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The Administration just announced a new initiative that has the potential shake up the hashtag#healthtech space. By partnering with companies like Amazon, Apple, Google and OpenAI to create a more patient-centric healthcare system, they again demonstrate openness to embrace market led solutions vs. a 'government knows best' mentality. Here's a link to the <a data-mce-href="https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/white-house-tech-leaders-commit-create-patient-centric-healthcare-ecosystem" href="https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/white-house-tech-leaders-commit-create-patient-centric-healthcare-ecosystem" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement from CMS.</a> &nbsp; For those of us who’ve been in the healthcare tech world for a while, we know how much of a roadblock EMR systems like Epic have been. Made mandatory by the ACA in 2013, they're notoriously hard to work with - both technically and from a business standpoint - and because EMR integration has been a non-negotiable prerequisite for doing business with hospitals, have made it insanely difficult for startups to get their foot in the door. The costs, the red tape, the time it takes to even get a conversation started have all been huge barriers to innovation. &nbsp; For example, HL7 FHIR was introduced in 2012. While it was developed to address API standardization for interoperability, it's done little to mitigate the massive barriers that EMR platforms still present to innovators and startups. And, healthcare system's general bias for platform breadth vs. point solutions adds even more friction.<figure id="figure-e1w0894evgmongcwjw" class=""><img id="e1w0894evgmongcwjw" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/1eEf7THp4TnZhuAY2W0zsnDiIw9alNn708N5kiD4OSjc9fBLnJpR8sHlJYIYDd4e.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-sm md:rounded-md lg:rounded-lg" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/1eEf7THp4TnZhuAY2W0zsnDiIw9alNn708N5kiD4OSjc9fBLnJpR8sHlJYIYDd4e.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure>What excites me most about this, though, is the pivot to a patient-first perspective vs. an industry controlled initiative. Yes, data privacy is critical - even more so in a data portability scenario - but the technology exists to address those risks. It's not a new idea - there's been talk for years about 'patients own their data', but precious little progress to make that happen. Case in point - Apple introduced its Health Records feature in 2018, but in the 7 years since, less than 10% of hospitals have opened up their EMRs to the 150M+ iPhone users in the US. &nbsp; The reality is that the technology isn't the hard part here. I worry that, as has been the case for decades, the primary challenges to this kind of innovation will come both from incumbents like Epic who will be loathe to give up their death grip on patient data, and from the healthcare systems themselves who will similarly see data portability as a threat to their ability to manage &amp; control their relationships with patients. Objections will likely be contextualized under the guise of data security and patient confidentiality...shrieks of what about HIPAA?!?!?!?!?....but the real fear is neither of those. &nbsp; So call me cautiously optimistic. This initiative could help tear down the walls that have kept so many entrepreneurs and investors on the sidelines of the healthcare space and represent a big step toward creating a more open, innovative environment in healthcare. Or it could be much ado about very little in reality, just like HL7 FHIR. We'll see what happens...

White House, Tech Leaders Commit to Create Patient-Centric Healthcare Ecosystem

<h3><a data-mce-href="https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/inno/stories/news/2025/01/23/new-program-launches-for-health-tech-companies.html" href="https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/inno/stories/news/2025/01/23/new-program-launches-for-health-tech-companies.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Arizona program launches to scale health tech companies</a> </h3><a data-mce-href="https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/inno/stories/news/2025/01/23/new-program-launches-for-health-tech-companies.html" href="https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/inno/stories/news/2025/01/23/new-program-launches-for-health-tech-companies.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Program will be housed at 850 PBC building, now being leased by biotech startups</a>I'm honored to serve as an advisor to the new <a data-mce-href="https://phoenixbiosciencecore.com/xlr8/" href="https://phoenixbiosciencecore.com/xlr8/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">XLR8 PBC</a> program at <a data-mce-href="https://phoenixbiosciencecore.com/" href="https://phoenixbiosciencecore.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Phoenix Bioscience Core</a>, which I believe fills a much needed gap in the AZ ecosystem to help health tech founders successfully navigate the gap from start-up to scale-up. We've got an amazing group of leaders, executives and operators around the table - including, among others <a data-mce-href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanebrown3/" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanebrown3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shane Brown</a>, <a data-mce-href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianellerman/" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianellerman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brian Ellerman</a>, <a data-mce-href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/scarlett-spring-871a077/" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/scarlett-spring-871a077/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scarlett Spring</a>, and <a data-mce-href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiran-avancha-phd-89b72616/" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiran-avancha-phd-89b72616/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kiran Avancha, PhD</a> - to help make this a success, and I'm looking forward to pitching in!The application window is open until 2/19, and if you're interested, learn more and apply at <a href="https://lnkd.in/gZitEwPT" data-mce-href="https://lnkd.in/gZitEwPT">https://lnkd.in/gZitEwPT</a>.<figure id="figure-yl6p6cb59emong1f0d" data-full-width=""><img id="yl6p6cb59emong1f0d" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2bYR3v9N4clF07TdTHmqpSvHGC7sMrHSh5nWeELS1S3uAR6evp6AMei4ipZTiLLH.jpg" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-sm md:rounded-md lg:rounded-lg" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="true" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/2bYR3v9N4clF07TdTHmqpSvHGC7sMrHSh5nWeELS1S3uAR6evp6AMei4ipZTiLLH.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure>

