OVERVIEW:
Jason A. Duprat, Entrepreneur, Healthcare Practitioner and Host of the Healthcare Entrepreneur Academy podcast speaks with Lonny Stormo, CEO and Co-Founder of POPS! Diabetes Care, a digital health startup. The company creates and delivers solutions to help people manage their diabetes. Lonny strongly believes the future of healthcare is about democratizing the industry and putting simple technology into consumers’ hands.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
- Finding motivation within a bigger company is all about creating impact especially in the healthcare sector.
- Lonny talks about his decision to pursue an MBA program and how his degree has helped him manage employees.
- Getting an MBA isn’t a requirement for becoming an entrepreneur, yet it’s helpful particularly for accounting and finance.
- POPS! started out as a passion project to innovate the experience of measuring blood sugar using your smartphone.
- Mina is an AI coach, a virtual care companion, within the app. Mina guides users with their diabetes management and checking blood sugar levels.
- Lonny talks about software development and how he talked with people to learn why they don’t use health management apps despite the huge demand for them. One of the primary reasons was the burden was greater than the benefit.
- As a result, POPS! included light coaching and personalized the app based on motivation - a critical factor in digital therapy and digital health.
- Lonny shares his opinion on outsourcing and how their hybrid model of outsourcing works.
- Launching an app can be daunting. Submitting your application to Apple and Android for them to review can be challenging. Having an expert developer on your team can help you navigate these challenges with greater ease.
- Insurance companies are starting to recognize digital health applications. Mina helps connect with healthcare and insurance companies.
- Having a good business idea is completely different from selling it. Marketing and selling your product is where the real work starts.
- Finding the right advisors is critical to move your business forward.
3 KEY POINTS:
- The keys to successfully starting a business include proper planning, conducting research or testing, and having the right business model.
- Think about your selection process for software developers. Conduct ongoing R&D to update your product or service regularly.
- Take time to plan and strategize on how to market your products and then invest in these strategies.
TWEETABLE QUOTES:
“I remember one of our advisers saying, “You know that check for $10,000.00 is worth $10,000,000.00 in publicity.” That’s what you can do by winning these competitions.” – Lonny Stormo
“Management, to me, is about people…’lots of times, management can get too focused on things like strategy, finance, and so forth, but the whole psychology piece to this – how you deal with people, how you help people grow - is the most important point of an MBA.” – Larry Stormo
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
POPS! Diabetes, Inc. Website - https://popsdiabetes.com
Lonny Stormo LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/lonnystormo
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