Sami Inkinen: The Shades of Entrepreneurship

Sami Inkinen's background @ 0:39

Sami Inkinen is an immigrant to the US from Finland, with a background in physics and technology. He co-founded the real estate company Trulia, which later merged with Zillow. After Trulia, Inkinen became interested in reversing type 2 diabetes and founded Virta Health, a company that uses nutrition and technology to help people with type 2 diabetes.

Virta Health's approach to reversing type 2 diabetes @ 14:18

Virta Health's approach combines individualized nutrition plans with remote monitoring and support from a care team. They have conducted a 5-year clinical trial demonstrating that their program can reverse type 2 diabetes in 60% of participants at 1 year, while also leading to significant weight loss and improvements in other health markers like blood pressure and kidney function.

Virta Health's business model and go-to-market strategy @ 28:04

Virta Health sells its program primarily to healthcare payers like self-insured employers and insurance companies, offering a value proposition of improving patient health while reducing overall healthcare costs. They provide the program to patients for free, with the payers covering the cost. Virta Health's focus is on scaling their type 2 diabetes reversal and weight loss offerings.

Virta Health's future plans @ 35:03

Virta Health's mission is to reverse type 2 diabetes in 100 million people. They are also exploring expanding beyond type 2 diabetes into other metabolic health conditions. Inkinen believes Virta Health's evidence-based, nutrition-focused approach is a "best kept secret" in healthcare that deserves more attention and adoption.

Meeting recap @ 42:49

The host, Gabriel Flores, encourages listeners to check out Virta Health's website and content to learn more about their approach. He also offers to provide more information through The Shades of Entrepreneurship newsletter and social media channels.