Miles & Miles of Heart
An update on Vincere Health’s Story: Grit, Heart, & Gratitude
Short version
I truly could not be more proud to share with you that Vincere Health has been acquired by RVO Health, a joint venture between Optum & Red Ventures.
It has been the adventure, and privilege, of my life to complete this task for the members we get to serve. I have so many people to thank.
Long version
Backstory:
As a consultant, I worked on engagements in the commercial healthcare space, Medicare & Medicare Advantage space, and Medicaid space. Each come with their own set of challenges. The biggest realization I had as a young consultant was the embarrassing discrepancy between products, goods, and services available to the Commercial & Medicare population and those available to the Medicaid population. Of course this is true. But, seeing it first-hand really changed something inside of me. These were my people the world was forgetting about.
As I describe this feeling to people, I typically use the term ‘cosmically unjust’. It felt like a ‘cosmic injustice’ that some people just simply couldn’t access the same care at the same speed everyone else did. If you had the wrong combination of income and education — life experiences, etc. — you simply are taken care of differently.
A switch flipped inside of me. “Well. I’ve gotta do something about that.” I set out on a path to build a product for a patient population nobody builds for. (At least, at the time, there were ~0 venture-backed companies in the space). I saw friends who were investment bankers, consultants, and the like, working 80–90 hours a week creating things that I considered far less valuable than the product of healthcare. Why?
For context, once I feel something cosmically unjust inside of me — I really have no choice, I simply must do what I can to address the problem. In this long moment of my life, I consider the Universe working through me to balance those scales. I know, I know — dramatic, sure, but that’s how I’m wired up. I can’t really do anything about it.
I developed a deep conviction to build a company that was dedicated to increasing accessibility of quality care to low-income Americans — marginalized, vulnerable groups that I simply did not see venture backed companies go after. [Now I know why!!!]. This was a group of the population that I knew felt like they didn’t have a voice. Maybe one day, if we got the product right in the U.S. we could find a sustainably financed, scalable thing that could be used everywhere.
The original idea was gutsy to say the least. I wanted to pay low-income smokers to quit smoking. There is a lot of literature to support this concept — but, up until that point nobody had put the tech + business model together. [FYI: a wildly difficult thing to execute. It required specific industry expertise, real commitment from incredible people, and an excellent, very dedicated engineering effort.] Smokers are an interesting group to target, because by definition, being a smoker puts you in a higher risk category for basically every other comorbidity there is; so we focused on high-risk, high-cost patients insured by very slow moving Medicaid plans. Really smart plan, guys!
At first, Venture Capital dollars would fund the incentives, then I would contract with Health Insurance companies and State & Local Governments— they would pay Vincere for the service and we would reward the member contingent on them doing something to take care of themselves. And, it worked.
The Journey Starts:
The plan was to get out of consulting, go to Graduate School, and start a company specifically building product for this population. So, that’s what I did.
Fast forward through Graduate School and starting Vincere Health at the Harvard Innovation Labs in 2019. We started raising money, building product, selling to Health Systems and Health Plans — this was it! Trying to make the world a better place based on the fire instilled in me as a young man. Pretty cool. Honestly, what’s better than that?
In the next few years, I successfully sold to some of the largest Health Insurance companies in the country and some of the most prominent Health Systems. AND we were doing something awesome. Our main product was focused on incentivizing members on Medicaid to quit smoking. By virtue of doing this, we developed very sophisticated engagement technology to locate these high-risk, hard to reach individuals.
This tech could also be used by our largest clients, which helped us grow. It was surreal to me that anybody wanted these products; we had incredible clinical expertise on the team / excellent engineering / great product builders etc. I just couldn’t believe we hadn’t fallen on our face yet given everything that can kill a young company at that stage.
We had started doing a lot of work primarily with low-income pregnant mothers and we teamed up with the best program in the country for it. Our goal was to get them to quit smoking early in the pregnancy to raise the birthweight of their child; by doing so, we could (A) Increase the IQ of the unborn child (healthy birthweight = higher IQ = hopefully a better shot at a good life), (B) Put money in the mother’s pocket during a really critical window of their lives and (C) Save the Health Insurance plan a lot by reducing NICU admissions and pre-term birth complications. Health Plan CMOs & CFOs understood the value immediately and since it only takes 9 months to grow a little human, we could give the CFOs an ROI in less than 12 months (which is an important part of the value prop for Plan buyers).