XLR8 Launch at Phoenix Bioscence Core

Tomasz Tunguz shared a thought-provoking <a data-mce-href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/challenge-saas-orthodoxy-tomasz-tunguz-zpbec/?trackingId=EFeInD%2BfQ9mvVsVSH7EcXA%3D%3D" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/challenge-saas-orthodoxy-tomasz-tunguz-zpbec/?trackingId=EFeInD%2BfQ9mvVsVSH7EcXA%3D%3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> analyzing Klarna’s recent annncement on their plans to replace 3rd party vertical SaaS tools with internally developed AI and how that could signal a shift in the B2B SaaS orthodoxy that has driven the last 20 years of B2B SaaS development.Does this signal a fundamental change in the dynamics – the ‘orthodoxy’ - of the B2B SaaS market? Maybe, but there will be some non-trivial hurdles:<ol><li>It’s a big company model (for now). In the MongoDB example, Tomasz estimates the annual cost offset for sales to be $12-15M for a company with 1,250 people in sales. I would venture most companies with yearly budgets of even a few $M would struggle to keep parity. And that’s just 1 SaaS tool vertical among many. </li><li>Focus. The fact that lack of focus = failure is a truism. Instead of the leadership having laser focus on the core company mission, ICP &amp; value props, and competition, they’re now going to have to split their focus between building for external vs. internal customers. There is a reason there aren’t many companies left that look like GE in the late 2000’s. </li><li>Resource contention. Let’s say AI can handle most of the dev lift. There will still be people that manage &amp; support it, costs to operate it, etc. Like any company with limited resources (all of them), there will constantly be tradeoffs between investing $1 to make the AI tools better vs. bringing more customers through the funnel.&nbsp;</li></ol>For those reasons and more, I’m skeptical that this approach will become the de-facto IT strategy for the broader enterprise market. But, at the risk of contradicting myself…<figure id="figure-q3mf1d9qgmonffktm"data-full-width><img id="q3mf1d9qgmonffktm" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/8VPM7jDYO36WUlThEUH7s6AaB7XeUUeSryNRWfrnNTSN2aqNwwhi764d2ojvnYwS.png" alt="" title="" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-sm md:rounded-md lg:rounded-lg" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionX="undefined" data-positionY="undefined" data-fullWidth="true"/></figure>Let’s say instead, Klarna builds the absolute best AI-driven CRM (would we still even call it that?) ever and decides to sell it to the market before Salesforce et al. can effectively respond. What if this ends up looking more like how Twitter &amp; Slack were born vs. just a massive internal IT exercise?Companies that can harness the best talent in AI could also demolish the entire vertical construct in B2B SaaS and instead build entire AI-driven solutions around JTBD (jobs to be done) frameworks.&nbsp;For example, the JTBD for a manufacturer is to ship 10,000 widgets this year. That would entail engaging AI for:1.&nbsp; &nbsp;Product design 2. &nbsp;Marketing &amp; lead gen 3. &nbsp;Sales 4. &nbsp;ERP &amp; Supply Chain 5. &nbsp;Shipping &amp; Logistics 6. &nbsp;Accounting &amp; collections 7. &nbsp;Customer SupportRather than a company buying 7 different SaaS products from 7 vendors, they buy 1 AI bot designed specifically for manufacturing customers that manages the entire product lifecycle. AI seems to offer a feasible path toward these kinds of JTBD bots, in contrast to ‘traditional’ software dev architecture.Ultimately, I 100% agree with Tomasz that the orthodoxy of enterprise SaaS will fundamentally change because of AI. How long will it take? Who knows, but it will be fun to watch.

