The Health Innovators Show

Having 30+ years in the business can give you more insights than a person has a right to - but it won’t give you all the answers. And when you’re trying to reshape the future of healthcare with a product that harnesses the power of machine learning and puts data back into the customer’s hands, you’re pushing limits. Limits can be unforgiving, but humility and tenacity can win the day, hands down. On this week’s episode, come hear how Frank Ricotta, CEO of BurstIQ, is changing the world - one data set at a time. Frank’s honesty and candidness while speaking about the ups and downs of running a startup are enough to keep all of us inspired and ready to push our own limits. Get comfortable, Health Innovators, because Frank is packing all the receipts on our latest episode! Here are the show highlights: Knowing when it’s time to take back the wheel and change direction (1:03) Making big decisions and taking risks (2:34) Recognizing that all feedback is important, even if it isn’t always correct (5:20) Why staying grounded and balanced is so important for entrepreneurs (25:10) You’ll learn more from your failures than you ever will from your successes (31:17) You don’t need to know everything - transparency and vulnerability deepens trust (34:36) Guest Bio Frank Ricotta is the CEO of BurstIQ, a platform that combines the power of blockchain, big data, and machine intelligence and uses it to build a platform for a person-centric health economy. With 30+ years immersed in empowering people and creating innovative solutions, he credits his professional success to three guidelines: Make a difference, have fun, and make money. Frank earned his BS in Computer Science from the United States Air Force Academy, and his MBA in International Finance from St. Mary’s University. If you’d like to reach out to Frank, you can find him on LinkedIn at Frank Ricotta, on Twitter at @FRicotta, or find him on BurstIQ.com.

When you’re an entrepreneur, sometimes, it’s harder to see the forest for the trees, especially when you’re a tree in the very forest you’re examining. And make no mistake, this is true no matter what field or vertical you’re in - you’re going to see someone else's strategic failures or faults before you see your own. Now for the good news: it’s normal and it’s fixable - so long as you’re willing to do the hard, honest work it will take to identify problems and make the changes necessary to fix them.  On this week’s episode, we shook things up a bit and interviewed our own Dr. Roxie Mooney on her decision to change the name of her podcast from COIQ with Dr. Roxie to The Health Innovators Show. Dr. Roxie gives us the backstory on COIQ and why a name change “just made sense.”   Here are the show highlights: What COIQ Means (0:55) The “Dr. Phil” of Commercializing Innovation (2:44) Knowing when to take your own advice (4:01) How Commercialization of Innovation helps in a volatile market (6:13) Why taking an honest look at your business strategy can be a game changer (8:42) On the wrong path? Change directions! (10:41) Guest Bio Dr. Roxie Mooney is the CEO and Founder of Legacy DNA Marketing Group, a strategic marketing firm, and author of the international best selling book How Health Innovators Maximize Market Success. In addition to her career as a strategist and author, she is also the host of “The Health Innovators Show”, a podcast where guests share their stories, struggles, and strategies to help encourage and empower other innovators currently in the trenches. Dr. Mooney earned her DBA from Walden University and her MS in Organizational Leadership from Palm Beach Atlantic University.  If you’d like to reach out to Dr. Mooney, you can find her on LinkedIn at Roxie Mooney , on Twitter at @roxiemooney, or on her website at www.Legacy-DNA.com.

If you’re an innovator in the digital healthcare space who is having trouble commercializing your solution, this might be the episode you’ve been waiting for. This week, Michael Bidu, a digital health innovation Renaissance man, is giving our listeners the nuts and bolts on accelerators and incubators. If you were ever curious about how the accelerator or incubator side of innovation works, you don’t want to miss it! Want to launch an innovation globally? Unsure of the current state of the market? Wondering if you have a disruptive or sustainable innovation? Michael touches on it.  If you’re an entrepreneur in the digital health space, come grab some insights into what an accelerator looks for when considering an innovation! Here are the show highlights: Are you an entrepreneur in training, or an Olympic level player? (9:15) Digital health innovation: Are you really ready for the massive competition? (12:55) What you should know if you’re thinking of launching a product outside the US (15:53) How accelerators and the incubators evolved during the pandemic (19:30) What’s the difference between disruptive and sustainable innovation? (25:57) This might be keeping you from successfully commercializing your innovation (37:08) Guest Bio Michael Bidu is Co-Founder and CEO of INTERFACE Health Society, a not-for-profit virtual digital health technology accelerator.  He’s also Co-Founder and CEO of MYND Therapeutics Inc., a digital health company that is developing socially engaging digital therapies. Michael is a proven digital health Renaissance man, having expertise in the entire spectrum of innovation - from accelerators and financing to marketing, development, and advertising. Having earned his MBA from the Academia de Studii Economice in Bucharest, Michael continued his education at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Vancouver, B.C. If you’d like to reach out to Michael you can find him on LinkedIn at Michael Mircea Bidu, on his company’s website at InterfaceHealth.com, or on social media using @InterfaceHealth.