I often describe the startup journey as a ‘hamster wheel’. Once you raise Venture Capital, you are on the wheel. Raising / Selling / Hiring / Pivoting etc. and making sure everything happens as fast as possible. Exhausting, bro. Everything is fairly similar at each stage of the company’s life except the hamster wheel gets slightly larger. And even though you get more sick and more tired — you must continue to run.
The hamster wheel race cranked from June 2019 through the end of 2022.
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Life Intervenes:
Towards the end of 2022, I moved home to help take care of a family member who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. It was an incredibly difficult, weird, and dark period for my family. I tend to not talk about my personal life publicly, but in this case I couldn’t really hide it; I needed to leave Boston and head home. The end of last year and deep into this year was challenging in a way I can’t really describe to you. Balancing a wildly difficult period in my personal life and the unyielding hamster wheel was…a lot.
It was extremely unfortunate that during this extraordinarily difficult period in my personal life when I really needed professional support, my cofounder decided it was time for him to resign and pursue other opportunities. It was tough that he exited during this very difficult period. It was also a terrible time for the business given it was right before we had signed one of our largest contracts with a client, but that’s life. Everyone can make their own decisions in this life. Nothing wrong with that.
As for me, remember, I had to address a cosmic injustice: the will to complete what I started ran too deep. I had no option but to continue and finish what I started.
In the weeks to follow my cofounder’s abrupt departure, my hours spiked to cover the gaps (which, looking back, I’m not even sure how that was possible). This meant less time with my family and loved ones. And — just to say to them publicly — I am so sorry about that period of my life.
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Back from the Life Tangent
Finding The Right Partnership:
The important work Vincere Health was doing in this space led us to one of the largest providers in the country. In order to maximize the social impact, and financial impact, of the original vision it was inevitable that we ended up in a partnership with Optum.
We had developed a relationship with Optum over several years. Our teams knew each other well and they knew our technology well. We developed friendships and enjoyed our work together, both commercial and research oriented.
I’m pretty sure that is how great partnerships are supposed to feel — working together collaboratively and productively for an important cause. Every single individual I worked with at Optum / RVO Health was awesome: management, the research team, the commercial team, the product & tech team. And, I could tell the work mattered to them. That was the most important part for me. It felt like part of the Plot that our software should land in the steady hands of RVO Health.
In my opinion, there is no greater partner for us. We get to maximize our social impact and the reach of our technology at RVOH. I italicized ‘get’ because it feels like a privilege to be able to extend this work together.
Thank you to the Optum & RVOH team that worked tirelessly over the last few years alongside Vincere Health. So looking forward to what’s next!!!
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A long list of Thank You’s!
- First & most important — the Vincere Health team. Every single person who walked through our doors was exceptional. Engineering, Growth, Ops, Product, Design, Clinical / Coaching, CX, Sales, every intern from the Harvard Business School & the Harvard Chan School. Vincere Health was a magnet for incredibly talented, kind, empathic, gritty, remarkable people. The first huge shoutout needs to go to Hadi Javeed. Hadi, you are the most incredible engineer I have ever had the pleasure to work with. I know I’ve told you this, but you inspired me consistently over the years with your work ethic and dedication. Not only are you incredibly talented — you are kind, thoughtful, and a real magnet for talent! In simply no way could Vincere Health have existed or gotten to this point without you. Another huge shoutout to Trevor Campbell. Trev, you are truly one in a million. On top of being the smartest person I’ve ever met, your dedication to Vincere was inspiring. I really don’t understand how someone as smart as you also has the empathy and patience required to work with some of our members — honestly, I’ve never seen this combination of traits in another human. Without you doing everything for YEARS, there is absolutely no way Vincere would have made it to this point. You were and still are a core pillar of the team and I want the world to know that. Your personality is infectious and I know wherever you go, you are going make a huge impact and make the world a better place. To you, Hadi, and the entire team: We have made a dent in this cosmic injustice because of YOU.
