June 24, 2020

#Revenue 3: 8 Criteria Investors Desire in Founders w/ Unity Stoakes

We may be looking at time as “before COVID” and “after COVID,” but StartUp Health’s unique 8-point scorecard for digital health founders has held strong all throughout.

As a co-founder and President of Startup Health, Unity Stoakes describes the rationale behind the 8 criteria necessary for entrepreneurs to meet.

Plus, Unity and John discuss:

  • The effect a startup’s network has on their success
  • How startups should consider pitching to investors post-pandemic
  • The biggest challenges for startups pre and post-pandemic

This episode is hosted by John Grispon. Founder and Sales Coach at Early Revenue, as part of the #Revenue series on B2B Growth. 

You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to the B2B Growth Show on Apple Podcasts, on our website, or on Spotify.

Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:08.830 These types of things are much more important than just the idea itself, because 2 00:00:08.869 --> 00:00:16.589 oftentimes your idea, even your business model, might evolved multiple times. Welcome 3 00:00:16.629 --> 00:00:20.629 to the revenue series on BB growth. I'm your host, John Grispin, 4 00:00:20.870 --> 00:00:25.219 founder and sales coach at early revenue. So let's get started. Today I 5 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:30.100 am here with a very special guest, friend for a long time, unity 6 00:00:30.179 --> 00:00:35.140 stokes. He is CO founder, president and managing partner at start up health. 7 00:00:35.420 --> 00:00:40.049 Welcome unity. Thanks John, it's so great to be with you today. 8 00:00:40.770 --> 00:00:44.130 We known each other for quite a while and it's been awesome to know 9 00:00:44.289 --> 00:00:48.210 you all these years and glad to be doing this conversation. Really looking forward 10 00:00:48.210 --> 00:00:52.000 to this so so just for the audience. So our podcast guests are founders, 11 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:57.320 revenue leaders and early stage venture firms like Starrell. We want to provide 12 00:00:57.520 --> 00:01:02.439 early stage tech founders and their sales leaders with insights and best practices on really 13 00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:06.750 two topics that are top of mine these days, how to grow early stage 14 00:01:06.790 --> 00:01:12.750 sales and topic that's very critical, fundraising. So we'll break this chat in 15 00:01:12.950 --> 00:01:19.019 half. The first half we'll talk about start up health, kind of Free 16 00:01:19.140 --> 00:01:25.180 Covid, and then we'll get into some of the Post covid quarantine questions and 17 00:01:25.459 --> 00:01:27.700 situation. So I'm so glad you here today. Unity One. Don't you 18 00:01:27.739 --> 00:01:32.060 start off by telling us a little bit about yourself and your background? Great. 19 00:01:32.579 --> 00:01:37.930 So I'm an entrepreneur. I've been building companies since the S. actually, 20 00:01:38.010 --> 00:01:40.969 my business partner, Stephen Crying, who does started help with me. 21 00:01:41.569 --> 00:01:44.969 We've been working together I think twenty two, twenty three years now. We 22 00:01:45.049 --> 00:01:49.560 had taken a company public together in the Internet heyday of the one Datto, 23 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:55.959 kind of early days in the S Company called Web stakes and promotionscom. But 24 00:01:56.120 --> 00:02:01.989 for the last fifteen years we've been really dedicating all of our energy to our 25 00:02:02.469 --> 00:02:08.229 mission at startup health, which is is really to solve the world's largest health 26 00:02:08.270 --> 00:02:13.750 challenges. We've got twelve health moon shots that we focus on. So we're 27 00:02:13.750 --> 00:02:20.180 investing in hundreds, one day, hopefully thousands, of entrepreneurs and innovators and 28 00:02:20.379 --> 00:02:24.259 organizing them together to solve the world's biggest health challenges and our goal is to 29 00:02:24.340 --> 00:02:30.050 try to improve the health and wellbeing of billions of people by two thousand and 30 00:02:30.090 --> 00:02:34.490 forty it's a huge goal. You like to call them moon shots. You've 31 00:02:34.530 --> 00:02:38.729 got so many different categories. Maybe kind of give a little overview of the 32 00:02:38.009 --> 00:02:45.120 categories that investments tend to fall in. Yeah, so we're focusing on each. 33 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:47.719 Our health moon shots can impact at least a billion people. So these 34 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:53.520 are large global challenges. Things like delivering access to care to every human on 35 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:58.710 earth, figuring out how to reduce the cost to zero, so reinventing the 36 00:02:58.830 --> 00:03:04.669 business models of the future, of the way skype did for telecommunications companies, 37 00:03:04.750 --> 00:03:07.830 for example, there's a women's health moon shot, at Children's Health Moon Shot, 38 00:03:08.150 --> 00:03:14.060 ending cancer, curing disease, brain health, mental health and wellbeing, 39 00:03:14.620 --> 00:03:20.259 a longevity moon shot and actually, just a few weeks ago we launched our 40 00:03:20.340 --> 00:03:24.979 twelve helpn shot, which is a pandemic response moon shot specifically not just to 41 00:03:25.099 --> 00:03:30.409 focus on covid nineteen, which it does, but also to help prevent, 42 00:03:30.770 --> 00:03:36.129 manage and mitigate future pandemics based off of everything we learn. So these are 43 00:03:36.250 --> 00:03:40.800 very large global challenges and our core belief is that it's going to be entrepreneurs, 44 00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:45.680 innovators, people like yourself, that are going to reinvent the future of 45 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:52.919 health and wellness and and we think that as a global army working together to 46 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:58.030 achieve these big challenges, we can speed up the innovation cycles. That's fantastic 47 00:03:58.069 --> 00:04:02.349 and I love the global approach. It's been super interesting watch you grow and 48 00:04:02.389 --> 00:04:09.990 evolved over time. Maybe walk