When working in the world of digital health innovations has been your lifelong career, you tend to get some pretty good insights.  Being exposed to both the entrepreneurial and startup side as well as the mentoring and coaching side? That sends those insights into the stratosphere.  Lee Greene has spent his entire professional career on either side of the digital health innovation landscape and he’s dishing some great advice for us in this episode. Come find out how emotion can act as a blinder to success, why it’s important to follow the flow of money, and how collaboration could be the key to reshaping healthcare on a global scale. In this episode, Lee shares his knowledge on everything from success to the future of healthcare and beyond.  If you’re thinking of starting a startup or entering the entrepreneurial field of digital health - or are already there feeling the pressure, you need to see this show! Strap in and enjoy the ride!  Here are the show highlights: This is why some health innovations succeed, and some fail (6:07) Why it’s okay to be “all about the money” (7:46) The difference between being the advisor - and running your own startup (12:33) Understanding co-creation, taking advice and figuring out what to believe (15:18) Coaching tip: know what moves to make (18:52) The impact of collaboration and how it might change the future of healthcare (27:55) Guest Bio Lee Greene is the Co-Founder of Stuward, an award-winning digital health company offering a personalized eHealth platform with the ability to match family caregivers to expert coaches. Lee is also the Managing Director for HealthInc, a 12-week full-time accelerator program that connects entrepreneurs and startups to a network of health and business professionals.  Lee is a self-proclaimed “serial health entrepreneur” and has dedicated his professional career to coaching and mentoring entrepreneurial minds and startup ventures.  If you’d like to reach out to Lee you can email him at lee.greene.@healthinc.io, follow him on LinkedIn at Lee Green, or visit his website at healthinc.io.

Stepping out of a 30-year career in the world’s leading medical device company takes more than guts - it takes a solid solution and a plan to bring that solution to market.  After building a three-decades-long career at Medtronics, Lonny Stormo took a chance. He parlayed his diverse experience into action and started a new journey as a startup CEO.  But going from a large company with near-limitless resources to a small company was no cakewalk. Add in a saturated market and things get even more sticky. But Lonny and his co-founders believed in their idea, so they applied some solid co-creation fundamentals and did not skimp when it came to messaging and branding. The result? Five years of planning and building translated into differentiator status for his startup and partnerships in the making. Not a bad turnabout. In this episode, Lonny shares the story of how his company of engineers got a crash course in marketing that turned the tide in their favor.  If you’re trying to break into the market, these insights and tips might be exactly what you need to help break away from the crowd!  Here are the show highlights: The importance of focus groups and customer discovery (1:30) Why it might not be a bad idea to bring in a 3rd party for co-creation (4:34) How to guard against infused bias (6:51) Why your product should be more beneficial than a burden (8:08) Saturated markets and how to stand out in them (11:59) Your product won’t sell itself: the importance of branding and messaging (14:15) A good story can be a game-changer for your solution (17:06) Guest Bio Lonny Stormo is Co-Founder and CEO of POPS! Diabetes Care, Inc., a leader in the democratization of healthcare via an AI-driven virtual coach that helps users self-manage diabetes. After 30 years at Medtronics, Lonny left in pursuit of a vision that would set healthcare on its head - that vision is POPS! Lonny earned his BA in Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and his MBA from Arizona State University If you’d like to reach out to Lonny, you can reach him on Twitter @LonnyStormo, on LinkedIn at Lonny Stormo, or on his website at Popsdiabetes.com.

