Founder Letters
StartUp Health co-founders Steven Krein and Unity Stoakes regularly publish a series of open letters to share their vision for achieving health moonshots by uniting a global community of Health Transformers.
LETTER #1
The Impossible Dream
At StartUp Health we believe that with the right mindset, a moonshot vision, and the spirit of an entrepreneur, anything is possible. We also know that something magical happens when you bring together people who are passionate about impacting people’s lives for the better around common goals. That’s why since 2011, we’ve been organizing a global army of Health Transformers to solve the world’s biggest health challenges. Now more than ever we think that it’s important to share the stories of the entrepreneurs and innovators who are doing the extraordinary each day with passion, purpose, imagination, persistence, courage and humility. These are the people who are reimagining the future of health and impacting people’s lives. We hope you will join us in supporting Health Transformers everywhere. Together we will achieve the impossible. Together we will improve the health and wellbeing of everyone in the world.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes
LETTER #2
Marching Together as One Global Army for Good
To many, an “Army” conjures up a vision of soldiers preparing for battle. It’s a charged yet powerful concept, often associated with the heavy weight and pain of war.
At StartUp Health, we are investing in a different type of army. An army for good, akin to other forces like the Peace Corps, Red Cross and Salvation Army, all on missions dedicated to improving people’s lives around the world. Ours is an army of Health Transformers—superhero entrepreneurs—who have the mindset, commitment and passion to make the extraordinary possible.
What makes an army so powerful is the collective strength of people marching together towards common goals with purpose. The StartUp Health Army is on a mission to accomplish an audacious dream: to achieve 10 Health Moonshots that can each improve the health of at least a billion people. The success of our army is measured by our ability to better the wellbeing of everyone on the planet.
Yes, we realize the scale of this goal sounds impossible, even crazy. But we believe that networked together we can make exponential progress by collaborating as one force for good.
We hope you, too, will join the movement to transform health. StartUp Health is on a world tour visiting dozens of countries and cities meeting with fellow Health Transformers and innovators who want to be part of our army for good. You can learn more about it at startuphealth.com. Whether you are an entrepreneur who wants to be in StartUp Health, or someone who wants to support Health Transformers on their moonshot missions, we need your help. Together, we can and will reinvent the future of health.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes
LETTER #3
We Choose to Go to the Moon
On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced before a special joint session of Congress a seemingly impossible goal – to send an American safely to the moon and back before the end of the decade. The space race was on, and a bold new moonshot vision was born. Looking back through the lens of history it’s inspiring to trace the impact of Kennedy’s call to action – he sparked a global sense of urgency, commitment and collaboration, pushing the world toward progress. The result was one giant leap for humankind. Bold dreams have the power to unite and inspire, especially when they push the boundaries of what’s possible and move us forward with purpose. That’s why we created StartUp Health. In 2011 we mapped our own impossible dream – a 25-year plan to improve the health and wellbeing of everyone in the world by investing in a new generation of entrepreneurs focused on transforming health. For the last eight years we’ve organized a global army of Health Transformers committed to achieving 10 health moonshots, each of which can impact at least a billion people. And this year, at the 7th annual StartUp Health Festival, we announced an urgent health moonshot – The Addiction Moonshot – to focus on ending addiction and the opioid epidemic. Thank you President Kennedy for inspiring generations of progress and unleashing the pioneer’s spirit in us all – whether we are racing to the moon, to Mars, or toward the future of health. We, too, choose to go to the moon by uniting Health Transformers everywhere, and supporting their spirit of invention, ingenuity and creation toward achieving health moonshots. Join us.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes
LETTER #4
Opensourcing Our Health Moonshot Blueprint