founders through start up healths approach to investing in 49 00:04:10.659 --> 00:04:15.259 early sting startups. Yeah, so one one of the things that we focus 50 00:04:15.539 --> 00:04:20.779 on is investing at scale, investing very, very early in founders and all 51 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:27.490 the way up through different stages of growth, and then supporting those entrepreneurs over 52 00:04:27.610 --> 00:04:30.490 the long term, over the many years and cycles that it takes to build 53 00:04:30.529 --> 00:04:35.490 a successful business. So we focus on companies that have what we call a 54 00:04:35.610 --> 00:04:40.839 health transformer mindset, and I can break that down if you want to get 55 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:45.920 into that, and also entrepreneurs that are focusing on a health moon shot, 56 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:49.480 so a big, hairy audacious goal. They're not just trying to move the 57 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:55.269 dial incrementally, but they want to be part of a larger plan of action 58 00:04:55.629 --> 00:04:59.350 to to really solve a bigger health challenge. So that's what we focus on 59 00:04:59.709 --> 00:05:03.230 first, and then we support them over there many years that it takes to 60 00:05:03.350 --> 00:05:10.699 develop by investing in them in multiple ways. First with small amounts of seed 61 00:05:10.899 --> 00:05:17.259 capital, but also we invest in organizing these communities of entrepreneurs together around these 62 00:05:17.459 --> 00:05:24.490 health moonshot themes. We have a whole media platform and broadcast news network that 63 00:05:24.610 --> 00:05:29.649 we use to share their stories and we do that to really help get them 64 00:05:29.850 --> 00:05:33.290 customers and get them investors, and we can talk about that too. And 65 00:05:33.370 --> 00:05:38.720 then we do a lot of investment around building the networks that are going to 66 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:44.000 help them. So these are the networks of customers and strategics and investors that 67 00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:49.029 are going to help commercialize and scale. So there's so much to unpack there. 68 00:05:49.069 --> 00:05:53.670 So let's first of all start with the one of the things. I 69 00:05:53.750 --> 00:05:57.750 mean. You obviously you're providing the capital. What are the ways that you 70 00:05:58.269 --> 00:06:02.550 enable capital to assist? I've been parted. As a full disclosure, my 71 00:06:02.910 --> 00:06:06.500 former company, respond will was a start up health company. So I understand 72 00:06:06.620 --> 00:06:12.500 health prinsformer mindset and all of the depth behind what you're talking about. And 73 00:06:12.579 --> 00:06:15.100 you maybe will start with investments and then maybe we'll move to community after that. 74 00:06:15.139 --> 00:06:21.209 Awesome look us through the the approach and the types of investors. Yeah, 75 00:06:21.329 --> 00:06:27.209 so the first thing we do is we believe in taking risk and and 76 00:06:27.689 --> 00:06:32.600 supporting entrepreneurs and innovators, not based off of their idea but base off of 77 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:41.560 their health transformer mindset. So we've codified eight criteria that we evaluate. That 78 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:46.120 helps us kind of decide whether or not we're ready to support that entrepreneur and 79 00:06:46.910 --> 00:06:51.629 really ready whether that entrepreneurs ready to get the most value out of startup help. 80 00:06:51.670 --> 00:06:57.629 So these are things like their long term commitment. Some entrepreneurs are are 81 00:06:58.230 --> 00:07:00.699 in kind of for the short term or you can kind of deduce very very 82 00:07:00.699 --> 00:07:05.300 quickly that they're not going to make it over the long term. So if 83 00:07:05.379 --> 00:07:11.379 they're dedicated to the long term, then we have a good signal that they're 84 00:07:11.540 --> 00:07:16.089 they're worth backing. Supportive relationships. Who did they surround themselves, both personally 85 00:07:16.129 --> 00:07:21.490 and professionally? That's where you really dig into their team, cofounders, even 86 00:07:21.610 --> 00:07:28.050 the investors and the other partners that they may have already organized around whatever it 87 00:07:28.170 --> 00:07:30.920 is they're building. So these types of things are much more important than just 88 00:07:31.079 --> 00:07:36.480 the idea itself, because oftentimes your idea, even your business model, might 89 00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:43.399 evolved multiple times while you're building your business. So you know your commitment your 90 00:07:43.399 --> 00:07:49.310 supportive relationships. We look at something we called your quarterly progress. So we're 91 00:07:49.430 --> 00:07:58.430 looking for incremental, ongoing validation over time. We think it takes dozens or 92 00:07:58.470 --> 00:08:05.379 hundreds even of quarters stacked up together to build a great company. So those 93 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:11.019 those ongoing milestones that happen week after week, month after month, quarter after 94 00:08:11.139 --> 00:08:16.649 quarters. So we tend to break everything down into reviewing white size chunks over 95 00:08:16.089 --> 00:08:24.209 ninety day increments to try to gage the incremental progress that happens over time with 96 00:08:24.370 --> 00:08:30.199 the company. We look for people who are confidently ambitious. These are entrepreneurs 97 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:35.600 that are hopeful, optimistic positive, which most entrepreneurs are. That's that's the 98 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:41.120 good thing, but oftentimes entrepreneurs can fall into a dip and we're looking for 99 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:48.029 those that can recover from that dip and maintain your ambition and be confident over 100 00:08:48.190 --> 00:08:52.190 time. As you know, there's a daily struggle of being an entrepreneur, 101 00:08:52.269 --> 00:08:58.500 building a business or even generating sales or raising capital, where they're essentially told 102 00:08:58.659 --> 00:09:03.100 no almost every day, sometimes multiple times a day. So you got to 103 00:09:03.179 --> 00:09:07.220 find a way to regenerate and and wake up the next day and keep going. 