Podcast Summary: "Innovating Industries—How These Entrepreneurs Are Addressing Pain Points"

Podcast Title: Your Next Move
Host/Producer: Inc. Magazine in partnership with Capital One Business
Episode Title: Innovating Industries—How These Entrepreneurs Are Addressing Pain Points
Release Date: May 6, 2025

Overview

In this episode of Your Next Move, Inc. Magazine's Editor-in-Chief, Mike Fuller (referred to as Mike Hoffman in the transcript), engages in a dynamic panel discussion with three innovative entrepreneurs in the healthcare sector:

• Dr. Brigham Hyde of Atropos Health
• Anne Follenweider of Alloy Health
• Amir Al Najjar of Vitalyes Health

The conversation revolves around identifying and addressing critical pain points in healthcare through innovative approaches, leveraging patient insights, and transforming challenges into opportunities to enhance the overall customer experience. The panelists share their experiences in building smart, scalable solutions and offer strategies applicable to other businesses aiming to drive innovation.

Panelist Introductions

Mike Fuller opens the session by welcoming the founders and setting the stage for a deep dive into healthcare innovation. He highlights the impressive growth of Vitalyes Health, noting Amir Al Najjar's company as the top Inc. 5000 company of 2024, with revenues skyrocketing from $1 million to over $4 billion in just a few years.

Alloy Health: Revolutionizing Menopause Care

Anne Follenweider introduces Alloy Health as a digital health platform focused on menopause care. The company connects the 55 million women experiencing menopause with the limited number of menopause specialists available in the country. Key Highlights:

• Addressing a Critical Gap: Anne emphasizes the dire state of menopause care, citing a New York Times cover story that revealed only 4% of menopausal women receive first-line care—a significant drop from 40% two decades ago.

  "Less than 4% of menopausal women are getting the first line care recommended by all of the medical establishments." [03:47]

• Innovative Solutions: Alloy Health utilizes AI and digital platforms to streamline access to care, reduce costs, and eliminate middlemen, ensuring that both patients and doctors benefit.

  "We're providing care that costs $50 a year for the doctor care plus the price of our mostly generic FDA approved prescriptions. So it's affordable." [14:27]

• Consumer Behavior Shift: Anne observes a generational shift in how consumers engage with healthcare, with millennials and younger generations demanding digital-driven solutions.

  "They're not digital native, but they're digital fluent... millennials and below have experienced the healthcare system from the point of view of digital driven point solutions." [17:13]

Atropos Health: Bridging the Evidence Gap in Clinical Care

Dr. Brigham Hyde discusses Atropos Health, focusing on personalized evidence-based care. The company automates the production of high-quality evidence from real patient data, significantly reducing the time required for clinical research.

• Filling the Evidence Void: Dr. Hyde highlights that only about 14% of daily medical decisions are backed by high-quality evidence, leaving clinicians to rely on limited data.

  "14% of daily medical decisions have any high quality evidence behind them at all... we're running these trials on healthy male triathletes and then treating everyone else differently." [04:45]

• Technological Innovation: Atropos Health leverages generative AI to conduct observational research in under three minutes, compared to traditional months-long studies.

  "We can do it in under three minutes now at the point of care." [04:54]

• Policy and Regulation: Dr. Hyde discusses the dynamic regulatory environment and the potential for automation to streamline processes like prior authorization.

  "We're watching closely on removing prior auth and evidence-based prior auth playing a really key part of that." [28:39]

Vitalyes Health: Pioneering Value-Based Healthcare

Amir Al Najjar presents Vitalyes Health, a leader in the value-based healthcare space aiming to reduce costs while improving quality through close collaboration with primary care providers and insurers.

• Value-Based Model: Vitalyes Health partners with Medicare and private insurers to incentivize better patient outcomes, aligning interests across stakeholders.

  "We get paid when patients are doing better, when our providers are able to earn shared savings checks by saving the health system money." [08:55]

• Operational Efficiency: The company addresses common pain points such as lack of data integration and staffing shortages, enabling proactive patient care.