It started with an impossible dream: a 25-year plan to transform global health by investing in and uniting a global army committed to achieving health moonshots. When we launched StartUp Health at the beginning of 2011, we didn’t know the details. Heck, we didn’t even have a website. All we had was a commitment to our vision, an idea for a novel collaborative innovation model, and a belief that if the world could put a person on the Moon and deliver them safely home again – all in only 10 years – then in today’s golden era of innovation and abundance, we should be thinking more boldly about how to solve the world’s most pressing health challenges. But in addition to our vision (that many laughed at), some innovative ideas (mostly way too early) and lots of inspiration (largely originating from outside of healthcare), we had something that to this day is one of our most important assets – a secret roadmap. Deeply inspired by NASA’s successful Apollo program, we deconstructed eight essential ingredients that it took to get to the Moon and back and created our own recipe for achieving a health moonshot. We call these The 8 Health Moonshot Principles. Today we are sharing these principles so that anyone who wants to help achieve health moonshots can benefit from them. They are universal, and we hope that entrepreneurs, investors, world leaders, executives, advocates and patients everywhere will embrace them, so that together we can achieve our impossible dream more quickly.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes
LETTER #5
A New Model for Achieving Health Moonshots: Collaboration
Over the past decade, the Krein and Stoakes families, the StartUp Health team, our partners, and a community of hundreds of Health Transformers have worked tirelessly, investing our financial resources and entrepreneurial spirit into what many believe is an impossible dream: improving the health and wellbeing of everyone on the planet. Beginning in 2011, we started sharing our long-term plan with the world via this simple equation: Health Transformers x The Network Effect = The Transformation of Global Health We set out to build a global platform to invest in and unite thousands of Health Transformers – the world’s entrepreneurs dedicated to health moonshots – so together we could impact billions of people’s lives. It’s been both challenging and rewarding. There have been roadblocks and surprises at nearly every turn and every hill we climb reveals another valley with a higher peak just behind. Healthcare conglomerates move too slowly and innovation often equates to ‘marketing’ rather than leapfrog transformation. And so called risk takers and financiers – VCs and traditional investors – are incentivized by short-term returns more than investing on the time table required to achieving health moonshots. Legacy players may want change – just not too much nor too fast. You know you’re at a breakthrough when you’re totally exhausted, yet somehow more energized than ever
In spite of the challenges, we are more energized than ever. First, because of the way global tech platforms have matured over the past decade. Companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Tencent have helped lay a critical foundation that empowers entrepreneurs to transform global health. Combine this with the democratization of access to technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and quantum computing, and we believe what’s next will far exceed the linear logic of most ‘industry experts.’ The second reason we are energized is because there is now broad agreement on global health goals. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #3 codifies evidence-based metrics for how global health needs to improve by 2030. These align perfectly with our 11 Health Moonshots like ending cancer, driving cost to zero and preventing disease. Thanks to organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, there is a financial will to see these global goals and health moonshots through to completion.
Finally, we’re energized because we see the accelerating real world impact being made by our global army of Health Transformers. After investing in more than 500 entrepreneurs and 300 companies, our plan is no longer just an equation based on an idea. It’s a scalable platform and community we are proud of, and from which we can keep improving health for all. With the right mindset, a moonshot vision and the spirit of an entrepreneur, anything is possible. But goals and financial will are just the foundation. To solve the greatest health challenges of our time, we have to invest in health’s problem solvers. Thousands of them. Tens of thousands of them. These entrepreneurs understand the pain points at the ground level because that’s where they, and their families and friends, live every day.
In the 1970s, the economist Muhammad Yunus began work on a concept that he believed could help break the cycle of poverty in his home country of Bangladesh. He created an unconventional bank that gave out small loans – lots of them, mostly to women – in order to augment the borrower’s earning power. The principles at play with micro-lending are, like so many great ideas, elegantly simple. Invest small amounts in everyday entrepreneurs at scale, add in contextual accountability, and the rising tide will lift all boats. By finding and investing in the entrepreneurs – even those at the earliest stages – we grow the world’s problem solvers. Invest in these people, and we invest in the future. These ideas improved financial mobility and ultimately changed the world. Vinod Khosla, founding CEO of Sun Microsystems and venture capital firm Khosla Ventures, called micro-lending “one of the most important economic phenomena since the advent of capitalism.”
In 2006, Yunus was given the Nobel Peace Prize. The inspiring possibilities and lessons learned from the micro-finance revolution give us tremendous confidence that there is a leap forward opportunity with a model we call Health Moonshot Investing. Today, we have an opportunity to build on the legacy of Mohammad Yunus, investing in health’s most innovative entrepreneurs – an index of Health Transformers at scale – while also creating the networks, partnerships and accountability necessary to improve complex health systems. Health Moonshot Investing: An improved equation for a new decade We realized early on that our initial plan would need to constantly evolve; it needed real world experience and feedback loops. So quarter after quarter and year after year – through brute force, ongoing experiments and non-stop recalibrations – we worked to continually improve our model and create a flywheel that accelerates growth. The result is a new model for transforming global health, and a new equation that includes critical variables for building momentum: Invest x Unite x Broadcast x Connect x Collaborate = The Transformation of Global Health What’s essential and novel about our Health Moonshot Investing model is it requires so much more than just investing capital. It requires several integrated steps of investing, and is driven by collaboration around health moonshots.
StartUp Health’s platform is comprised of five key steps: Investing seed and growth capital in vetted health entrepreneurs at scale; investing in uniting the entrepreneurs into a coordinated global army; investing in broadcasting their stories of progress; investing in connecting them to a network of support and finally growing a “collaboratory” of long-term partners who care as much as we all do about achieving health moonshots. Each step in the StartUp Health flywheel strengthens the others: financial commitments from our collaboratory members provide ongoing access to capital for investing in more great entrepreneurs, which means more talented Health Transformers uniting to solve global health moonshots, which leads to more stories of progress thus inspiring more customers and investors to commit resources to the movement and so on and so on. Through Health Moonshot Investing, StartUp Health is changing the equation. We are still early in our plan, but we are investing in a generation of Health Transformers committed to achieving health moonshots. And now, we’re inviting the world’s leading organizations, governments and wealthiest families who care as much about impact as financial return, to join the movement too. We’re asking these organizations to commit to Health Moonshot Investing, so that we can support more entrepreneurs in more countries tackling more of the world’s biggest health challenges. We’ve created a platform to invest in hundreds – ultimately thousands – of transformative health entrepreneurs in order to improve health for all. We believe in the economic power of entrepreneurship, not just in the world’s biggest cities, but in every community and village on the globe. Investing in Health Transformers at scale, connecting the dots between the financiers and a global army of Health Transformers, is how we’re going to achieve what previous generations deemed impossible.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes
LETTER #6
Impossible Is a State of Mind
If we would have said 18 months ago, before COVID, that two relatively young startups would be responsible for one of the world’s most significant and life-saving vaccines, and that vaccine would be made available within a year, we would have been laughed out of the room. Did we mention that the vaccine would also involve an unprecedented level of collaboration between business competitors? Ridiculous. Nelson Mandela famously put it this way: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” We take that quote – and the incredible vaccine achievements of the last year – personally because we’ve met our share of doubters. Over the past decade, when presenting our ambitious vision and strategic plan for achieving health moonshots, most people told us we were dreaming the impossible. They told us we couldn't help billions of people live healthier lives while also generating healthy financial returns. But extraordinary times call for a transformative approach. We are seeing significant signals across our global portfolio telling us that health innovation is moving faster than most ever imagined. For proof, look no further than the fact that health innovation funding is set to double in 2021. To support and accelerate that progress, on April 1, 2021, we officially launched our third fund, The StartUp Health Moonshots Impact Fund, as a unique, quarterly member-driven rolling fund. We are deeply grateful to the dozens of investors who have already subscribed and continue with us on our journey to achieve Health Moonshots. We have already made nine investments in Q2, and in the following pages you’ll meet some of these new “Health Transformers'' and learn about the impact they’re making. Thank you for your ongoing support. Together we can improve the health and wellbeing of everyone in the world. Join the mission.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes
LETTER #7
Stronger Together
We have always believed that when it comes to great startup founders, 1+1=3. When people are united with purpose, passion and mindset, a magical fusion occurs that makes exponential progress possible. Whether it’s Ed and Todd Park, the brothers who founded Devoted Health; or Iyah Romm, Dr. Toyin Ajayi, and Bay Gross, who lead Cityblock; or our investors like Esther Dyson and Lee Shapiro; or any of the 1,000+ entrepreneurs and investors in our growing global army of Health Transformers, we are stronger together. For a decade we have shared a simple equation, core to our philosophy from inception at StartUp Health, to describe our unique model: Health Transformers (Mobilized to Achieve Health Moonshots) x The Network Effect = The Transformation of Global Health. We see that when a whole community of Health Transformers march together to solve common challenges, success is more likely – and exponential progress begins to add up to something more impactful. To us, that something is improving the health and wellbeing of billions of people by solving the world’s most challenging health goals we call health moonshots. People can achieve extraordinary feats on their own, but it’s rare. To go it alone is slow, and to be honest, doesn’t look very fun. We know from our own experience as business partners for nearly 25 years, through multiple ventures, that the entrepreneur’s journey is long, with constant ups and downs, often in the same day. It’s our partnership, and the relationships and communities around us, that accelerate us forward and give us energy. There’s great strength in numbers, and when organized meaningfully, the compounding effect is transformational. That is why we will never stop working to unite and mobilize all entrepreneurs, investors and collaborators from around the world, who care as much as we do about achieving health moonshots. We hope you will join us too.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes
LETTER #8
Start Local, Go Global
One of the most exciting developments in health innovation is the growing wave of startups emerging from dozens of new health hubs around the world. We’ve worked to accelerate this trend over the past decade by making investments in Health Transformers spanning 27 countries and six continents; from Helsinki to São Paulo, we are thrilled that more Health Transformers are starting local, then going global. In the After-Covid world, we see an extraordinary opportunity to exponentially accelerate this global impact. When we launched StartUp Health in 2011, not only did we see the pressing need to transform health across the US, we realized there was no one responsible for the transformation of health at global scale. No government, company, or foundation was focused on organizing long-term global collaboration to solve the most universal human challenge of all: how to improve the health and wellbeing of all people, everywhere. We soon realized that the only way to do so was to help build a global ecosystem to focus on this challenge. Our health moonshot vision was born and ever since we’ve been organizing Health Transformers to solve big health challenges that impact billions of people. With 7.5 billion people in the world – most with limited or no access to quality care – creating solutions to address the health of humanity is a moral imperative. What’s so striking however, is how few investors yet realize how big of an opportunity it is to think exponentially and systemically about the health impact that can be made at global scale. Some of the world’s wealthiest families have pledged fortunes to solving important global challenges and there are governments, foundations, and NGOs tackling pieces of the puzzle for sure. But judging by the still nascent institutional funding for earlystage healthcare startups in global markets, too few investors seem to have assessed the tremendous opportunity to invest globally. We plan to help change this dramatically over the next decade. Healthcare is, of course, regional; and in terms of fundamentals like regulatory process, business models, and care delivery realities, locality certainly matters. But as we have seen in other industries facing complex challenges from banking to mobile, it’s possible to leverage technology, rethink business models, and deliver essential value in order to leapfrog legacy systems and solve big problems. Using this playbook – across the world – let’s do the same for healthcare and accelerate global impact.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes
LETTER #9
A Collaborative Strategy for Achieving Deep Impact
StartUp Health’s vision for achieving health moonshots – solving big audacious and seemingly impossible health challenges – has always been driven by our belief that transformational progress is most effectively driven through collaboration and leveraging the power of network effects to speed up impact. Our premise is that by uniting a global army of Health Transformers and marching together, we can accomplish even the most complex missions. For more than a decade, we have used this model to focus on a broad list of integrated health moonshots ranging from Access to Care to Curing Disease to Mental Health to Longevity. After more than 400 investments, and years of working with a vast network of stakeholders, we’ve learned a lot. It turns out, the hard part in this plan is not in defining big goals, or inspiring the world’s most extraordinary innovators to action, or even advancing technology or science. The biggest opportunity is in breaking down silos and driving a level of collaboration the world too rarely sees. For too long the forces and funds needed to address the greatest health challenges of our time have been separated, and often competing. Yet at the core, collaboration is essential to achieving any moonshot. Collaboration sounds good, but in practice it isn’t easy. We all know this from our day to day lives. Take any large group, and it’s not long before basic decisions and simple tasks start to take longer than necessary. Conflict often ensues. Transformational progress is stunted. The clear-eyed reality is that the vast industry of healthcare is driven by competition, and what’s disturbing is that the system’s core business models and incentive structures are often at odds with what we believe should be the ultimate goal of keeping people healthy and well. Today, the baseline in the world of healthcare can be summed up as fragmented, complex, confusing and competitive. Not exactly fertile ground for innovation to thrive. That’s why we are steadfast in our belief that what’s needed more than ever is to double down on the equation that has defined StartUp Health from the beginning: Health Transformers x The Network Effect = The Transformation of Health. Our biggest learning, however, is that to really break down silos that are slowing progress we must go deeper into our health moonshot framework by uniting disparate (and sometimes competing) stakeholders from patients and families to caregivers, clinicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, industry, investors, governments, foundations, and donors. To date we’ve done this broadly in an effort to cross-pollinate thinking and wisdom across health moonshots. Now we must go deeper to connect and align stakeholders within each moonshot.