Creating a whole new market and getting CMS, Medicare, and Medicaid to issue reimbursement codes isn’t easy. In fact, you’d have to be a little crazy to try. Crazy or brilliant. 3X entrepreneur Larry Jasinski definitely isn’t crazy. He knew his company ReWalk was on to something big - and had the data to prove it. From humble beginnings at Boston Scientific to international entrepreneur, Larry knows his stuff - and is opening up to our listeners and viewers on this week’s episode! If you’re struggling to break into the market or commercialize your product, you really need to listen to what Larry has to say. In this episode, he shares the story on how he commercialized his product overseas, brought it to the US, and then compiled the data to support the issuance of a reimbursement code. Amazed? We were too! So get ready for some insights and tips that just might help you weather the commercialization process along the way!  Here are the show highlights: What it’s like to create a whole new market (1:11) The biggest limiter to bringing disruptive or incremental innovation to market (3:56) From idea to commercially viable - which path do you take? (5:31) The current perspective on the investment community (8:03) What innovators should do when pitching investors (10:09) How to approach commercializing a product internationally (15:06) Why having cross-discipline exposure can be key to success (22:27) Guest Bio Larry Jasinski is CEO of ReWalk Robotics, a company that produces structural exoskeletons that give paralyzed people the ability to walk again. From his beginnings at Boston Scientific, Larry attributes cross-disciplinary experience to his successful ventures across the globe - from Germany to Israel to the United States. Larry earned his BS and MBA from Providence College, University of Bridgeport. If you’d like to reach out to Larry, you can follow him on LinkedIn at Larry Jasinsky or on his website at www.rewalk.com.

When you’re a new-to-the-scene founder and you’re out to prove yourself, you need to be scrappy and creative.  Success in the digital healthcare space is always difficult - finding funding and generating sales in a market with heightened volatility is nearly impossible - especially for a newcomer. Nearly. But not quite. Enter Richard Lin and his experience with a healthcare problem and his “gut” feeling that planted the seed of an idea that grew into his company, Thryve. No one wants to be the company that builds a beautiful piece of tech that nobody wants to buy - and Richard shows our listeners and viewers just how to avoid that trap. So, get ready because, in our latest episode, Richard dives into topics from commercialization to funding to discovery and beyond, while putting a unique, humble, and creative spin on each!  Here are the show highlights: This is one way to enjoy a B2C commercialization win (3:38) How commercialization in the B2C space difference from B2B (5:57) First-time founders can try this to increase their chances with investors (7:06) How VC funding has changed from then to now (9:44) Try this 4-step sequence to improve your lead indicator metrics (21:12) This is how you implement and improve on customer discovery (32:21) Guest Bio Richard Lin is CEO and Co-Founder of Thryveinside,  a venture focused on microbiome genomic testing and personalized probiotic therapeutics. Leveraging his background and education, Richard labored to develop what he terms the “23andMe for the microbiome” - a direct-to-consumer DNA solution centered on gut health. Richard earned his BA in Economics and Communication from the University of California, Davis.  If you’d like more information about Thryve, or just wish to reach out to Richard, you can reach him directly at richard@thryveinside.com, follow him on LinkedIn at Richard Lin or, for more information about Thryve, you can follow them on Facebook or Twitter at @ThryveInside.

