BUILDERS Podcast: The ROI System Faro Health Uses to Convert Enterprise Pilots

Guest: Scott Chetham (CEO and Founder, Faro Health)
Host: Front Lines Media
Date: March 12, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode of BUILDERS dives into how Faro Health, under CEO and founder Scott Chetham, crafted and proved a robust ROI system to win over large enterprise customers in clinical development. The conversation explores the realities of selling technological change into deeply entrenched, high-stakes environments, the evolution of their ROI case, the challenges of scaling both product and company, and Scott’s refreshingly candid founder journey.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Scott’s Background & Origins of Faro Health

Timestamps: 01:07–06:12

• Industry Roots: Scott trained in clinical sciences in Australia; early work with both large and small pharma, medtech, and a stint at Google X (now Verily/Calico).
• Frustration with the Status Quo: Clinical trial design is still shockingly manual—built in "a table in Microsoft Word," even for pandemic vaccine trials.
  • “We made big decisions about what we’re going to measure...all in a table in Microsoft Word and then we write hundreds of pages around it.” (Scott, 02:21)
• Thesis for Faro: Automate clinical trial design, provide just-in-time data to decision-makers, reduce unnecessary labor, and predict ROI more reliably.
  • Case Study: With Merck, Faro helped avoid over $100M in unnecessary clinical data collection.

2. Change Management as Innovation’s Core Hurdle

Timestamps: 06:12–08:29

• Human Side vs. Tech Side: The main barrier is users’ resistance to new ways of working, not technology.
  • “That’s actually the biggest challenge. This isn’t a problem of if you can build it... It’s having a system that people actually want to use and will want to displace. That’s the trick.” (Scott, 06:25)
• Investing in Change: Faro uses dedicated change management consultants alongside technical support, enabling customers to build the case for leadership and track ROI early in deployments.
• Measurable Impact: For complex trial optimization, Faro shows results (e.g., reducing work from five people × three weeks to one hour), prioritizing highest-ROI use cases.

3. Evolving and Proving the ROI Case

Timestamps: 08:29–10:57

• Iterative Learning: Initially, ROI proof took up to a year—now they deliver in a quarter via disciplined iteration and process improvement.
  • “It was a lot of effort and it was a lot of iteration. I’m a big believer in discipline and learning through repetition and just getting better.” (Scott, 08:56)
• Sales Approach: Early sales were to “believers” willing to trust surrogates for ROI; as measures improved, deals became easier and larger.

4. From Early Adopters to Mainstream Adoption

Timestamps: 10:57–13:06

• Market Timing and “Hockey Stick” Growth: The market caught up with Faro’s automation vision about 14 months ago; platform and market maturity converged.
  • “We’re on the hockey stick now. ... Our platform got to a level of maturity that enterprise could widely deploy it. … Now it’s the opposite. It’s insane. Like, we have like pull and we don’t advertise.” (Scott, 10:57)
• Quality and Reputation: Focus remains on scaling without sacrificing customer experience, given the high-trust, high-value stakes in pharma.

5. Scaling Challenges in 2026

Timestamps: 13:23–16:25

• Prioritizing Hiring and Roadmap: 2026 is about “scaling while keeping our customers’ trust.” Faro is recruiting “experience scale people” and must balance urgent hires with product focus.
• Staying on Track: With more enterprise customers, the volume of feature requests explodes, but not all are must-haves.
  • “It’s making sure we build things with the highest ROI for our customers and we stay on track for this year...” (Scott, 13:23)
• Market Competition: Explosion of new digital clinical protocol startups complicates sales cycles and increases noise.
  • “I was at a conference two weeks ago... it was the entire thing. There were so many companies all of a sudden saying they do this and all these startups. And that was kind of like eye opening in some ways.” (Scott, 15:48)

6. Competition and Founder Psychology

Timestamps: 16:25–20:26

• Dealing with Copycats: Scott shows vulnerability about competitors copying messaging, but notes real differentiation is in delivery and scale.
  • “This is a new experience for me, I’m like going, hang on, that’s just a complete ripoff. ... Maybe I’m less gracious than my co founder. I’m not flattered. Yeah, I get irritated...” (Scott, 17:16)
• Retaining Customers: Winning business is only the start; ongoing delivery and trust matter more (“real sales work begins after the contract is signed”—Upwork founder).
• Founder Grit: Perseverance, discipline, and willingness to get back up after setbacks are essential.
  • “Even when it sucks, this is the hardest thing I think is of being a founder... you still have to keep doing it. And as long as you can do that... eventually can get successful.” (Scott, 18:50)

7. Reflections on Founder Life & Leadership

Timestamps: 20:26–25:18

• Self-Discovery and Building a Leadership Team: Scott identifies himself as “a reluctant CEO,” balancing his scientific personality with the need for dynamic leadership traits in others.
  • “I’ve got some good...leaders around me now... I’m never going to be the cheerleader, like jumping up and down ... But I can hire some excellent leaders who can fill that role...” (Scott, 21:39)
• Celebrating Wins & Culture: Learning to recognize and celebrate victories (for the team, if not for himself) is a new, important skill.
• Handling Feedback: Distinguishing constructive feedback from noise or negativity; coaching the team on thick skin and taking away the useful elements.
  • “You gotta get really good at like filtering through, like what can you take away, you know, from a discussion...” (Scott, 24:16)

8. Closing Thoughts and How to Follow

Timestamps: 25:18–end

• Career Opportunities: Faro Health is scaling and hiring—check their website (farohealth.com) for openings and news.
• Final Reflection: Would Scott recommend founding a company? “I don’t know. Depends on the person…you gotta really want to do it.” (23:01)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Automation’s Necessity:
  “Automation for clinical development has to happen. We have to use data to improve clinical trial design.” (Scott, 10:57)

• On Enterprise Sales:
  “We’re in a field, quality is everything. ... What keeps me awake at night is scaling and keeping that reputation and keeping that like belief.” (Scott, 12:28)

• On Being a Founder:
  “Maybe it’s a superpower of founders. Maybe we’re all deeply paranoid.” (Scott, 16:26)

• On Resilience:
  “For me...you have to survive long enough to be able to iterate to get really good and then just keep going and keep showing up. Even when you’re tired and you have screaming kids and you didn’t sleep, you still have to turn up.” (Scott, 19:02)

• On Self-Awareness:
  “I’m a reluctant CEO. I never really wanted to do it, but the personality [test] went okay. Oh, by the way, this is probably most likely thing you would ever have done. ... But I can hire some excellent leaders who can fill that role…” (Scott, 20:33/21:39)

• On Innovation and Competition:
  “Messaging is easy to just copyright, but capabilities and actually delivering is a whole nother beast.” (Host, 17:40)

Important Timestamps

• Scott's Clinical Background & Motivation: 01:07–06:12
• Change Management in Pharma Tech: 06:12–08:29
• Building and Proving the ROI Case: 08:29–10:57
• Crossing the Chasm to Mainstream Adoption: 10:57–13:06
• Scaling Challenges for 2026: 13:23–16:25
• Competition & Founder Psychology: 16:25–20:26
• Reflections on Leadership, Culture, Growth: 20:26–25:18
• Closing, Careers, Advice to Founders: 25:18–end

This conversation offers a rare, unvarnished look at the realities of selling technology to enterprises, especially in conservative, high-stakes industries. Scott Chetham’s candid insights on discipline, resilience, focusing on real ROI, and assembling the right team are valuable for any founder or innovation leader.

Follow Scott and Faro Health:
https://farohealth.com