer in the women’s sexual healthcare space. She founded HerMD, a female-forward, insurance-based women’s healthcare center to help educate, advocate for, and empower women to take control of their health care. Recently, HerMD raised $10 Million in their Series A fundraise to bring their unique healthcare model to women across the US. JAZZ Ventures led the Series A round. We discussed: Watching her mother struggle to receive the care she needed and experiencing personal job dissatisfaction and burnout led Dr. Somi Javaid to found HerMD, a clinic specializing in menopause and female sexual health, designed to empower both patients and clinicians to create a positive care experience. The importance of promoting access to innovative therapies treating menopause and female sexual health disorders through insurance reimbursement, opening physical locations in “flyover” states, and championing education and patient advocacy. The rise of female healthcare-focused startups is likely to persist in conjunction with more VC funding, with opportunities for consolidation and collaboration across brands.

In this episode, I sat down with Isabelle Kenyon, CEO and Founder of Calibrate. Founded in 2020, Calibrate is a metabolic health company on a mission to change the way the world treats weight. In August of 2021, Calibrate raised a $100M Series B round led by Founders Fund and Tiger Global. Since then, the company has hired hundreds of new employees and onboarded thousands of new patients, released its first Results Report, and geared up to launch its first enterprise clients. Isabelle and I discuss: 1) Isabelle’s own interactions with the healthcare system and why these experiences led her to commit to spending her career building a better, more consumer-centric system, 2) Why Calibrate’s emphasis on metabolic health represents a paradigm shift in how we treat weight loss and obesity, 3) Calibrate’s clinical model that combines medication, a holistic curriculum guided by synchronous 1:1 video coaching, and community, 4) The company’s plans to expand access to treatment through enterprise partnerships, and 5) Isabelle’s focus on developing both her own and her company’s self-awareness as Calibrate’s leader.

In this episode, I sat down with the co-founders of Equip, Kristina Saffran and Erin Parks, PhD. Equip provides virtual, evidence-based eating disorder treatment, and the company has expanded rapidly over the last few years. In February 2022, it raised a $58 million Series B funding round from The Chernin Group, Tiger Capital, General Catalyst, and other existing investors. Erin, Kristina, and I discuss: 1) how they met and why starting a company together was the right move, 2) what’s happening in a person’s body and mind when they have an eating disorder, 3) Equip’s family-based treatment model and the company’s holistic approach to defining access, 4) why virtual care works well for eating disorder treatment, and 5) lessons that Erin and Kristina have learned from each other as co-founders and their advice on navigating the co-founder experience.

In this episode, we sat down with Virgílio “V” Bento, Founder & CEO of SWORD Health. SWORD Health aims to bring world-class musculoskeletal (MSK) care to patients around the world by connecting members with physical therapists and digital therapists through a member app that combines sensor technology with telemedicine to prevent, relieve, and accelerate the healing of acute conditions, chronic pain, and post-surgical recovery. SWORD Health raised $163M in their latest Series D round led by Sapphire Ventures. This latest fundraising round brings SWORD’s valuation at $2B. We discussed Drawing inspiration for the genesis of SWORD Health after V’s brother got into a car accident and could not access the high quality physical therapy he needed for a speedy recovery. Delivering precision care through AI that generates personalized care plans for each patient with the guidance of physical therapists. How SWORD Health’s proven clinical model, created to address MSK-related issues, could target other conditions in the future.

This episode’s guest is Frank Cheung, CEO and Co-Founder of Cerebrae, a startup that aims to accelerate the adoption of value-based care by helping providers and payers measure, forecast, and validate the financial ROI of emerging approaches to patient care. Through this work, they aim to radically simplify the process of commercializing value-based care delivery. They are backed by several investors, including StepStone, Fika, Susa, TenOneTen, AME Cloud Ventures, Knollwood, Route 66, and SaaS Venture Capital.

Our guest on this episode is Stephen Smith, CEO of NOCD, a digital health company delivering high-quality virtual care for patients with obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. NOCD performs over 140,000 virtual therapy sessions annually, and has established a community-driven model that connects patients around the world to peers and licensed therapists. Last year, NOCD raised a $33 million Series B round of funding led by F-Prime Capital and received their initial backing from 7wireVentures. In this episode, Stephen and I discussed: 1) His own experience searching for diagnosis and treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder and how this led him to founding NOCD. 2) How NOCD cares for patients with OCD and connects to patients who have not yet been diagnosed. 3) Why focusing on the OCD population positions NOCD well to attract top therapists and move to value-based care.