Entrepreneur Rx

For episode 85 of Entrepreneur Rx, John welcomes Courtney Williams, co-founder and CEO of Emagine Solutions Technology. Emagine is tackling the U.S. maternal health crisis with remote patient monitoring. The podcast starts off with Courtney touching on her diverse background and then she moves to how her sister’s high-risk pregnancy inspired her to get into healthcare entrepreneurship. This experience opened her eyes to the dangers of pregnancy and the lack of access to safe healthcare for pregnant women. 

Inspired to make a change, Courtney and her team developed a handheld ultrasound device called VistaScan that is FDA cleared and aimed at low-resource settings. However, they soon realized that the lack of access to healthcare is not just a problem in developing countries but also in their own community. This led them to where Emagine Solutions Technology is today - a maternal health focus. Shortly after, Courtney and her team developed The Journey Platform which is geared towards better connecting providers and patients.

Courtney then moves on to discussing challenges in the femtech industry and funding for female entrepreneurs. She wraps up the podcast by sharing her biggest challenge she has faced as an entrepreneur, Emagine’s potential exit in the future and her hopes for the future of Emagine. Courtney's unwavering commitment to leveraging technology to enhance maternal health outcomes is a testament to her visionary leadership and dedication to making a meaningful impact.

For this episode of Entrepreneur Rx, John sits down with Dom Messerli, the President and CEO of Lenoss Medical. Lenoss Medical is disrupting the treatment of spinal fractures with their OsteoPearl Vertebral Body Augmentation (VBA) System. This minimally invasive and epoxy-free technology delivers a fully biological solution to stabilize spinal fractures and utilizes the natural healing properties of healthy bone.   

The episode starts off with Dom explaining his background in mechanical engineering and his rise within Synthes, a company specializing in spine technology that was later acquired by Johnson & Johnson. He discusses the inspiration behind Lenoss Medical's innovative implant, the OsteoPearl, which treats spinal fracture and allows for bone healing as opposed to the current stand of care. 

Dom goes on to speak about the shortcomings of traditional kyphoplasty using epoxy (such as complications like intravenous embolism) and points out the advantages of Lenoss Medical’s OsteoPearl implants. He emphasizes that bone materials do not carry the risk of rejection like organ transplants because they contain no living cells.  

John and Dom then move to talk about the business side of Lenoss Medical, including raising funds, startup valuation, and the importance of networking in entrepreneurship. They conclude the podcast discussing Dom’s tips for people who want to become an entrepreneur where Dom touches on the importance of partnership. 

For episode 83 of Entrepreneur Rx, John welcomes Ross Bundy, CEO of CRISPR QC. CRISPR QC is a biotechnology company aimed to equip scientists and researchers with data to improve their CRISPR assay design by using its sensor technology to analyze gene editing processes.  

Ross starts off the episode by discussing his background in gene therapy and his experience founding Cardea Bio. He also talks about the challenges of introducing new ideas in a field dominated by experts and the importance of regulatory guidance. He goes on to explain more about how Cardea Bio and CRISPR QC are related, ethical issues in the field, challenges gene editing faces and his excitement of where CRISPR QC is headed. 

He concludes the podcast by emphasizing the importance of building a strong team and finding people's strengths to create a successful startup. He also shares his advice for those considering starting their own startup: build a support network, learn how to translate their expertise into value, and take responsibility for supporting and leading others. 

Internal medicine physician Hillary Lin is the co-founder and CEO of Curio, a VC-backed healthcare startup that is reshaping the landscape of cancer care with hands-on, personalized solutions driven by the power of AI.  

As a Taiwanese immigrant, she experienced firsthand the stark contrast between the complicated healthcare system in the United States and the simplicity of a universal healthcare system.  Seeing the subtle cultural nuances and how they impacted the patient experience was the driving force for her AI solution. Tune in to hear how this experience fueled her mission to create personalized healthcare navigation while providing emotional support to patients.   

In addition to discussing Curio’s evolution of how they have shifted to a SaaS model, Hillary touches on Curio’s future plans to integrate with EHRs and CRMs, her hopes for Curio as it continues to grow, and her stance on transparency in AI. She concludes the episode with the biggest lesson she has learned in entrepreneurship- tackle the hard things and face obstacles head-on in order to succeed. 

Hillary's story is a testament to the power of curiosity, resilience, and the desire to make a lasting impact on the healthcare industry.

For episode 81 of Entrepreneur Rx, John had the pleasure of sitting down with fellow emergency medicine physician James (Jim) Dahle, founder of The White Coat Investor. The White Coat Investor is the most widely read, physician-specific personal finance and investing website in the world. In addition to the blog, he has authored four books and hosts two weekly podcasts.

Jim shares his journey to financial literacy after negative experiences with unscrupulous financial professionals early in his career. He explains how he embarked on a self-study journey and started The White Coat Investor to provide unbiased financial education to doctors. Jim highlights the reasons why physicians often struggle with money management, including the lack of education on finance and the taboo surrounding money talk in the medical field. 

Then, Jim discusses the different pathways to wealth for physicians, including the default pathway of working as a physician and investing in index funds, the reproducible entrepreneurial pathway, and the hardcore entrepreneur pathway. He also addresses the challenges faced by physicians who are living hand to mouth and offers advice on how to start building wealth. 

Jim concludes the episode by discussing the impact of The White Coat Investor and the importance of financial literacy in medical schools. He shares his belief that physicians should still pursue medicine if they have a passion for it, but they should also prioritize financial education early in their careers.

For episode 80 of Entrepreneur Rx, John welcomes back John Criswell, founder, chairman, and CEO of Porter, a transformative healthcare solution that aims to improve the home healthcare journey for payers and their vulnerable members. John Shufeldt’s venture capital firm, Xcellerant Ventures, also recently invested in Porter.

Porter utilizes AI-derived insights and a dedicated clinical team, along with a member-facing platform, to offer a personalized and efficient way for health plan members to navigate the complexities of at-home healthcare. The company focuses on driving better outcomes, improving quality, optimizing risk adjustment, and increasing member retention for payers.

In this interview, John Criswell highlights the challenges of navigating the healthcare system and emphasizes the need for simplification. He explains that Porter aims to streamline the process and provide support for patients and caregivers. John then talks about how he started Porter right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and notes the challenges of managing a startup during such a time. He also discusses the transition to a post-COVID leadership style and the impact of remote work on new entrants to the workforce.

John goes on to address the changing dynamics in healthcare and explains that Porter's focus on care coordination and support during transitions of care can help reduce medical malpractice risks for hospitals and providers. He wraps up by offering advice for first-time entrepreneurs and expressing his optimism for the future of Porter.

For episode 79 of Entrepreneur Rx, John interviews rockstar Esther Dyson, founder of Wellville, a 10-year nonprofit project dedicated to demonstrating the value of long-term investment in health and equity. Esther has been or is a director of many companies such as 23andMe, Avanlee Care, Meetup, and WPP Group. In addition, Esther is an active angel investor and also enjoys sitting on the boards of several nonprofits, such as Charity Navigator, ExpandED Schools, Long Now and The Commons Project. 

This interview starts off with her explaining the Wellville project and her impressive background (she has even trained as a backup cosmonaut). Esther emphasizes the importance of asking questions and learning from others, rather than trying to have all the answers. Esther then shares her experiences as an angel investor, highlighting the qualities she looks for in founders, such as creativity, resilience, vision and humility. 

Esther goes on to express concern about society's addiction to instant gratification of all kinds – drugs, food, VC exits and the like. She stresses the importance of providing support and resources for maternal care, doula services, and parenting education to create a stable foundation for future generations and to “train” babies to be healthy humans resistant to manipulation…by trained AIs. Esther encourages individuals to face their fears and take risks, emphasizing the value of having a support system in place. She then concludes by reminding listeners that failure is a natural part of life and should be embraced as a learning opportunity.

For episode 78 of Entrepreneur Rx, John Shufeldt interviews fellow ER doc and seasoned healthtech entrepreneur Alan Roga, CEO and Co-Founder of TruLite Health. TruLite Health’s platform Truity™ is the markets first comprehensive health equity platform and brings together the largest proprietary clinical health equity knowledge base and recommendations with patient-specific clinical and social data sets, and makes it actionable driving patient specific clinical, social, behavioral interventions at the point of care.

The episode starts off with Alan sharing his background including his journey through college and medical school, and how he ended up in emergency medicine. He discusses how emergency medicine is well-suited for entrepreneurs due to its fast-paced nature and the need to make quick decisions with limited information. 

Alan then tells the story of how he got into telemedicine in 2009 after realizing the high cost and lack of access for patients seeking care. He started his own telemedicine company, Stat Doctors, which was later acquired by Teladoc in 2015. Alan explains the challenges of being a corporate suit after the acquisition, but also the excitement and opportunity it brought.  This leads Alan to talk about his latest venture, TruLite Health, which focuses on addressing health disparities through a clinically integrated workflow tool. 

Finally, Alan shares six key questions for would-be entrepreneurs to consider, including the importance of passion, capital, and comfort with uncertainty. He emphasizes the need to find something that matters and to go for it.

For episode 77 of Entrepreneur Rx, John Shufeldt interviews long-time friend James Bates. James is the CEO and founder of AdviNOW Medical, the world's first artificial intelligence and augmented reality driven patient journey platform that nearly eliminates the administrative burden for physicians and reduces the cost of healthcare.

In this interview, James shares his personal drive to always choose the hardest thing to do which pushed him both personally and educationally. James' determination and resilience led him from electrical engineering to the peak of the tech world, but it wasn't until he delved into the healthcare industry that he found a problem he was passionate about solving. It shocked him to discover the inefficiency and low profitability in medical practices, with doctors spending the majority of their time on administrative tasks rather than patient care. This revelation led him to create AdviNOW.

James then talks about how while AI is the future of healthcare, adoption and implementation can be slow. Despite this, he explains the exciting future of AdviNOW. James also provides advice for those interested in entering the healthcare startup space, emphasizing the need to choose a real problem to solve, raise more money than anticipated, and remain resilient in the face of challenges.