104 00:09:07.419 --> 00:09:11.889 So we look at those types of things, self awareness, healthy habits, 105 00:09:11.570 --> 00:09:18.450 value creation and something we call batteries included. We look for people who 106 00:09:18.529 --> 00:09:22.929 bring more energy into the room than they take out. So those are just 107 00:09:22.049 --> 00:09:28.120 some of the non traditional criteria that we look when we're selecting to invest in 108 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:33.519 a health transformer. It's a great list and in essence there's a scorecard and 109 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:39.149 I if I remember correctly, you not only evaluate the founders, but you 110 00:09:39.269 --> 00:09:41.870 are valued. You have a score card for the company and you also have 111 00:09:43.549 --> 00:09:50.470 a scorecard for partners. That's right, that you would potentially introduce to startups. 112 00:09:50.990 --> 00:09:56.580 Walk us through what that's like, because not everybody, not every organization, 113 00:09:56.259 --> 00:10:01.539 either customer, partner or investor, is a good fit, and you 114 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:05.740 guys have a score card for them, and I'm so glad you brought that 115 00:10:05.899 --> 00:10:11.090 up. So obviously we look at the founders. They the health transformers, 116 00:10:11.169 --> 00:10:13.210 but, as you said, it's really important to look at the whole company 117 00:10:13.730 --> 00:10:18.490 and the things that the companies committed to. But just as important is that 118 00:10:18.809 --> 00:10:24.840 it's it's important to look at their partners. You can have strategic partners, 119 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:28.000 you can have investors. Sometimes you can have other types of partners that can 120 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:33.279 reak havoc on a company. They can either put a lot of wind that 121 00:10:33.399 --> 00:10:39.870 the companies back or they can be an ongoing strain on on the company. 122 00:10:39.110 --> 00:10:46.389 So we're looking to really assess and score those types of partners that we think 123 00:10:46.629 --> 00:10:50.899 are also batteries included, that we think are going to bring energy to health 124 00:10:50.980 --> 00:10:56.659 transformers and founders. And before a company or partners able to be in the 125 00:10:56.779 --> 00:11:01.460 start of help network, we take them through a scorecard and make sure that 126 00:11:01.659 --> 00:11:07.850 we think they meet these criteria that would be helpful and useful to the community 127 00:11:07.889 --> 00:11:11.610 at large. So that's part of the filtering we do. We've got about 128 00:11:11.649 --> 00:11:18.799 thirtyzero members of the startup help network now. These are individuals and organizations around 129 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:24.679 the world who are actively buying from health transformers or investing in health transformers, 130 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:28.440 and we've taken all of them through the scorecard that kind of tries to assess 131 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:33.070 and evaluate whether we think they're going to add value to the community. And, 132 00:11:33.590 --> 00:11:37.389 by the way, this is something we try to recalibrate frequently. You 133 00:11:37.549 --> 00:11:43.710 can have a low score and one area one quarter and grow and another the 134 00:11:43.830 --> 00:11:48.299 next quarter, so it doesn't have to be stagnant or you know, it's 135 00:11:48.340 --> 00:11:52.700 something that can improve and grow over time, which is something we focus on. 136 00:11:52.379 --> 00:12:01.059 It's just a great component that you're constantly evaluating and using this scorecard and 137 00:12:01.379 --> 00:12:07.450 improve partners, potential customers, investors, your internal team at start up health, 138 00:12:07.490 --> 00:12:13.730 which is large and global now, and and the founders and startups themselves. 139 00:12:15.529 --> 00:12:20.519 One of the things that I found that was wonderful that you certainly you 140 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:22.639 haven't touched on it yet, but you always do. And so it's this, 141 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:28.879 the network that's created, and I think one of the hidden benefits is 142 00:12:30.509 --> 00:12:37.590 this ability for a set of founders to collaborate and share unlike others that aren't 143 00:12:37.669 --> 00:12:43.549 part of the startup health family and part of being a healthcare transformer. Yeah, 144 00:12:43.590 --> 00:12:48.539 John Is, as you know, it's it's so lonely sometimes, being 145 00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:54.779 an entrepreneur, being a founder, being sometimes an executive leading a sales group. 146 00:12:54.860 --> 00:12:58.769 It can be really, really lonely, in particular, as we said, 147 00:12:58.769 --> 00:13:01.370 when you're being bashed about or beaten down or Wull know of a time. 148 00:13:03.009 --> 00:13:07.490 So what we believe deeply is that there's an extraordinary power in the network 149 00:13:07.610 --> 00:13:13.519 effect, being surrounded by a peer network of others who are going through the 150 00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:18.360 same struggles and challenges that you are on a day to day basis that can 151 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:24.159 support you, that can help you, that you can lean on through your 152 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:30.070 journey of a building a great company, Building Your Business. So this concept 153 00:13:30.149 --> 00:13:35.070 of the network effect is absolutely essential peer networks. And what really is is 154 00:13:35.429 --> 00:13:41.580 critical here is you being willing to give into that network more than you want 155 00:13:41.580 --> 00:13:46.740 to take out, because when you put a whole group of people, or 156 00:13:46.860 --> 00:13:52.419 Army of health transformers, as we call the Startup Health