Lyrical Genius – Ode to Fixing a Broken Healthcare System

Join us at VIVE 2024 in Los Angeles, where Alex Fair reads his mic drop worthy poem about standing up for change in an industry that is broken. Paulo Machado, joins the conversation emphasizing the significance of consumer and provider-centric innovations, sharing his firsthand experiences in launching transformative ventures. Meanwhile, Alex, from MedStarter Ventures paints a vivid picture of the trials and triumphs faced by healthcare startups, emphasizing the crucial role of supportive investment. Through a blend of personal stories and creative expression, we explore the immense potential of finding the right kind of investor to enable the sustainable redesign of the healthcare industry.

We tackle the pressing issue of focusing on consumers of healthcare and the need for personalized delivery of care by providers. Healthcare innovation not forced but transformational.  Alex and Paulo spotlight the artwork of Regina Holiday and her Walking Gallery jackets, which champion patient centricity, and also brings to light the camaraderie and fun embodied by the Pink Socks movement. The episode underscores the necessity of disruptive conversations and community-driven initiatives to create meaningful change in healthcare, all while blending serious discussions with lighthearted moments. Tune in to discover how collective action and innovative thinking can pave the way for a more equitable and effective healthcare system.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:08

Well, we're still here vibing at VIVE 2024 in. Where are we?

Speaker 2 0:12

Los Angeles, California.

Speaker 1 0:14

I'm Dave Pavlik.

Speaker 2 0:15

And I'm Ellen Brown, the co-host two of the three co-hosts that are here on site for the Reverse Mullet Healthcare Podcast, and we have two guests in here today and I will let you guys introduce yourselves. Super fun. The great thing for those of you that are listening and not watching is that they both donned the reverse mullet for us. So I highly suggest that you watch the video version of this episode so that you can see you look uncomfortable.

Speaker 1 0:42

Totally yes.

Speaker 2 0:43

So, yes, it is fantastic when guests wear a reverse helmet.

Speaker 1 0:45

So welcome Bill and.

Speaker 3 0:47

Ted.

Speaker 2 0:47

Yes.

Speaker 3 0:48

In honor of. Billy Idol Totally excellent dude yeah, In honor of Billy Idol, so pal.

Speaker 2 0:53

Alex, who wants to start?

Speaker 3 0:55

Paul Machado. I basically help healthcare startup companies launch into the marketplace.

Speaker 2 1:01

Fractional co founder. So pre-seed.

Speaker 3 1:06

Early place fractional, fractional co-founder, pre-seed uh, early stage, pre-seed cda okay, so you're a money guy?

Speaker 1 1:09

uh, no, also advisory, advisory, okay, okay, okay alex uh, alex fair, I run med starter ventures. We invest in accelerate early stage startups and, um yeah uh, and paula is one of our investors in as an lp in our fund. So thank you, paul awesome, okay.

Speaker 2 1:23

So, alex, you have a poem I've got many poems and so I I told he's a poet I told out alex and I had not met alex and I had not met him and he was sucked into this conversation for this, for this podcast. And then he asked about the podcast and I said you know, we talk about real change in health care. And he sent me a poem and so are you gonna read. And he said I don't know, do you want?

Speaker 1 1:47

and I said please, you have to read the poem because, it's kind of the answer but I think he's looking for his poem. It'll take me a second, or he's texting mom, okay, all right. Well, then we'll start we will start.

Speaker 2 1:57

we will start with you, sure, to tell us what do you think could affect real change all caps.

Speaker 3 2:04

Real change.

Speaker 2 2:05

In healthcare, in healthcare, yeah, in a very broken system. Broken system, so you know yeah.

Speaker 3 2:11

I think it's gotta be much more focused at the consumer level, really focusing in on consumers of healthcare, but also the providers of healthcare, making it really totally personalized and engaging for them. So that's something that they do as a default, versus something that has to be forced into doing something on providers or consumers.

Speaker 2 2:29

Yeah, I think that's very true. So, alex, you have the poem up. It looks like.

Speaker 1 2:34

Yeah, and it actually answers that question.

Speaker 2 2:36

I know which is why this is spectacular.

