#15 – Fixing Our Broken Healthcare System | Adrian Aoun, CEO of Forward

Ventured Growth with Hercules Capital

In a world of continuous innovation, it seems like our healthcare system has been left behind. The hassles of health insurance have become the status quo, and far too many of us have fallen victim to the abhorrent costs of medical services.
Few of us have the time or wherewithal to battle with insurance companies or chase down medical providers. So, where do we go from here? Is there a way to effectively deliver low-cost healthcare to large numbers of people?
According to Adrian Aoun, CEO of Forward – an AI-based healthcare company – the solution is simple: redesign healthcare as a product.
In this episode, Catherine and Adrian discuss his journey to becoming the CEO of Forward, how productizing healthcare can lower costs and boost innovation, why health insurance is the biggest obstacle in healthcare, and much more.
Topics Include:

• How Adrian’s childhood shaped his pursuit of knowledge
• The enormous challenges our healthcare system faces
• How to migrate the work of doctors and nurses to hardware
• How our current healthcare system disincentivizes innovation and fails to keep up with its challenges
• The Forward business model
• How to raise millions of dollars as a startup
• And other topics…
  Adrian Aoun is the founder and CEO of Forward, an AI-based healthcare system combining world-class private doctors with new technology to enable proactive, data-driven primary care. Most recently, he was the head of Special Projects for the CEO of Google/Alphabet, where he founded one of the Alphabet companies Sidewalk Labs. Adrian arrived at Google upon the acquisition of his AI startup Wavii, and spent his first year at Google helping to create and build their AI division. Additionally, Adrian is an active angel investor and advisor to a number of technology startups and funds.
  Resources Mentioned:
  Factfulness by Hans Rosling