A mission control to guide collaboration and drive deep impact If the first required element is to foster meaningful collaboration in order to achieve health moonshots then you need an organizing platform to set the targets, manage the process, and ultimately simplify and unite the fragmented pieces. Over the past decade we have built one global mission control (StartUp Health’s global platform and community) to chart this course and make tremendous impact. Now it’s time for us to expand by going deep which is why we are launching a family of dedicated health moonshots each united by a specific mission, driven by their own impact board, and fueled by aligned partners. We will supercharge our efforts by supporting even more entrepreneurs and innovators through these dedicated health moonshots, and work toward bridging the gap that still exists between R&D and commercialization so we can deliver innovation to the world in a direct and tangible way. Too many good ideas are still trapped on the shelf or locked up in a lab. And too many parties are still marching forward alone. We intend to change that.
Starting with a dedicated moonshot for Type 1 Diabetes to demonstrate this approach to dedicated health moonshots, we are starting by launching a focused 25 year mission to prevent, manage, and cure Type 1 diabetes (T1D). Soon we will follow with the launch of a dedicated Alzheimer’s Moonshot with many more to follow. With the launch of the T1D Moonshot, StartUp Health will leverage its same global platform, yet lean in with a dedicated fund to support a generation of solutions developed across academia, nonprofit, and commercial environments and be built on a level of collaboration that the world hasn’t seen before. We’ve started this mission by assembling a world-class T1D Moonshot Impact Board that unites patients, caregivers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, scientists, funders, and innovators from many groups who have already made tremendous impact and contributions to T1D. For the first time, these leaders will all be sitting on the same Impact Board, aligned by the same health moonshot mission. Together we will combine the energy of passionate entrepreneurs with the world’s top investors and institutions who care deeply and are aligned on the same global impact metrics. StartUp Health’s T1D Moonshot builds on a series of investments StartUp Health has already made in the diabetes space more broadly and we are proud to share that the Cecelia Health, founder David Weingard, who has been a Health Transformer in our community for many years will serve as Chief Impact Officer of the T1D Moonshot. This launch of dedicated health moonshots is also an invitation to all stakeholders and funders who can fuel more health moonshot missions with us. If you believe in a collaborative, global approach to solving big audacious health challenges like preventing, managing and curing T1D or eradicating Alzheimer’s, we want to meet you. Email us at moonshots@startuphealth.com. To partner with us on the Type 1 Diabetes Moonshot, email T1D@startuphealth.com.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes
LETTER #10
Diversity Is the Way
First-principles thinking – the idea of breaking down complicated problems into basic elements so you can build back better from the ground up – is core to our strategic process at StartUp Health. It’s one of the best ways to unlock creative possibilities that shift us from linear to exponential progress. A decade after launching our plan for achieving health moonshots and our mission to improve the health and wellbeing of everyone in the world, we continue to examine our plan and the core principles that drive our thesis to identify what’s working and what’s not so we can recalibrate for the future. A first-principle that has always been foundational to us is that collaboration is key to achieving any health moonshot. Breaking down silos and leveraging the power of network effects is essential to exponential innovation in the vast and complicated world of healthcare. But what’s the unifying principle that ties all health moonshots together and makes collaboration work? How do we create global solutions that deliver on the promise of access to quality care for all, no matter who you are, where you live, or how much money you have?