- The Harvard Innovation Labs: You guys gave us a home : ) And free beers, free pizza, and incredible friendships. Harvard Chan, Harvard Business School — thank you for your friendships, mentorship, resources, and encouragement. In particular, thank you Thara & Howard for your guidance, kindness, and friendship! We have made a dent in this cosmic injustice because of YOU.
- Advisors, Mentors, the Clinical team, CX team, Legal (Yes, Legal, you too!) — this list is incredibly long. SO many people poured their time and expertise into us. And I truly can’t thank them enough. In no particular order: Laurie & George Adams, Matt Miller, Duncan Reese, Rob Falkenberg, Dr. Kate Wolin, Joy Ippolito, Trevor Fetter, Ian Chiang, Joel Brightfield, Alice Pomponio and Eunice Chang from American Cancer Society, Dan Cave, Trishan Panch, Kyle Robertson, Michelle Lynch, Jeff Cross, Dr. Manijeh Berenji, Dr. Alisa Koval, Dr. Steven Motarjeme, Cameron Anstey, Love Chambers / Aimee Taylor / Elizabeth Hargraves (!!!), the coVita team (!) & all of the advisors from the Techstars / United Healthcare Accelerator. Todd Ellis @ KPMG— Yep, you too. You helped set me on this path early on. Thank you for your mentorship and friendship. Goodwin Proctor (Jared & Jason and the whole team!). PAG Law — David Johnson, Justin Stone, Juan-Pablo, Felipe Saraiva. We have made a dent in this cosmic injustice because of YOU.
- Investors— this list is also long. I will continue to thank you for supporting this Mission privately. Among our list of public investors include: American Family Insurance, American Cancer Society’s BrightEdge, Flare Capital, SixThirty Ventures, Trevor Fetter, Visible Ventures, Techstars, the Alchemist, the Da Silva family, my family, and the list goes on. We have made a dent in this cosmic injustice because of YOU.
- Founder Friends (Advisors of a different kind) — Salman Ali, Asaf Kraus, Derek Strauss & Sebastian Coates, the Koda Health team, the Smoodi boys (Pascal & Morgan!), Lucas Buyon, Tyler Hoth, Kyle Robertson, West McKee, Andrew Dakki & Matt Abbo — both of you really stepped up when we needed it the most, the entire Techstars cohort really, and the entire Harvard Launch Lab cohort. Thank you all for your support, kindness, guidance, and friendship.
- I have several specific call-outs that I need to address: Dr. Courtland Keteyian, Salman Ali, Megan O’Connell, Cameron Jacox, the engineering team, the Adams’, and Sheryl Melanson. My family, of course. My father, mother, sister, and twin. But, I’m not going to write a public thank you for them.
Dr. Courtland Keteyian: Vincere Health cannot exist without you. Your clinical guidance, your expertise, your strategic mind, your personal support. You believed in Vincere when we were nothing, you spent countless hours fighting for us, guiding us, and talking me off the ledge. You gave us immediate credibility and believed in the Mission as clearly as I did. As corny as it is, you gave me strength to complete this task. I am unsure how to thank you.
Salman Ali: We have walked an incredibly similar path in this life. The startup journey would be even more lonely without you. Your expertise and friendship have been invaluable to me in this process. Your heart, your will, and your grit to complete your mission has inspired me consistently when the absolute best and most logical path forward is to quit. I hope to return the favor. I am unsure how to thank you.
Megan O’Connell: You are quite literally world class. Everyone needs to know it. Your bandwidth is incredible. We continued to add more and more to your plate and you continued to step up to the challenge in every way. Strategy / Ops / HR / Constant problem solving — you name it — it was truly ridiculous. You are smart, kind, caring, and a world class operator. You were the glue that held everything together. We are here because of your grit and commitment to this Mission. I am unsure how to thank you.
Cameron Jacox: Cam, I have leaned on your expertise and stability. I have leaned on your network — that you have been gracious in sharing — and strength. You are easily one of the most talented individuals in the entire healthcare tech ecosystem. You will be unstoppable in this space for the rest of your career. Every single entity that engages with you will be very lucky, as Vincere was. Vincere Health simply cannot exist without you. I am in your debt for believing in what we wanted to accomplish and being a steady core pillar of the team the entire time. I think Dagny would be proud of how we got here. I am unsure how to thank you, my friend.