Global Army, if 157 00:13:52.580 --> 00:13:58.129 everyone has that mindset, if everyone has that mentality where they're going to add 158 00:13:58.250 --> 00:14:01.850 in or they're going to contribute a little bit more than they need out, 159 00:14:01.409 --> 00:14:07.690 then you really have this fusion takes taking place and when you need something, 160 00:14:07.250 --> 00:14:13.440 you're going to have hundreds of people willing to support you. So that's really 161 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:16.519 part of the whole ethos of start up health and I think we've seen this 162 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:22.759 be successful and in the business world for many, many years. Organizations like 163 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:28.909 Ypo, Young Presidents Organization and others that really use this concept of peer networks 164 00:14:30.350 --> 00:14:35.029 to really help speed up your progress as you're building your business really really fundamental. 165 00:14:35.509 --> 00:14:39.220 I always thought it was one of the best parts being able to share 166 00:14:39.299 --> 00:14:43.220 with others who had a conversation. I was getting ready to go in a 167 00:14:43.299 --> 00:14:48.379 conversation, they were just coming out of a conversation with a customer, or 168 00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:52.970 they just finished a dialog with an investor and or I finished one and I 169 00:14:54.049 --> 00:14:58.049 was able to share some insize with someone. It's great how everyone was so 170 00:14:58.330 --> 00:15:03.169 open and willing. And the best part isn't it was sharing of information across 171 00:15:03.250 --> 00:15:09.480 borders, across categories, across solutions. Even some of us were somewhat come 172 00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:13.200 in crossover kind of competitive spaces. We all kind of in it together. 173 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:16.559 It was a it's a big enough challenge to tackle healthcare as it is. 174 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:22.429 Let's do it together. And I love that about startup health and I think 175 00:15:22.909 --> 00:15:28.549 with specifically with fundraising and and with generating revenue and getting new customers. This 176 00:15:28.870 --> 00:15:35.710 is a really powerful way to leverage your networks right. Imagine, if you're 177 00:15:35.740 --> 00:15:41.779 all contributing to the network, if you're all bringing your customers and your investors 178 00:15:41.820 --> 00:15:46.899 and, by the way, the knowledge about those customers and investors into your 179 00:15:46.059 --> 00:15:52.210 peer network, it becomes quite powerful. You learn very, very quickly about 180 00:15:52.730 --> 00:15:58.929 who's supportive of entrepreneurs and who isn't supportive and and as a again, as 181 00:15:58.929 --> 00:16:03.490 a peer network, you can tap in to that knowledge base, if you 182 00:16:03.610 --> 00:16:08.600 will, and hopefully make better decisions, do better deals, get customers or 183 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:15.399 investors more quickly and also avoid the ones that maybe don't have the right mindset 184 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:19.309 or maybe have been kind of a challenge to to others in the network. 185 00:16:21.269 --> 00:16:26.990 Really Great Point, which, let's leads me to a question. Maybe provide 186 00:16:26.110 --> 00:16:32.470 some key takeaways for early stage founders or early stage sales leaders that are selling 187 00:16:32.509 --> 00:16:38.860 or partnering with these Large Hospital Systems or health plans or wellness organizations? Any 188 00:16:40.340 --> 00:16:44.700 key takeaways, as they're clearly one of them is leverage of network that you 189 00:16:44.779 --> 00:16:48.250 have to learn about those organizations learn if they are a good fit or not. 190 00:16:48.850 --> 00:16:53.169 But any any other insights that you see that might be valuable to those 191 00:16:53.889 --> 00:16:59.009 that are trying to penetrate those big hospital systems, health plans and corporate wellness 192 00:16:59.049 --> 00:17:03.920 companies? Yeah, it's a great question and about ten weeks ago we got 193 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:14.000 together with our entire portfolio spanning six continents and and twenty six countries, three 194 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:19.109 hundred and thirty five companies and and had a conversation about what we called be 195 00:17:19.309 --> 00:17:26.430 see and a see before covid and after covid. And this has a major 196 00:17:26.829 --> 00:17:33.140 implications for sales and for fundraising, because every one of our companies needs to 197 00:17:33.299 --> 00:17:38.940 now look at what they're doing and how they're selling in the lens or through 198 00:17:40.059 --> 00:17:45.809 the Lens of an after covid or during covid but world with that lends on 199 00:17:45.089 --> 00:17:52.769 so determining is what you're doing today relevant in this new world and and just 200 00:17:52.930 --> 00:17:57.049 being very honest with yourself, before you even get to what you're selling and 201 00:17:57.569 --> 00:18:02.799 how you're doing it, really taking a good, hard, critical look and 202 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:07.279 recalibrating your business for the current world and the future world. So I think 203 00:18:07.319 --> 00:18:14.589 that's absolutely essential for all teams to be doing. But if you think about 204 00:18:15.309 --> 00:18:21.750 these health systems, these insurance companies, these healthcare companies, the all the 205 00:18:21.869 --> 00:18:26.630 solutions we've been out trying to sell for basically the last decade, ten to 206 00:18:26.710 --> 00:18:32.660 fifteen years, almost overnight, has a new relevance. This is a significant 207 00:18:32.819 --> 00:18:40.059 opportunity for innovators everywhere, health innovators everywhere, because things like virtual care, 208 00:18:41.019 --> 00:18:47.769 new delivery, these have new meaning and health systems that may have been lagging 209 00:18:47.849 --> 00:18:55.960 in leaping into the present day or future day are scrambling now. They're scrambling 210 00:18:56.359 --> 00:19:00.720 not just for pandemic response, but they have a whole other part of their 211 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:07.920 system that's being crushed right now because patients either can't come in or are too 212 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:14.390 scared to come in or won't come in and so new solutions are needed immediately. 