WE BELIEVE THE ANSWER IS DIVERSITY
Simply put, if we are going to make transformative progress in solving the great health challenges of our time, in the name of greater health for all, then the only answer that makes sense to us is to infuse new frameworks of health equity into the fabric of the health moonshots we are working to achieve. We need more diversity in thinking, a deeper understanding of the problems we are trying to solve, and networks that extend far beyond the closed loops and processes that currently dominate the market. This means we must dramatically accelerate the number of innovators focusing on solving health challenges with the lens of health equity in mind. And this means we must inspire, educate, and invest in exponentially more founders from historically marginalized backgrounds. To speed up progress, we need more founders who are women, more founders representing people of all races and backgrounds, and more diverse investors, boards, and advisors; and we need to unite as an ecosystem so that together we can build and scale transformative solutions for the world far beyond what anyone has created so far.
HEALTH EQUITY AS A FOUNDATIONAL LAYER FOR HEALTH MOONSHOTS
At StartUp Health, we have always backed founders from a diverse array of backgrounds and spanning 29 countries to date and we are proud that health equity has always been infused into our mission of transforming global health. We've done so because it's the right thing to do, and because it's good for business. According to research, teams with greater diversity have higher revenue, better margins and higher quality patient care. Yet, with global health outcomes getting worse, not better, it’s too clear that way more progress is needed. Which is why in September, we announced StartUp Health’s Health Equity Moonshot, at the Clinton Global Initiative specifically to reshape our health system and innovation ecosystem to be more fair and just in the name of greater health for all. What’s different about this health moonshot, which is being led by KP Yelpaala, a long-time Health Transformer in StartUp Health, is that we are designing its frameworks holistically into the fabric of all of our health moonshots from the ground up. We are looking backwards and forwards so that we can be intentional, long-term in our approach, and provide 360-degree support for underrepresented founders and patients around the world. This is a way of thinking for us that will last a lifetime and impact everything we do as a company.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes
P.S. Want to be a part of our Health Equity Moonshot? Email us at healthequity@startuphealth.com
LETTER #11
Our Next Chapter: Health Transformer University
After deep reflection on what we have learned over the past five decades as artists and instigators, entrepreneurs and technologists, and as patients and citizens of the world, we keep realizing that our life’s work is only just beginning. With StartUp Health we started a magnum opus that many skeptics say is an impossible mission: to grow a global army of Health Transformers to solve the world’s biggest health challenges. The skepticism has been enlightening, sometimes maddening, and ultimately a helpful driver to keep us moving forward. Nelson Mandela inspired us long ago with his great words and we are believers: "It always seems impossible until it's done." Our masterplan, now in its second decade of development, is to leverage the power of community and collaboration and to inspire and educate a world of like-minded people to work together to achieve health moonshots. We believe the cumulative result of this global force for good will become clear over time in the form of improved health and happiness for billions of people. We are aware this sounds dreamy and the reality is we are seemingly far away from driving transformational change anytime soon. So we are doing something about it. We are embarking on our next chapter to expand what we started 12 years ago with StartUp Health Academy. We are building Health Transformer University, with the sole purpose of helping grow generations of Health Transformers who collaborate to solve big health challenges. We are seeking passionate founders and funders who want to build and back health moonshot companies. To join our mission, contact us at moonshots@startuphealth.com.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes
LETTER #12
Unlocking an Era of Exponential Progress
Nearly 13 years ago, we set out to unite a global army of Health Transformers — superhero innovators, doctorpreneurs, scientists — and inspire collaboration to achieve health moonshots. Our belief is that together we can solve the world’s biggest health challenges.
It’s easy to be discouraged when we look at health outcomes data from the past few years (especially after the global pandemic). But the reality is, we’ve never been more optimistic about many structural advancements being made — and the potential for transformative impact in the years ahead.
Something extraordinary is happening. A new foundation is being laid for an Era of Exponential Progress, and for the first time we not only believe that our health moonshot dreams are possible — we are starting to understand how they will be achieved.
A new species of innovation is evolving in the form of advanced AI as it merges with allied technologies like genomics, biologics, material science, advanced sensors, and nanotech, to create super tools that are just starting to embed into the fabric of our lives at work and home.