Speaker 1 2:39

So, just as background, I really believe in human creativity. I do believe in patient provider, you know, approved innovations and things like that.

Speaker 3 2:46

Centricity, yeah.

Speaker 1 2:47

And you know, we started MedStarter in the beginning as a crowdfunding site and one of the things we saw is that patients and doctors and hospital leaders and people at big companies would get behind an idea and suddenly they'd take off. And this idea that had been languishing for six years would suddenly get $135,000 in investment and 166 people behind them 100 patients, 12 doctors, some partners, some pilots and this is a true story about a company called Myme M-Y-M-E-E that has changed healthcare for 5% to 7% of all patients, reducing cost of care and making people healthier. Even the founder, who has lupus, had a baby, which is very hard to do if you have lupus?

Speaker 2 3:28

Yes, it is.

Speaker 1 3:29

But one of the things we keep seeing is that companies that are really changing things, they get disrupted, and you know I'm tired of it and so, yeah, so we have a plan, we're working on it, but this poem kind of tells you a couple of parts of the plan.

Speaker 2 3:44

I'm super pumped. Well, I could just stop you and talk for an hour about what you just said, but let's go to the poem. We don't have that much time, we don't, yeah, okay.

Speaker 1 3:50

So yeah, I thought maybe I had an aneurysm when this kind of thing started happening, because like, just things would come out lyrically and then if I didn't stop and write them down I wouldn't know how it ended. So it just starts, and then if I don't anyway. So this all came out in like five minutes on the train one day. Truth to power and nobody. Coward Voices so loud, never too proud, even before Congress and at the White House, wearing our jackets, we made quite a racket. Believe we could drive change, but everything stayed mostly the same. So we create a new way. Some of them got play Changing care, shortening stays, but where are they today? Eye triage bought by Aetna, pairs falling off the tree. Bright health, dim Babylon torn down. Ppmcs RIP Oscar trashed flat iron privatized by Roche, register's patient disappeared into MD, on, and the list goes on and on and on.

Speaker 1 4:38

Disruptors disrupted by incumbents, just perpetuating all this dumb shit. Crystal is cracking, verbally attacking, but that's not really all we're doing. Our returns are accruing. Now we invest in the best team to pass all our tests rapidly. They grow. Soon the IPO. So we spoke truth to power and nobody listened. Now we invest in the best team to pass all our tests Rapidly. They grow, soon the IPO. So we spoke truth to power and nobody listened. Now we speak truth from power and it makes all the difference. So let's get investors aligned. No more disruptors sidelined. Change well, with gumbo we're not nearly done, so stand up for change, to fix all our pain from a system that's broken to patients, doctors, nurses, self-insuredured employers and hospital leaders have spoken, that's it all right, let's wrap the mic, can we wrap it now.

Speaker 1 5:18

That's the mic drop.

Speaker 2 5:18

Yeah, oh, I was like you're gonna end after that like we have to start more second. Yeah, we should, okay, so I put this out there right now that I want to have you guys for a full episode and hopefully you will come on, and then you get justin too, who makes this super fun we'll put it to music.

Speaker 1 5:35

Yes, I'm getting it. Yes, yes, yes, yes, absolutely and and dave, here's the best part alex dave is an.

Speaker 2 5:44

Is is a fantastic musician, excellent so we are going to have a jam session. I'm a horrible singer.

Speaker 3 5:49

That would be a horrible thing. Yeah, I don't say yes, but no, we are. I'm telling you right now, like we're coming up with this because that that whole thing jam session.

Speaker 1 5:52

I'm a horrible singer. That would be a horrible thing. I'll hum. I don't sing. Yes, we, but no, we are.

Speaker 2 5:54

I'm telling you right now, like we're coming up with this cause, that that whole thing is money right there.

Speaker 1 5:58

There's 160 of them. Wow, seriously, that's fantastic. You should write a book. You should write a book, a poetry book. That's a whole different topic. We don't have long hair. 160 million work, dave, dave.