Is AI Eating SaaS?

This is a <a data-mce-href="https://www.fastcompany.com/91199021/an-argument-to-hire-lazy-salespeople" href="https://www.fastcompany.com/91199021/an-argument-to-hire-lazy-salespeople" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fantastic article</a>, originally published in Fast Company, from my friend &amp; colleague <a data-mce-href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/inrevenue/" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/inrevenue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Justin Gray</a> at <a data-mce-href="https://inrevenue.capital/" href="https://inrevenue.capital/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-mce-selected="inline-boundary">InRevenue Capital</a>. &nbsp;It's particularly valuable if you’re a 1st time founder or new to leading/managing a sales team in the B2B space.TL;DR - B2B sales strategies should optimize for quality, not quantity. &nbsp;WIth a focus on relationship-driven sales, early &amp; growth stgae companies do a better job zeroing in on the right ICP, building a clear understanding of problem-solution and ultimately building customers that will deliver long term value, not just short term logo wins.And BTW, 'lazy' doesn't really mean 'lazy'. &nbsp;In this context, I interpret it to be making the distinction between working smarter vs. working harder. &nbsp;Taking a strategic approach to selling vs. just hitting activity metrics for the sake of activity.It may sound contrarian - most of the sales orthodoxy that is promoted centers on volume, activity &amp; shots on goal. &nbsp;But think about it - when’s the last time you picked up a call from a number you didn’t recognize, or respond to cold emails?One caveat I'll offer - I believe this is predominately true for companies creating new products, building new categories or generally disrupting the status quo. &nbsp;Shots on goal may still be the appropriate north star if you're selling high volume, commodity products. &nbsp;

The Argument for Lazy Salespeople

Bittersweet seems insufficient to describe the fact that we turned the lights out at BeckonCall this week. Dr. Jeffrey Becker and I co-founded the company in 2015, and by any measure, 10 years is an incredible run by startup standards. &nbsp;Unfortunately, we never achieved escape velocity. And so here we are.So many thoughts and emotions are rattling around my brain right now, but I want to do a couple of things with this post.First, how &amp; why did we last 10 years only to reach this point? I’ll take both sides of that question:&nbsp; We made it this far because we are deeply committed to the mission to improve care team communications. The Joint Commission released a report indicating that if miscommunication were classified as a cause of death, it would be the 5th leading cause in hospitals. Our commitment to that mission kept us moving forward through a ton of tough times. 2. &nbsp; We made it this far because we walked the talk. More than a few customers have been with us since day 1 and we’ve had ridiculously low organic churn. We have been a 24x7x365 must-have, and at our peak, we were managing communication for 10s of thousands of patients each month. 3. &nbsp; We made it this far because we worked incredibly well as a team. I’ve experienced the other end of this spectrum and know what it feels like to have a company torn apart by team dysfunction. We were the opposite. 4. &nbsp; We’re not making it any further because we didn’t/couldn’t adapt to changes in our market. BeckonCall is an SMB product for independent medical practices. Our market has contracted over the last 10 years, however, as nearly 80% of providers are now employed by Hospital Systems, ACOs &amp; PE firms. Pivoting from SMB to enterprise is difficult for even the most profitable &amp; well-funded businesses (QuickBooks, anyone?), and we were neither of those. To paraphrase the late, great Walter Cronkite: and that’s the way it was.Second, I want to give my sincerest gratitude to the people who volunteered to go on this ride with us.&nbsp;To the amazing founding team - Tim Lytle, Jason Offutt, Kacie Donovan, and Cory Smith. You took us out of the starting blocks and built what became BeckonCall. It seems trite to say we couldn’t have done it without you, but we couldn’t have. You’re all amazing. Thank you.For the wisdom and guidance generously shared by exceptional advisors, including Thomas Blondi, Tom Curzon, Scott Weiss, Rick Lopez, and Andy Lombard. You’re also all amazing. Thank you.To the investors who trusted us with your precious capital (and patience!), I wish the outcome were different. We are immensely grateful. Thank you.And finally, to my co-founder and brother from another mother - brother, you’ve been an incredible colleague and friend. I feel gratitude beyond words, and God willing, we’ll still be kibbitzing to each other in our 80s, complaining that our grandkids don’t call enough.And that’s a wrap. Onward. &nbsp;But before I go, I'll leave you with this. Because it will never not be funny.<figure id="figure-oko2oh47jemoneuvf6"><iframe id="oko2oh47jemoneuvf6" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/89661785" class="w-full bg-gray-100 rounded-sm md:rounded-md lg:rounded-lg" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen data-url="https://vimeo.com/89661785" data-corners="default" data-fullWidth="false"></iframe></figure>

