Q3 was one for the books, and what is normally a sleepy month or two in July and August was busier than ever. And it’s not showing signs of slowing down. After years, and billions of dollars poured into the sector, the talent market in Healthcare IT has never been hotter. The fourth quarter promises more of the same, and we’re excited as we think about adding to our team here. Crazier yet, you’re running out of time to book your dramatically overpriced two star hotel in San Francisco for JPM. You’ll probably want to grab some rain boots, and an umbrella while you’re at it. This month, we sat down with Dan Weinstein, the CEO of Oshi Health, to learn more about the tremendous impact they’re making on chronic disease. Our very own Steven Berman gives us a history lesson on the origins of health insurance as we know it today, and I tackled a few questions we hear over and over again from Founders and CEOs. Please enjoy, and tell us what you think!

— Tim Gordon, Founder & Managing Partner

An Interview With Dan Weinstein, CEO of Oshi Health

Dan Weinstein is the CEO of Oshi Health, a digital therapeutic platform for the self-management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, based in New York City. Dan is a serial entrepreneur, and was the Co-Founder and COO of Cohero Health, another digital therapeutic platform for respiratory disease, prior to joining Oshi.

Tim: Dan, tell us a little bit about Oshi Health, and what drew you to the business?

Dan: Oshi Health is a digital health startup based in New York. We’ve launched a mobile app called ‘Oshi,’ which is a chronic disease management platform for people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD, which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis). We launched the app in June and it’s available for free in the Apple and Android app stores.

Oshi helps people better manage IBD through 3 core pieces of functionality: Track, Learn and Ask.

On the Track side, we help patients keep track of their treatments and lifestyle factors which could impact their disease. We also help them track their symptoms.

On the Learn side, we have original content that’s personalized to patients. We provide information on how to manage the disease itself – and how to have a healthy, balanced life with a very debilitating disease.

On the Ask side, people can submit their questions directly within the app, and we have a team of gastroenterologists and IBD experts who answer them in a moderated forum within the app.

A Fireside Chat with Our
Managing Partner, Tim Gordon

Talent Questions Keeping Founders
Up At Night Answered

 
I don’t have all the answers, and I certainly don’t have all the questions, so rather than taking a stab at what was on people’s minds this quarter, I asked many of the Founders and CEOs we work with what was stumping them. A number of questions popped up consistently, so we took a run at them here.

In startup hiring, how do I trade off between drive/raw talent and role-specific experience? (AKA Hiring Athletes)

I’ve always been a fan of hiring athletes (those with drive, motivation and talent) for any role. I’m convinced that you can successfully hire that prototype at all levels successfully, but it takes a specific culture and an open mind to make it work. That said, when it comes to startups – especially in Healthcare – experience with the way things have always been done isn’t necessarily the perspective companies want or need. No matter what, I’d advocate for job descriptions as guideposts, not checklists, because there’s tremendous value in hiring people who have a track record of just figuring out how to get things done. Often times, there’s just no way around it – some criteria to be a CTO or Chief Medical Officer are non-negotiable – but A players who know how to make things happen are invaluable in startup environments where structure is often an illusion.

All of that said, it’s worth noting that hiring for drive and motivation is table stakes, no matter what position you’re filling. I encourage folks not to get too hung up on checking off every bullet point from a job spec – especially when you may be able to fill gaps with other hires you already have planned.

A Brief History of Employer
Sponsored Healthcare

Perhaps no other facet of our society touches our lives as acutely as Healthcare. Given the industry’s impact on everything from our personal lives to our national economy, one might expect that the average American would be indelibly linked to its financial underpinnings. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Most Americans have no clue what their Healthcare actually costs, given that someone else – Insurance – is paying the tab.

So how did we end up here? How did America find its way into a system where consumers are so far removed from the costs of their care that most don’t even know the actual price of the last prescription drug they took? In an effort to shed light on the subject, we thought we’d pluck a page out of The History Channel’s playbook and briefly examine the history of health insurance in the United States. Hopefully doing so will help illuminate exactly why we are where we are today (while also providing some nifty historical tidbits).

So without further ado…