Day Zero

14: Partnering Patients, Providers, and Technology with Tom Stanis, Founder, Story Health

Episode Summary

This episode is hosted by Day Zero advisory council member Lynne Chou O’Keefe. Lynne speaks with Tom Stanis, the founder and CEO of Story Health, where he leads a team enabling care beyond the specialist clinic. Lynne and Tom explore Tom’s unique entrance into healthcare, founding two different companies, the importance of partnerships, and more.

Episode Notes

Meet Tom Stanis:

Tom Stanis is the founder and CEO of Story Health, a platform that uses virtual care and AI to improve treatment for high-acuity patients. Tom was also the co-founder and Head of Software at Verily Life Sciences. Prior to his entrepreneurial endeavors, he was a Principal Engineer at Google Life Sciences. Tom received a BS in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Key Insights:

Tom Stanis entered the healthcare sector with an understanding of data, and an eye for the logistic and technology problems healthcare needs solving.

Behind the Why. While at Google, Tom was hit by car. A CT scan revealed he had no broken bones, but did have stage 1 kidney cancer. That experience inspired Tom to change careers, and work to improve healthcare. (2:04)
Partnership vs. From Scratch. Partnering a start-up with a big company provides capital, brand recognition, and access to technology and resources. Alternatively, founding a company from scratch allows for flexibility, nimbleness, and less bureaucracy. (12:29)
Building the Right Team. The most important part of starting a business is finding the right team. Small start-up teams spend a lot of time together, there needs to be the right personality fit. Tom went through multiple groups of people before he found the right match. (18:13)

This episode is hosted by Lynne Chou O’Keefe. She is a member of the Advisory Council for Day Zero and is the founder and Managing Partner of Define Ventures.

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