  "We provide funding or staffing resources for our primary care clinic... listen to people, solve problems one by one." [10:08]

• Growth and Challenges: Amir shares insights into scaling rapidly, maintaining investor relationships, and focusing on EBITDA for sustainable growth.

  "We're running a business, not a growth engine... you want to make sure that's effective." [27:02]

Growth, Funding, and Sustainable Business Models

The panel delves into strategies for funding and scaling healthcare startups:

• Thoughtful Fundraising: Dr. Hyde emphasizes raising capital thoughtfully, prioritizing investors with long-term visions aligned with the company's mission.

  "Choosing investors that had that long view is important... Turned down an additional $40 million because they can always invest later at a higher valuation." [18:54]

• Capital Efficiency: Embracing AI and remote work to build capital-efficient startups is highlighted as a crucial strategy for sustainability.

  "Build a more capital-efficient business... leverage AI tools from day one." [22:05]

• Cultural Shifts in Funding: Anne reflects on the pressures of large funding rounds and advocates for raising minimal necessary funds to maintain control and agility.

  "Raise the least amount of money to grow responsibly and quickly... find investors who don't want to be rushed in the timeline for the return." [23:51]

Consumer Behavior and Market Trends

• Digital Transformation: The panelists agree that digital solutions have transformed consumer expectations in healthcare, pushing traditional models to adapt or risk obsolescence.

  "Covid accelerated the shift and the acceptance of digital solutions." [17:13]

• Market Potential: Anne highlights the vast untapped market in menopause care, with Alloy Health addressing only a fraction of the 55 to 83 million women needing support.

  "We have probably cornered 1/50th of the market... 96% of women looking for help and not getting it." [30:27]

Future Directions and Next Moves

The discussion concludes with each panelist outlining their company's strategic next steps:

• Atropos Health (Dr. Brigham Hyde):

  • Enhancing Distribution: Focusing on expanding distribution within the provider market and integrating AI-powered tools like Ambient.

    "We're really focused on distribution in the provider market... announcing ambient integration at Stanford University." [28:15]

• Alloy Health (Anne Follenweider):

  • Expanding Consumer Reach: Exploring direct-to-consumer avenues and vertically integrating the doctor network and pharmacy services.

    "We are exploring direct to consumer... vertical integration of our doctor network and our pharmacy." [29:34]

• Vitalyes Health (Amir Al Najjar):

  • Broadening Partnerships: Expanding beyond primary care to include specialists and skilled nursing facilities, aiming for holistic network integration.

    "We're expanding, working more with specialists, skilled nursing facilities... deeper into the network play." [31:21]

Conclusion

Mike Fuller wraps up the episode by thanking the panelists and emphasizing the importance of thoughtful innovation in addressing healthcare's most pressing challenges. The entrepreneurs' insights provide valuable lessons for businesses aiming to drive impactful change through sustainable and scalable models.

Notable Quotes:

• Anne Follenweider:

  "Less than 4% of menopausal women are getting the first line care recommended by all of the medical establishments." [03:47]

• Dr. Brigham Hyde:

  "We can do it in under three minutes now at the point of care." [04:54]

• Amir Al Najjar:

  "Every one of our problems that we're dealing with is very easy. It's just that we have a million of them and they're all sort of stacked up on top of each other." [12:05]

• Anne Follenweider:

  "We're providing care that costs $50 a year for the doctor care plus the price of our mostly generic FDA approved prescriptions. So it's affordable." [14:27]

• Amir Al Najjar:

  "You're supposed to make money at some point. So it's transition, but it's been a good journey." [27:22]

Final Notes

This episode of Your Next Move offers a comprehensive look into how innovative entrepreneurs are tackling significant pain points in the healthcare industry. From menopause care to personalized evidence-based treatment and value-based healthcare models, the panelists provide actionable insights and inspiring stories of growth, resilience, and strategic foresight.

For more insights and in-depth conversations with industry leaders, subscribe to Your Next Move on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform.