A Brave New Medicaid World
One in four Americans relies on Medicaid, yet the program faces billions in federal funding cuts.
In this episode, we speak with Dr. Rajaie Batniji, co-founder and CEO of Waymark, about delivering tech-enabled community care to Medicaid patients.
The Real Reason the Teladoc-Livongo Merger Went Sideways
In 2020, telemedicine company Teladoc acquired remote patient monitoring company Livongo for a record $18.5 billion, creating a $38 billion entity. Today, the combined company is worth less than a tenth of that.
YC Wants Your Hard Tech Solutions
Startup accelerator and venture capital firm Y Combinator has a long history of backing early-stage healthcare startups, with a particular focus on technical founders tackling difficult problems. In this episode, YC partners Jared Friedman and Ankit Gupta share their insights on healthcare investing, the potential of AI in our industry, and why they believe young, tactical founders can play a role in reshaping healthcare.
Lessons from an $11B Healthcare Exit
From law school to leading one of healthcare's most successful value-based care companies, Oak Street Health co-founder Mike Pykos shares the story of building, scaling, and ultimately selling his company to CVS for $11 billion.
He reveals the challenges of scaling a new care model, the importance of focusing on outcomes over financials, and what it takes to transform American healthcare.
What's Ahead for Healthcare Innovation in 2025
In this special episode, Bessemer Venture Partners’ Healthcare and Life Sciences team shares the top industry developments they anticipate in the year to come, covering:
⚖️ The future of Obamacare exchanges under Trump
💊 Novel drug modalities
📊 Improved GLP-1 payment models
🏥 Caregiver workforce shifts
🤖 Multimodal clinical AI in practice
🔮 And more!
Is Medicine an Art or a Science?
Join us for many mic-drop moments with recording artist-turned-healthcare-investor D.A. Wallach.
2025 Digial Health Predictions
Five-time Midas List investor Annie Lamont has seen every healthcare cycle since the genomics revolution. Now, as co-founder of Oak HC/FT and early investor in category-defining companies like One Medical, Athena Health, and Devoted Health, she believes 2025 could mark the return of animal spirits to healthcare investing. In this forward-looking conversation, Annie shares why AI might finally deliver on technology's promise to transform American healthcare, even as she warns entrepreneurs to watch out for the "revenge of the incumbents."
2024 Digital Health Year in Review
From the return of "historic norms" in funding to the rise of AI and strategic pharma partnerships, 2024 was quite the year for digital health. Rock Health Advisory CEO Megan Zweig joins us on this episode to unpack a year defined by resilience, consolidation, and the 'revenge of the Goliaths.' We look at the funding data, reveal how the industry's unicorns survived their valuation hangovers, and share why 2024 might be remembered as healthcare's boiling point.
Breaking Dunbar's Number in Home Care
After building and selling Meebo, Seth Sternberg wanted his next venture to transform lives at scale. A decade later, Honor has become the world's largest in-home senior care network, delivering care to 35,000 US homes daily. In this candid conversation, Sternberg reveals how AI saved the company from near collapse in 2015 and why treating caregivers like true professionals creates better outcomes for everyone.
The Southwest Airlines Theory of Healthcare Transformation
Twenty years before value-based care became a healthcare buzzword, Rushika Fernandopulle was told he had to choose: be a doctor or join "the dark side" of business. Instead, he chose both – building Iora Health from a bootstrapped startup into a billion-dollar healthcare company. In this candid conversation, Fernandopulle reveals the unconventional journey that helped transform American healthcare, from midnight meetings in Las Vegas speakeasies to breaking every rule in the traditional medical playbook.
Heartbeats in the Digital Age
In this episode, we dive into all things heart health with Dr. Jeff Wessler, a Cardiologist and the Founder and CEO at Heartbeat Health, the nation's largest virtual-first cardiovascular company.
The Youth Mental Health Crisis
Approximately one in five American children have a mental health condition, with many more at risk for developing one. In this episode, Halle Tecco and Michael Esquivel dive deep into the youth mental health crisis with Naomi Allen, co-founder and CEO of Brightline.
The VC Playbook
In this episode, Bryan Roberts, a partner at Venrock and one of the healthcare industry's most illustrious investors, shares insights from his 25+ year career with Steve.
The GLP-1 Weight Loss Revolution
GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy have transformed best practices for weight loss care and created an opportunity for digital health innovation. In this episode, Steve Kraus sits down with Evan Richardson, founder and CEO of Form Health, to discuss GLP-1s and the virtual medical weight loss care landscape.
The Physician Glass Ceiling
In this episode, Dr. Jon Cohen, CEO of Talkspace, discusses his unconventional journey from vascular surgeon to leading a publicly traded digital health company.
We cover:
- The glass ceiling for physicians, and why people wrongly think physicians can’t run businesses
- His run for Lieutenant Governor of New York, and why more physicians should get involved with politics
- The role of online therapy in making mental healthcare more accessible and affordable
- How Talkspace is leveraging AI to detect suicide risk, support therapists, and enhance patient care
- The challenges and opportunities of running a public company, especially one that went public via SPAC
- His insights on the future of healthcare and the importance of physician leadership in driving change
Obsessed With Measuring Health
In this episode, Christine Lemke, co-founder and CEO of Evidation Health, shares how her personal struggles with chronic pain fueled her mission to transform how we measure and improve health outcomes. She shares the company's evolution and innovative approach to generating real-world evidence (RWE) using a global research platform serving millions of people.
Fixing What's Broken | Founding General Partner of Town Hall Ventures, Andy Slavitt
In this episode, Steve Kraus interviews Andy Slavitt, General Partner at Town Hall Ventures and former CMS and UnitedHealth Group executive. We look back on his career-long mission to fix American healthcare's biggest challenges, encompassing roles in insurance, government, healthcare startups, and venture capital.
The Art of Storytelling in Healthcare
Marketing and communications play a critical role in securing investment and driving product and service adoption in digital health. In this special two-part episode, Steve Kraus explores the art of storytelling in healthcare with two industry experts: Chrissy Farr, a veteran digital health journalist turned venture capitalist and advisor, and Kate Cronin, Chief Brand Officer at Moderna.