The End of An Era

TL;DR We’re still a very long way from <a data-mce-href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/">Her</a> or <a data-mce-href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/">HAL9000</a>…<figure id="figure-jrd5frpjalm2kofsva" class=""><img id="jrd5frpjalm2kofsva" src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/17PGEMLiiE7BvApSgOHdOl9CLD04TUNokADFicjqAqVU6BAOzeIMstWJwuGx6dnk.jpg" alt="two women sitting at a table looking at a computer screen" title="two women sitting at a table looking at a computer screen" class="object-cover bg-gray-100 rounded-sm md:rounded-md lg:rounded-lg" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;" data-corners="default" data-aspect="16:9" data-caption="" data-positionx="undefined" data-positiony="undefined" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://cdn.durable.co/blocks/17PGEMLiiE7BvApSgOHdOl9CLD04TUNokADFicjqAqVU6BAOzeIMstWJwuGx6dnk.jpg" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; object-position: center center;"></figure>There’s so much excitement and hype around the promise of AI. But how much reality is behind that promise today? While the shortcomings of current GenAI models are well documented, the hype cycle driving the AI frenzy seems to be strong enough (for now) to relegate even moderately contrarian views into the ‘you must be a Luddite’ bucket…I’m not an expert in the field, which makes me a worthy litmus test(er) for applied AI.&nbsp;I found a fractional project that caught my eye, but the gatekeeper to the project wasn’t a team or a person – it was an online assessment tool that combined IQ test-like questions with AI chatbot interactions, both prompt engineering and conversational Q&amp;A. Initially, the experience was fun - brought me back to college and the (good) stress of performing on the clock and under pressure. But…As I progressed through the tool, the site froze &amp; I was presented with a ‘white screen of death’ with an unending swirling circle. None of the typical browser tricks worked, and when I then switched to a different browser &amp; logged back in, I got a prompt that my (incomplete) application had already been submitted. Wha?Interestingly, and perhaps tellingly, there was no way to contact a human for support. Or even to submit a support ticket. Only an AI chatbot that was not particularly helpful. Or empathetic.Who knows if I would have gotten the project anyway? The point is, I never got the chance to have the conversation because…BUGS! Everyone in tech knows there’s no such thing as bug-free software – whether you’re talking about code bugs or GenAI hallucinations.&nbsp;This experience won’t change my life, or even frankly, my interest &amp; excitement for AI. But imagine if AI had been implemented this way in the cockpit of a 777. Or in a surgical robot in an operating room. Or in a weapons system on the battlefield. The outcome could be catastrophic.The point here isn’t to throw cold water on AI but to provide an anecdote to remind us where we are.To use a parenting analogy, AI is still a toddler that still requires us to care for and feed it, change its diapers, and teach it how to behave. You wouldn’t dream of putting your two year old behind the wheel of a car, so we should be mindful in the same way with our approach, adoption &amp; deployment of AI at this point in the game.PS - I’m not going to name the companies involved because my intent isn’t at all to disparage or criticize them. Also, I didn’t use AI to write this post…

I'm Sorry Dave, I Can't Let You Do That

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White House, Tech Leaders Commit to Create Patient-Centri...

XLR8 Launch at Phoenix Bioscence Core

Is AI Eating SaaS?

The Argument for Lazy Salespeople

The End of An Era

I'm Sorry Dave, I Can't Let You Do That