When COVID-19 flew into the scene, the way we conduct business was changed - virtually overnight in most cases.  Successfully launching a product was already an uphill battle, now companies had to figure out how, or even if, they could consider launching their innovation. But can a startup company approach a pilot program from a virtual position, and do so in a way that not only gets them noticed but fuels forward momentum? According to Jorge Sanchez of Sentinel Healthcare, it’s not only possible to conduct a virtual pilot, but with the right mindset, it can open the door to even more opportunity. In our latest episode, Jorge gives listeners and viewers first-hand, real-world examples of how to approach virtual pilots and virtual teams in times of crisis - and do so with winning results!  Here are the show highlights: The importance of data validation (1:50) How actionable, meaningful data can help drive innovation (3:56) Yes, you can conduct a virtual pilot during the time of COVID (5:49) Crisis as an impediment - or an accelerator (10:49) Be the signal, not the rubber stamp, when piloting your product (13:55) Don’t let your company’s end goal get lost in the weeds (17:27) Empowerment is the key to successfully running a virtual team (23:32) Guest Bio Jorge Sanchez is Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer for Sentinel Healthcare. Sentinel is a digital healthcare company that partners with other healthcare companies to remotely monitor and deliver clinical recommendations to patients with high blood pressure. Jorge earned his MD at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - New Jersey Medical School in 2003. If you’d like to reach out to Jorge you can email him at Jorge@sentinel.healthcare, follow him on LinkedIn at Jorge Sanchez MD or, for more information about Sentinel Healthcare and their digital solutions, visit their website at Sentinel.Healthcare.

We can’t always choose where we come from, but we sure can drive the bus to our chosen destination! Personal experience with a product or solution that your startup is addressing is a bonus - but as Yossuf Albanawi explains, it’s not always enough.  Personal experience paired with customer discovery, however, can be the key to not only creating a viable product but also uncovering your competitive advantage. It might be tempting to take a shortcut to avoid paying a toll, but in the long run, the quickest route between where you are now and where you want to be is a straight line. So, don’t skip customer discovery! In this episode, Yossuf sheds all pretense to bring our listeners a candid and engaging episode that highlights the power of the human spirit - and the passion that drives success.  Here are the show highlights: How firsthand experience can be the fuel that drives your startup forward. (1:53) Why product-market fit and customer discovery work hand-in-hand. (4:14) When customer discovery can open up the path to a more viable product. (6:20) Beware the pitfalls of taking shortcuts! (8:20)  4 steps to help you discover your competitive advantage. (12:17) Sometimes gut feelings and intuition have a lot to say - are you listening? (14:42) Finding the hidden value in hardship (18:40) Guest Bio Yossuf Albanawi is CEO and Co-Founder of Pilleve, a digital health company focused on improving medication safety. Personal experience drives Yossuf’s passion to find solutions for real-world problems, specifically in the areas of mental health and reducing the risk of addiction. Yossuf earned a Bachelor’s Degree and certification in Project Management from Wake Forest University in North Carolina. If you’d like to reach out to Yossuf you can follow him on LinkedIn at Yossuf Albanawi or, for more information on Pilleve and their mission, visit their website at Pilleve.com

Startups can be challenging. And, with an abundance of ambiguous tips and strategies available, and it’s almost impossible to distill it down to actionable steps toward success. Almost.  Daniel Levitt has spent an entire career in the world of startups, learning the ropes by taking on roles tied to sales and marketing - critical components of any successful venture. Self-branded a serial BIO/IT entrepreneur,  Daniel pulls back the curtain and gives our listeners a rare glimpse into the strategies he used that helped him sell one company to Microsoft. In this episode, our viewers are treated to a sincere and thoughtful interview that takes the mystery out of why some companies succeed where others might struggle. Grab a drink, turn up the volume and get ready to take notes. You’re not going to want to miss this one!      Here are the show highlights: How staying humble can build your expertise and bring more experience to your next venture (2:13) The difference between - and importance of - technical founders and operational founders (6:42) Why the method in which your startup raises money is critically important (9:20) This scientific evidence can be a gamechanger for building a successful startup (24:19) What investors want to see when they’re considering backing a startup (25:59) The critically important reason to include customers in every stage of your ideation processes (30:26) How to navigate success without sacrificing viability (33:10)   Guest Bio Daniel Levitt is CEO and Founder at Bioz, a comprehensive AI search engine that empowers scientists to accelerate research toward cutting edge discoveries and technologies. With a career dedicated to IT and life sciences, Daniel has successfully built and sold companies to such notables as Microsoft. A self-professed serial Bio/IT entrepreneur, Daniel earned his BA in economics from the University of Berkeley in California and his M.Sc. in management from Boston University. If you’d like to reach out to Daniel, or are looking for more information about Bioz, you can reach him by email at daniel@bioz.com, on LinkedIn at Daniel Levitt, or visit his website at Bioz.com.