Speaker 2 6:15

So, alex, I just have to know, though. Like that, all has happened, and one of the things that I have a bit of a struggle with is I feel like equity has become so pervasive in our industry and it's needed. Like I always say, you can't do things without money, but I think it's very. A lot of folks are very misaligned because it's just all about scale and multiples sure and again, you know people that are willing to pony up the dough. They want the returns.

Speaker 3 6:42

So clearly you have some thoughts about there's hope here, because I I do lose hope, but it seems like you guys are yeah, well, I mean, I'm in it because there are people who care, right, just creating that sangha of people getting them together and having aligned values, purpose, passion and, frankly, impact, investing and what needs to be really a health system, because we're not a system, right, we're just it's an industrial complex that's focused on caring for people that are sick essentially, but true social well-being takes a lot more work up front and you'll find investors like that.

Speaker 3 7:19

There just aren't that many Because it is going to be there.

Speaker 2 7:21

But are there people though?

Speaker 3 7:23

There are, and you just have to get them on the same page and align the incentives financially, Because they have to obviously pay for the operations. You can't run things at a loss, like some people seem to be comfortable doing. But at the end of the day you have to kind of look at long-term where's the value and how do you align this stuff financially, temporally right? That's the big challenge.

Speaker 1 7:45

Absolutely. I mean, you said everything I was going to say. I would point out. So consider this let's say you're a big fund and you've got 99 of your dollars in incumbents. Whether you meant to or not, they get bought. What have you? And then $1 in the disruptors. So there comes a day where you have to decide what you're going to encourage the disruptive company to do. Well, sell it to one of your other companies, right, but that perpetuates the dumb shit, right. On the other hand, there are people who only invest in disruptors. So if ninety nine of their dollars are in disruptors, those are the aligned investors. So when we talk in the poem about let's get investors aligned, Right, and I need help I need help finding the ones who actually care, the people like you know, Richard Park and Chris Park and some of the people mentioned in there Pete Hudson, Park and Chris Park and some of the people mentioned in there, Pete Hudson. So those are the people who got in for the right reasons, might have sold out, but now they're going for their next pass.

Speaker 2 8:41

Well, we need to give them a voice. Let's put them on here.

Speaker 1 8:43

Let's talk about it, Because I mean legit.

Speaker 2 8:47

we are doing this because we wanted to expand the conversation about real change. It's not BS. I didn't say the real word. I would like to drop the real word, but we do try to keep this PG, because I don't want to get some flag on our podcast or something.

Speaker 3 9:01

The real real. The real real.

Speaker 2 9:03

Beyond even the all caps real.

Speaker 1 9:05

Does that apply to us? No, because you said bullshit three times. No.

Speaker 2 9:11

Drop the F-bomb.

Equity in Healthcare Innovation Series

Speaker 1 9:13

We're going to edit that out.

Speaker 2 9:14

Alright, I really appreciate you guys coming on and I mean it.

Speaker 1 9:17

I hope that you'll do a full podcast episode with us, make it a series.

Speaker 2 9:21

Yeah, and I would like to. Actually I'd like to continue this equity conversation, because it's very needed to disrupt things. For sure. I don't want to wait for Apple and Tesla to come along and do it for us.

Speaker 1 9:32

They won't? Yeah, yeah, well, they'll try if we don't do it.

Speaker 2 9:35

Yeah, they've tried, yeah so All right, Can y'all thanks?

Speaker 1 9:39

for coming. Can y'all stand up and turn around.

Speaker 3 9:41

We got to see the backs of those jackets. Oh yeah, sure, yeah, this is one that you got to watch the video. You can take the headsets off, okay, patient centricity. So credit to.

Speaker 1 9:53

Regina Holiday, yep, all right, regina Holiday created these jackets.

Speaker 2 9:56

Walking Gallery. Very nice, they're awesome. They're awesome and, of course, you have to love more.

Speaker 3 10:01

with pink socks, the shout out to. Excellent.

Speaker 1 10:04

We're going to do it.

Speaker 3 10:05

I meant this walking billboard.

Speaker 2 10:07

It's that darn mullet.

Speaker 3 10:08

I'm not used to having hair.

Speaker 1 10:10

I know especially part.