213 00:19:14.789 --> 00:19:18.869 So if you can develop your solution, if you can develop your pitch 214 00:19:18.990 --> 00:19:25.940 in a way that is relevant today, whether it's a hell system or to 215 00:19:26.019 --> 00:19:33.500 an insurance company or another company that is selling into those organizations, you immediately 216 00:19:33.539 --> 00:19:40.529 become relevant. So really thinking about your your relevance, I think, is 217 00:19:41.089 --> 00:19:47.369 absolutely critical. And then the other thing to remember is is timing. We 218 00:19:47.609 --> 00:19:51.730 have something we call the the rule of twenty one, which is anyone you 219 00:19:51.890 --> 00:19:56.319 talk to has at least twenty one other things on their list that they're thinking 220 00:19:56.359 --> 00:20:00.799 about, probably when you're talking to them, and your number twenty two. 221 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:06.079 So being very cognizant of that. I think is is a little kind of 222 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:11.349 trick to use as as you're you're out there, to not get discouraged and 223 00:20:11.549 --> 00:20:15.230 in particular in this time, I would say it's probably a rule of fifty 224 00:20:15.230 --> 00:20:21.269 one, because people are watching their kids while they're doing their business and and 225 00:20:21.740 --> 00:20:26.460 everything in between, and there's the stresses and strains of this of this new 226 00:20:26.539 --> 00:20:30.859 world we're living in. So if you can deliver value, if you're not 227 00:20:30.140 --> 00:20:37.089 trying to sell but you're delivering value, that is the best way to to 228 00:20:37.250 --> 00:20:42.049 really move forward in this environment. So focusing on the relationships rather than the 229 00:20:42.210 --> 00:20:48.089 sale, focusing on delivering value rather than the sale, focusing on listening, 230 00:20:48.490 --> 00:20:53.160 focusing on on supportive relationships, would be probably be the number one thing I 231 00:20:53.279 --> 00:21:00.440 would recommend, and that's whether it's with customers or investors, but specifically with 232 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:04.710 with people you're selling into. Well, that's really great, I think. 233 00:21:04.750 --> 00:21:10.390 Think the idea there's you're making the pauses before you're asking for withdrawals. Right, 234 00:21:10.430 --> 00:21:14.950 right, exactly. It's so it sounds like you went through this exercise 235 00:21:15.069 --> 00:21:19.019 on a global basis with ninety plus transformers to help them figure out how to 236 00:21:19.140 --> 00:21:25.259 iterate. I presume that anyone that was in telehealth or remote patient monitoring is 237 00:21:25.339 --> 00:21:27.900 on fire right now and they're just it's all hands on deck. Everyone's just 238 00:21:29.539 --> 00:21:33.450 doing wonderfully and there's they're terribly busy in a great way. But for others 239 00:21:33.970 --> 00:21:37.609 that maybe aren't in those categories, they've got to figure out a new way 240 00:21:37.769 --> 00:21:42.049 to become relevant, to contribute an add value, to to become one of 241 00:21:42.130 --> 00:21:47.009 them, maybe the top five to ten out of those twenty one things they've 242 00:21:47.009 --> 00:21:51.440 got to do on a list so that you're relevant to a hospital system or 243 00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:53.160 a health plan. Yeah, that's that's so. You guys did that and 244 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:56.839 I think that's to your credit that you did that early on, because you 245 00:21:56.960 --> 00:22:02.509 recognized the need and you stepped out and you did it in a group fashion, 246 00:22:02.549 --> 00:22:04.910 which which makes it even better. Right, you've got such an array 247 00:22:06.470 --> 00:22:11.230 of talent across the globe and in so many different categories. I'm sure that 248 00:22:11.309 --> 00:22:17.259 that conversation was very intense but yet very, very gratifying to many part of 249 00:22:17.339 --> 00:22:21.779 it. You know, one of the things that I think, again getting 250 00:22:21.779 --> 00:22:25.539 back to the network effect, when you have a global network, you can 251 00:22:25.740 --> 00:22:30.210 learn what's happening, what's working and what's not working in other regions and you 252 00:22:30.329 --> 00:22:34.490 can bring that knowledge and wisdom back to to your own experience. So we 253 00:22:34.690 --> 00:22:42.529 had people on that were in Italy, in hospitals that were experiencing the covid 254 00:22:42.529 --> 00:22:48.640 nineteen challenge. Is Three, four weeks in advance of what started to then 255 00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:52.160 happen in a big way in New York City, as one example. So 256 00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:56.559 it's almost like having a crystal ball to be able to learn from those other 257 00:22:56.599 --> 00:23:02.549 other founders and to know what the challenge is. We're going to be in 258 00:23:02.670 --> 00:23:06.789 those environments. So that's that's one thing I you know, anyone should be 259 00:23:06.950 --> 00:23:11.190 thinking about their global network and how to learn about what's going on in other 260 00:23:11.309 --> 00:23:15.619 regions. I think this is important for two for things like business model innovation, 261 00:23:17.099 --> 00:23:21.980 pay attention or what's working in in other countries around the world, because 262 00:23:21.980 --> 00:23:26.619 that might be something that you can bring back to your region or your experience 263 00:23:26.059 --> 00:23:32.210 in novel and innovative ways. So we absolutely focus on on that kind of 264 00:23:32.369 --> 00:23:36.289 knowledge sharing. You know, one of the things that we've really leaned into 265 00:23:36.690 --> 00:23:41.200 in this in this new world is really we've been a virtual, distributed platform 266 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:47.839 from day one, and you really have to be when entrepreneurs or whether you're 267 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:53.559 based in St Louis Or, you know, Bangkok or San Francisco, being 268 00:23:53.640 --> 00:23:59.470 able to be distributed and virtual, I think is absolutely essential. So we've 269 00:23:59.589 --> 00:24:07.549 been doing hosting showcases, virtual showcases for investors and for customers, and it's 270 00:24:07.990 --> 00:24:14.740 going in exceedingly well. Now in this environment where you're able to get meetings 271 00:24:15.059 --> 00:24:18.380 that oftentimes, even ten twelve weeks ago, you weren't able to get, 272 00:24:18.779 --> 00:24:23.730 everyone has instantly shifted to this new virtual world by necessity and I think it's 273 00:24:23.769 --> 00:24:30.329 opened up a real window of opportunity for fundraising in a new way and for 274 00:24:30.490 --> 00:24:34.210 sales development in a new way. Really Great Point. In fact, there's 275 00:24:34.250 --> 00:24:37.839 going to be a two poor question here. So first give you an opportunity 276 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:44.559 to provide some inside or highlight those that are hot inside of start up health. 277 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:48.200 Those are the startups that are really growing quickly, those that are unique, 278 00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:53.150 that are having great success right now, even precodd I suppose. But 279 00:24:53.549 --> 00:24:56.670 then we'll get into some kind of questions of our babies here. I got 280 00:24:56.789 --> 00:25:02.269 to pick one of our babies here and choose which one's prettiest. You know, 281 00:25:02.630 --> 00:25:06.029 that's that's that's the one challenge that you get faced with. Yeah, 282 00:25:07.069 --> 00:25:12.859 I'm just so inspired every day by the extraordinary work of these founders. Really 283 00:25:14.019 --> 00:25:17.980 the reason we call them health transformers, people like yourself, or we think 284 00:25:18.059 --> 00:25:22.450 of you all as superheroes. The superheroes are our times that are reinventing the 285 00:25:22.529 --> 00:25:29.250 future of help. We've got companies like conversa doing a virtual care platform that 286 00:25:29.410 --> 00:25:34.759 is really just taking off and working with some of the nation's largest health systems 287 00:25:34.839 --> 00:25:40.240 to deliver virtual care, something they've been doing for years. But now, 288 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:42.519 when you start to see, for example, tell a how visits go from 289 00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:51.230 in a hospital thirty or forty a day before covid to three or four thousand 290 00:25:51.309 --> 00:25:56.710 a day postcodd virtual care become takes on a whole new essential, necessary need. 291 00:25:57.069 --> 00:26:03.789 Companies like care predict that are delivering solutions to monitor or patients from the 292 00:26:03.950 --> 00:26:08.900 home or the nursing home. So if you imagine a suite of connected devices 293 00:26:08.980 --> 00:26:15.259 and tools that can monitor grandma in the safety of her own home and make 294 00:26:15.339 --> 00:26:19.609 sure she's eating, make sure she's safe and sound and sleeping okay and and 295 00:26:21.130 --> 00:26:25.410 blood pressure and heart rate a all good, all remotely, these types of 296 00:26:25.529 --> 00:26:30.769 tools like care predict are really transformative. Again, they've been around for years, 297 00:26:30.009 --> 00:26:36.039 but takes on a whole new meaning when healthcare providers are trying to connect 298 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:40.759 with their patient or patients in a safe way. We just had a company, 299 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:47.990 particle health, just raised their series a round with Menlo ventures. Really 300 00:26:48.150 --> 00:26:52.269 love with this company's doing to break down the data silos in care, in 301 00:26:52.390 --> 00:26:56.390 health, which is kind of the holy grail here, and they're they're really 302 00:26:56.630 --> 00:27:03.740 have made extraordinary progress and in creating apis that anyone can tap into to make 303 00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:07.579 data sharing easy. But what I love about what we get to do a 304 00:27:07.700 --> 00:27:15.259 sort of health is. It's not anyone company or anyone team that's reinventing health 305 00:27:15.420 --> 00:27:21.890 on their own. It's really everyone is doing an important piece of a very 306 00:27:22.130 --> 00:27:26.450 complicated puzzle, and I think that's what's so inspiring to me. Some some 307 00:27:26.650 --> 00:27:33.039 people are doing ai and going delivering a platform solution and others have a direct 308 00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:40.039 to consumer health tool that's helping grandma, you know, and I think there's 309 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:45.829 a need to wholesale reinvent the full stack, up and down on the industry 310 00:27:45.869 --> 00:27:51.430 side, is and the consumer side, and completely redesign it. There's just 311 00:27:52.069 --> 00:27:56.789 endless, endless opportunity. And to give you a little insight to how bullish 312 00:27:56.829 --> 00:28:00.579 we are, you know, health cares one of the largest industries, as 313 00:28:00.619 --> 00:28:04.380 everybody knows, ten trillion dollar, three trillion dollars in the US, approximately 314 00:28:04.900 --> 00:28:11.740 ten trillion globally. And if you stopped to think, there's at least five 315 00:28:11.779 --> 00:28:18.250 billion people that aren't even in the health care market at all, completely shut 316 00:28:18.329 --> 00:28:25.089 out, which to us is it's criminal and it's our moral obligation to figure 317 00:28:25.089 --> 00:28:29.680 out how we get all people in better access to care. But it's also 318 00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:34.720 a huge opportunity to deliver care to billions of people around the world. So 319 00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:40.480 we see it as a huge growth opportunity, a huge growth market. Great 320 00:28:40.519 --> 00:28:42.869 answer and you did, believe or not, you did actually highlight a couple 321 00:28:42.869 --> 00:28:48.109 of your babies. Hey, sometime you lift. You lifted everybody up. 322 00:28:48.190 --> 00:28:52.150 So so that was a was a great comment. So what has the effect 323 00:28:52.269 --> 00:29:00.339 of Covid nineteen been on how you're investing and how your startups are approaching investing? 324 00:29:00.380 --> 00:29:07.539 So we launched a call for innovation about eight weeks ago for covid nineteen. 325 00:29:08.500 --> 00:29:12.890 One thing that we've been doing in every one of our investments in the 326 00:29:14.130 --> 00:29:18.529 past ten weeks, and we're incredibly active. We make at least one investment 327 00:29:18.569 --> 00:29:22.609 a week. Sometimes will do twenty in a quarter, sometimes more. We're 328 00:29:22.650 --> 00:29:29.400 looking to ramp up our investment activity now. We believe there's a moment over 329 00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:34.640 the next three to five years where there's customers like we've never seen before, 330 00:29:34.839 --> 00:29:41.230 there's opportunity like we've never seen before. So we want to support those innovators 331 00:29:41.269 --> 00:29:45.349 and entrepreneurs. So we're more active and working to be more active than ever. 332 00:29:45.869 --> 00:29:52.940 But we're also looking at this concept of are you relevant in the ACA 333 00:29:53.059 --> 00:29:57.180 world? Are you relevant in an after covid world, or are you just 334 00:29:57.420 --> 00:30:03.299 kind of building something that was incremental in the old world? That doesn't fly 335 00:30:03.380 --> 00:30:07.569 anymore. You gotta be all in on the new world because we're not going 336 00:30:07.730 --> 00:30:12.490 back. Yeah, and so for early stage founders that might be looking, 337 00:30:14.410 --> 00:30:19.049 we want to understand better what's the typical investment size that you're talking about. 338 00:30:19.329 --> 00:30:23.279 You can ball park it for that early stag range weather or it's seed or 339 00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:27.680 a. what's your typical participation? At what stage and what's size we're talking 340 00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:33.119 about? Yeah, we are. We are not the largest investor. We 341 00:30:33.240 --> 00:30:37.150 do invest up to five hundred thousand dollars. In our seed program it's between 342 00:30:37.190 --> 00:30:41.829 twenty and a hundred and fifty thousand and then goes up from there. We 343 00:30:42.029 --> 00:30:47.789 have two programs, one called startup health seed and one called startup health infinity. 344 00:30:48.349 --> 00:30:52.859 Infinity is for priced rounds, or series a and B. Again, 345 00:30:52.940 --> 00:30:56.859 we don't lead rounds, we don't sit on boards. We are a small 346 00:30:56.940 --> 00:31:02.619 investor, but we try to bring other big investors with us. So one 347 00:31:02.660 --> 00:31:07.609 of the things we focus on is really helping you fill out your round and 348 00:31:08.049 --> 00:31:12.329 bring other checks with us. So, yeah, we're small investor. If 349 00:31:12.329 --> 00:31:18.250 you're interested, we have a bunch of Faq's on our website. At there's 350 00:31:18.250 --> 00:31:23.039 a getting started tab right at Startup Helpcom and it'll take you through all the 351 00:31:23.160 --> 00:31:27.759 details of how we invest, all our criteria, and what I would recommend 352 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:33.349 if entrepreneurs are interested in in learning, is there's a two minute application, 353 00:31:33.390 --> 00:31:37.069 very easy to fill out. But we'd love to meet you, you know, 354 00:31:37.190 --> 00:31:40.910 we'd love to have a call with you, a virtual call, and 355 00:31:41.230 --> 00:31:48.259 and our goal is to bring this global army together. So the more people 356 00:31:48.500 --> 00:31:51.859 like you we meet, the better and the more active we can be the 357 00:31:51.900 --> 00:31:59.619 better. That's it's such a great asset. Once you have access to all 358 00:31:59.779 --> 00:32:04.890 of the resources, maybe give some feel for some of the investors that that 359 00:32:05.410 --> 00:32:07.490 are partnering with you, both here in the states and abroad. Might give 360 00:32:07.529 --> 00:32:14.410 a better sense for the investor network that is as afforded the sort of health 361 00:32:14.490 --> 00:32:20.839 member. Yeah, so when we started we were mainly backed by entrepreneurs themselves, 362 00:32:20.880 --> 00:32:27.000 people like Mark Cuban, Steve Case Esther Dyson, chairman of our board, 363 00:32:27.039 --> 00:32:32.069 Jerry Levin, who was the CEO Time Warner created HBO. Now we 364 00:32:32.309 --> 00:32:40.349 have a number of strategic backers as well, Kaiser, permanent adventures, Nevardis 365 00:32:40.750 --> 00:32:46.740 Kaz which is a midsize pharmaceutical company at Super Pharmaceuticals, Blue Cross, blue 366 00:32:46.819 --> 00:32:53.500 shield guide, well so aurora, advocate healthcare. These are health systems, 367 00:32:53.900 --> 00:33:01.529 insurance companies, healthcare companies, and their goal is to commercialize the innovators, 368 00:33:01.609 --> 00:33:07.730 the entrepreneurs, that health transformers in our network, as well as further invest 369 00:33:07.849 --> 00:33:14.079 in them. So what we focus on doing is really connecting in to those 370 00:33:14.680 --> 00:33:20.039 partners that want to deploy much more capital than us and, more importantly than 371 00:33:20.119 --> 00:33:24.880 capital, commercialization opportunities. As Mark Cuban, our investor, says, sales 372 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:30.349 solves everything. Sales is the best investor, you know. So we focus 373 00:33:30.470 --> 00:33:37.950 on customer development and and really beefing up the network with healthcare companies, large 374 00:33:37.029 --> 00:33:43.180 employers, tech companies that are doing more in healthcare, obviously the pair community, 375 00:33:43.259 --> 00:33:46.299 the health systems and healthcare companies, all the way up and down the 376 00:33:46.380 --> 00:33:50.220 stack. And we do this on the be to B side, be to 377 00:33:50.299 --> 00:33:53.259 be to sea side, as well as be to sea side. And again, 378 00:33:53.700 --> 00:34:00.250 our network is expanding every day because of the health transformers that are coming 379 00:34:00.289 --> 00:34:05.690 in and adding to the network. Rate Selling is is is terribly important, 380 00:34:05.690 --> 00:34:07.690 but less or less two questions. One of them about selling. What's the 381 00:34:07.730 --> 00:34:13.239 biggest challenge for early stage founders in all those different topic and selling, whether 382 00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:17.000 it's awareness or determined to go to market, strategy, finding product market fit, 383 00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:22.440 building a team, messaging, what do you see when you when you 384 00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:28.030 are out there observing all the different startups that are part of your organization? 