The Vincere Health engineering team: Guys — thank you. You are an incredibly talented group of empathic engineers. I’ve seen you rise to the challenge over and over and over and over again. Your competence and grit and commitment to building impactful technology got us to this point together. You have played the absolute biggest role in this journey and the world needs to know how incredible you guys are. Your software / your logic / your dedication to the mission will be realized as our technology reaches millions of members who need it over the next decade. Your late nights & grinding to hit hard deadlines didn’t go unnoticed. In no particular order: Hadi, Trevor, Brad, Biken, Ryan, Bilal, Justin, Jeremy, Joe Roddy (!), and the small army of hands who stepped in to support over the years when we needed it.
Sheryl Melanson: Whether you like it or not 😇, Sheryl, you have one my best friends the last 4–5 years. I could write an entire post alone on how important you are and have been in my life. I couldn’t feel the mission pouring out of anyone else as clearly as it did from you. When I thought about calling it quits, it was your encouragement and your shared connection to the individuals we wanted to reach that fired me up again. Always a thoughtful listening ear, an excellent writer, a world class communicator and coach, and I probably owe you (a ton of) money as my therapist. The world is a better place because you are in it. Please never stop being you. I am unsure how to thank you for everything.
Kayla: Your love and support mattered more than everyones.
Laurie, George, Nikki, and all of the Adams: Feels like you two should be at the very top of this list. You have treated us like family and I cannot thank you enough. What am I saying, you are family. You’ve opened your home, cooked incredible meals, and supported us professionally and personally. Your kindness, thoughtful gifts (!), and friendship were such a wonderful part of my life the last few years. And, your commitment to pregnant smokers KEPT ME GOING!!!! Really. Your story is so inspiring it should be a movie — I will do everything in my power to make sure your work reaches as many mother’s who need it as possible. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being you.
coVita — Jason & Daniel: What a wild ride! Remember those first couple phone calls? That random kid from the other side of the country calling to bother you? Thank you both for your dedication, hard work, expertise and, above all, your kindness. You — and all of coVita — are class acts. Without your commitment to your craft & your professionalism Vincere Health would not be here. You guys dug in to make sure the job got done. You are a staple of the industry and I am grateful and proud to be able to call you friends. I can’t wait to celebrate with y’all.
Richard Ruggerio: Rich. Thank you for all of your hard work over the years. You are an incredible salesman and person. You are curious, thoughtful, empathic and a continuous learner — these are unique and core skills that made you a perfect fit for Vincere Health and will make you a perfect fit anywhere you go in the future. You learned so quickly, changed the pitch, constantly iterated on it and ran at a blistering pace for us— you sold more in healthcare in 2 years than some founders do in 5!
Shalen: Thank you so much for working to help a population I care about deeply!
It’s all of your time, your belief, your love, your passion, your capital, your expertise, your guidance, your HEART that has contributed to making a dent in this cosmic injustice that was set in motion inside of me as a young man. And that young man thanks you.
All of these things you’ve poured into me and Vincere Health to make a real change — I won’t ever forget it.
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To Close:
As this process was finally coming to a close, I was reminded of a Dostoevsky quote that I’ve always loved, but never really truly understood. [Yes, I know, Dostoevsky. For those who know me, quoting a devastatingly ‘sad’ author in this moment couldn’t be more fitting]:
“If you want to overcome the whole world, you must overcome yourself.”
In retrospect, it rang true at every step. At first, I thought one of the biggest barriers in this journey would have been the competition. Not the case at all. The market itself? No, although that’s a tough one. A business partner who didn’t share your patience or will to serve this population? Nope. Board or Investor dynamics? Definitely a learning curve here, but not that either. Ultimately, if you dig deep enough, it’s clear that none of that is true at all.
While you must battle these things when they work in your opposition — and they will work in your opposition — the real Truth is that the greatest thing to overcome is you. Your anger, your doubt, your mind, your frustration, your whining, your sadness, your bitching, your pain. Nobody cares. The outcome is binary; you will complete the task, or you won’t.
