Well alright, I’m feeling a bit healthier tonight, so time to dish on my new gig.
I had a running joke with new acquaintances that asked me about my plans for my consultancy, that really, it was just a poor man’s EIR (entreprenuer in residence). Consulting gave me the opportunity to investigate new technologies & business models, and meet some great new folks… all with the intent of finding something that reasonated deeply with me at a personal level, much in the way that working in educational software did back in ’95 (10 year itch?); if you’ve never taken an educational title out to 6th graders at a pilot site, I totally recommend it. 😉
At the same time, I wanted something that was at the intersection of all the consulting I’ve done, namely: search, advertising and social media/software. And, while I talked with several of the big dogs, I knew in my heart that I really wanted to help build a company in addition to building a product/service. Call me crazy, but why not double the pain? 🙂
So, long story short, just as I was heading off for Maui, a good friend (thanks John!!) referred me to a recruiter looking for someone to head up Product for a start-up focused on “health search”; that is, helping consumers easily find, understand and manage health information online.
Being a start-up, it fulfills my desire to help build a company; getting a solid round from VantagePoint makes it a bit less painful. Being search, advertising funded (there’s currently ~$600MM in online health advertising, expected to grow 2-3x near term), with some interesting social software possibilities fulfills the desire to play in those spaces. And, helping people get piece of mind when they or someone they love has a medical condition… well, that just feels good inside.
Anyway, the company is HealthLine.com. And yes, what’s currently online is a shadow of what we plan to release later this year and over time.
Obviously, my blogging will be impacted by all of this… there are time and competitive issues to consider. But I hope to continue to offer my $0.02 on what’s going on online, as well as a healthy dash (sorry, couldn’t resist) of what we’re up to. I hope you’ll stick around to share the ride.
Very cool stuff Tony! Congratulations.
Congrats, Tony.
My congratulations as well, Tony.
Online healthcare, in all its forms, is the “California” of the US, just as the Louisiana Purchase was sealed.
By that I mean it’s the one of the last frontiers, that already should have yielded a few world-class online health businesses, as other industry sectors have done so far.
It’s exciting to see entrepreneurs looking at this area again, in the web 2.0 phase.
The recent investment of half a billion dollars in “revolution” by Steve Case is but one example.
Best of luck in this venture.
And yes, I do think open blogs could be pretty powerful in the healthcare area, as I’m sure you’ve already concluded.
🙂