385 00:34:28.989 --> 00:34:37.030 I think until ten weeks ago, the biggest challenge was really unavoidable. It 386 00:34:37.389 --> 00:34:45.340 was the legacy forces, the legacy in industry, really being unwilling to change. 387 00:34:45.619 --> 00:34:52.130 There was this resistance up and down the ladder where there just wasn't enough 388 00:34:52.409 --> 00:34:58.570 momentum, there wasn't enough transformation. There was a lot of talk, you 389 00:34:58.769 --> 00:35:01.329 know, we were focusing on it for a decade. You know, the 390 00:35:01.849 --> 00:35:06.849 created moment of creative destruction is almost here. It's here, it's going to 391 00:35:06.889 --> 00:35:14.519 be here, and sadly it took a pandemic to force it, because overnight 392 00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:22.949 we have seen a pretty radical transformation these organizations are are concerned, they have 393 00:35:23.309 --> 00:35:30.750 real challenges, whether it's on the front lines or just re engineering a whole 394 00:35:30.789 --> 00:35:39.340 workflow or system. There is a whole new generation of opportunity to really and 395 00:35:39.539 --> 00:35:44.260 and a whole set of customers that are open to change now. So I 396 00:35:44.579 --> 00:35:47.980 getting back your main question. I think the the biggest challenge has been the 397 00:35:49.099 --> 00:35:54.130 resistance of the Industry today. I think it's not being stuck on your old 398 00:35:54.650 --> 00:36:02.489 past and being nimble enough to quickly adapt to this new world without throwing the 399 00:36:02.570 --> 00:36:07.559 baby out with the bath water, without kind of change for the sake of 400 00:36:07.679 --> 00:36:13.039 changing, because a lot of technology, these tools, solutions, ideas are 401 00:36:13.239 --> 00:36:17.320 just becoming more relevant now than they were. So it doesn't necessarily mean you 402 00:36:17.400 --> 00:36:22.989 have to change, but the more you can think about that and adapt to 403 00:36:22.829 --> 00:36:27.909 the real market needs of where things are going, the better. Soul thing 404 00:36:28.110 --> 00:36:34.380 is exposed weaknesses and it's going to create opportunities for the next generation of startups 405 00:36:35.099 --> 00:36:38.860 and technology solutions that are going to be available to the market, and that's 406 00:36:38.860 --> 00:36:45.179 exciting and you are leading away unity. This has been a great peak into 407 00:36:45.219 --> 00:36:49.010 your world, that start up health. I wish you all the best and 408 00:36:49.250 --> 00:36:52.489 continued success. Tell me what is what is the best way for those that 409 00:36:52.530 --> 00:36:57.570 are listening to connect with you? Thank you, John and and it's great 410 00:36:57.650 --> 00:37:00.250 to have you as a health transformer alum. The best way to get me 411 00:37:00.369 --> 00:37:06.880 is on my email. Unity. You and Ity at startupelpcom directly. If 412 00:37:06.920 --> 00:37:09.960 you're an entrepreneur that wants to join startup health, you can go to our 413 00:37:10.039 --> 00:37:15.710 website to the getting started page. In quickly apply mention my name, but 414 00:37:15.829 --> 00:37:20.349 feel free to email me too. I respond to all my emails. Thanks, 415 00:37:20.389 --> 00:37:24.670 younity. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Revenue Series on BB 416 00:37:24.829 --> 00:37:30.179 growth. I'm your host, John Grispin, founder and sales coach at early 417 00:37:30.219 --> 00:37:32.980 revenue. Please connect with me on link thin. I am happy to answer 418 00:37:34.179 --> 00:37:39.219 any questions or provide recommendations. You can also email me at John at early 419 00:37:39.300 --> 00:37:44.849 REVENUECOM. If you like this episode or you have a question, join the 420 00:37:44.889 --> 00:37:50.489 discussion on Instagram at be to be growth. Thank you for tuning in and 421 00:37:50.809 --> 00:37:55.090 for subscribing to be to be growth. Until next time. I am a 422 00:37:59.239 --> 00:38:02.039 are you an early stage tech founder that's frustrated by limited sales? Do you 423 00:38:02.159 --> 00:38:07.880 like the time to dedicate to a traditional sales training program John Griscom's earlier revenue 424 00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:12.679 sales program helps early stage founders accelerate sales in large accounts. He's built a 425 00:38:12.719 --> 00:38:15.630 playbook that transfers what he's learned as a founder and sales leader into a condensed, 426 00:38:15.829 --> 00:38:20.829 easy to implement program if you're ready to increase your startup sales capacity, 427 00:38:20.869 --> 00:38:28.139 visit early revenuecom to get started today. It's sweetish. We're on a mission 428 00:38:28.260 --> 00:38:32.739 to create the most helpful content on the Internet for every job function in industry 429 00:38:32.940 --> 00:38:37.659 on the planet. For the BB marketing industry, this show is how we're 430 00:38:37.659 --> 00:38:40.139 executing on that mission. If you know a marketing leader that would be an 431 00:38:40.179 --> 00:38:44.969 awesome guest for this podcast. Shoot me a text message. Don't call me 432 00:38:45.170 --> 00:38:47.650 because I don't answer unknown numbers, but text me at four hundred and seven 433 00:38:49.010 --> 00:38:52.210 for and I know three and thirty two eight. Just shoot me their name, 434 00:38:52.530 --> 00:38:54.369 maybe a link to their linked in profile, and I'd love to check 435 00:38:54.449 --> 00:38:58.440 them out to see if we can get them on the show. Thanks a 436 00:38:58.480 --> lot.