Sure, it’s cliché, but you must find the deepest layer of yourself & overcome it. I finally understand. In one of Life’s great ironies, I am reminded that the literal translation of “Vincere” means: to overcome.
Given what it took to reach this patient population: I suppose that’s exactly what happened, eh?
Jacob Albert Keteyian
CEO & Cofounder @ Vincere Health
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This journey was inspired by, and was finished for, my grandparents:
Virginia & Albert Keteyian.
Vincere was going to make a big impact on the world the second you both picked up your first cigarette.
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P.S. Here’s a snapshot of some of the individuals that Vincere Health reached over the years:
The main thing that kept going during tough times was staying connected to the individuals we wanted to reach. In the early days, I got certified so that I could work with and coach participants — I wanted 30 minutes a week to talk through what life was like for our members. I wanted to hear how they were doing, how was work going for them, how was their relationship with their significant other, were they liking the product, what did they need for a better experience. Those 30 minutes a week were so energizing. When things got more intense and I could not commit that time, I asked our team members if we could get a Slack channel going for testimonials. It was AWESOME.
Here are some of my favorites. Remember — YOUR support enabled these words. YOUR capital, YOUR expertise, YOUR love that y’all poured into me and Vincere Health:
- 25 Year Old Pregnant African American Mom, Flint, Michigan:
“I can’t believe this program exists. Thank you for everything — this has been a blessing.” - 29 Year Old Pregnant Single Mom, Colorado:
“I wanted to quit for my 4 children. I’ve tried to quit multiple times. The support I got from this program got me through — I would DEFINITELY recommend the program. The incentive helped jumpstart me at the beginning.” - 23 Year Old Mother, 30 weeks pregnant. Missouri:
“After 11 years of smoking, it’s now been 9.5 smoke-free weeks since working with Vincere.” Participant wants to be an adoption counselor because her husband struggled in foster care. - 34 Year Old Father, Mechanic. Smoked for 16 years:
“It was holding me back and I knew it. My energy is up, I feel mentally clearer, I’m more productive, and I’m looking forward to a family camping trip in July. I’m thrilled I finally quit, and I couldn’t have done it without the program and people at Vincere!” - 40 Year Old Cat Lover [self-described]. Smoked for 25 years:
“I’ve gained my life back! I probably wouldn’t have healed as fast as I did. My mom says she can hug me now and I don’t smell like smoke! I can spray myself with perfume and I’m not masking myself with it anymore. When I cashed out I was able to buy myself a few things I wanted and needed. The money went to some things I enjoyed that I wouldn’t have normally had. The coaches are amazing, their dedication and hard work to help you quit is phenomenal. My coach is and was AMAZING!!” - 34 Year Old Mother, Artist. Smoked and Vaped for 3 years:
”Different techniques work for different people. I tried everything, and this worked for me. When you quit smoking, vaping or any substance, those first few weeks are critical. When you are vulnerable, it’s key to have someone non-bias and relatable to vent to, cheer you on, and hold you accountable. Vincere did this for me. It was my decision to quit, but Vincere gave me the strength and courage to do it. Thank you! I’m officially a non-smoker/non-vaper now!” - 27 Year Old, Male, Smoked for 7 years:
“I’m really grateful for your help quitting smoking. I feel so relieved that I am not constantly thinking about having a cigarette and having to live with that anxiety. I can think more clearly and focus on things I want. I’m realizing it was hard to learn and think clearly when I was smoking and depressed. I want to keep learning. What a difference you’ve made!” - 58 Year Old Female, and we don’t like to pick favorites, but OUR FAVORITE. Smoked for 40 years: “I’ve been smoking for 40 years of my life. Knowing you guys were there for me, Trevor checking on me even at 11, made all the difference. You saved my life.”
This last individual was among the first Vincere Health had the pleasure of working with. The team and I would go to Cafe Nero in Central Square in Cambridge and have coffee with her on Sunday’s at noon. We chatted about how she liked the product, her family, and what she needed to be successful. I’ll never forget her.
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