But tools alone do not bring forth much progress. Significant leaps forward are usually driven by the power of human imagination and fueled by purpose-driven collaboration.
While we’re racing ahead with technological advancements, we must pause and ask: Are we dreaming big enough? Are we working together, bridging divides and disciplines, to truly realize our human potential?
In this issue of StartUp Health Magazine, we’ve posed this challenge to a dynamic blend of game-changing Health Transformers — patients, creative minds, seasoned professionals, investors, and thought leaders — within the StartUp Health community. Their perspectives are not just eye-opening but a clarion call for all of us to expand our horizons and break the confines of traditional thinking. These often unheard voices paint a vision for an emerging health renaissance.
However, it’s not enough to just envision. We need to act, and act collectively. If history has taught us anything, it’s that collaboration inspired by purpose can produce wonders. Whether it’s putting a man on the moon or eradicating a deadly disease, when humanity bands together with a shared dream, we make the impossible, possible.
Historically, humanity has been defined not just by its achievements but by its aspirations. The audacity to think bigger, to visualize what doesn’t exist, and to carve a path towards it has always set us apart. Right now, in this era of exponential progress, we urge everyone to ignite their imagination. It’s not merely enough to have tools; we must also dream about the myriad ways they can redefine our reality.
And as you dream, remember that the greatest of visions can only be brought to life when shared. This brings us to the power of health moonshot collaboration. Throughout our journey with StartUp Health, we’ve realized that when passionate minds unite under a single purpose, magic happens. It’s usually not the lone genius but the collective power of diverse minds that propel us forward.
So, what’s still needed to unlock exponential (health moonshot) progress?
Firstly, a more profound infusion of bold, creative thinking is needed. It’s the raw fuel that powers our ambitions. The limitations of the past shouldn’t define our future aspirations. Our imagination has been the foundation upon which humanity has built wonders. Now, more than ever, we need it to chart our next course for human health and wellbeing.
Secondly, the time is ripe for a renewed grand-scale, purpose-driven collaboration. In a world of increasing specialization, the melding of diverse minds brings about solutions that are greater than the sum of their parts. When a global community of Health Transformers rallies behind health moonshots — be it vanquishing Alzheimer’s, conquering diabetes, or extending a healthy lifespan universally — the combined might of shared purpose and innovative tools makes any challenge surmountable.
In essence, while we laud the astonishing progress of our era, we must remember that tools like AI, as potent as they are, need the guiding hand of human imagination and the binding force of collaboration.
This is our moment. An era where we’re not just witnesses but active participants in crafting our own evolution and health. We possess both the means and the methods. What we now need is an amplified will — to think bigger, to dream bolder, and to come together in an unprecedented way to advance human health.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes
LETTER #13
When Moonshots Are Personal
One of the most meaningful memories of my (Unity’s) life was Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's grandmother’s home about 25 years ago. As we dined at her table, surrounded by a roomful of her cherished belongings, she leaned in with a smile, “You have the most beautiful dining room. It makes me feel so good to be here.” This grand lady had lost the memory that this was her room, but she still remembered how the place made her feel. It was a sad yet beautiful moment I hope never to forget.
My own grandmother suffered from a similar affliction and I know too many friends and families going through this now. That’s why we are so grateful to partner with the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), Gates Ventures, and several additional founding champions and stakeholders to launch a global Alzheimer’s Moonshot.
With the announcement of the Alzheimer’s Moonshot, we are continuing to build on the model we pioneered over the past 13 years and honed over the past year when we launched The T1D Moonshot with the support of The Helmsley Charitable Trust. We now have more than 30 companies and research teams collaborating to speed up progress on T1D . . . and we are just getting started.
For Steve and I, the Alzheimer's Moonshot is personal. Too many people have been impacted by these devastating diseases. It's time to bring people together to make the world better for those we love and for generations to come.
We know that extraordinary leaps forward are possible when people with purpose and passion collaborate to take on big challenges. We are calling on entrepreneurs, innovators and research teams everywhere to apply to join our Health Moonshot Communities. And we are looking to meet the funding champions who will help us fuel these missions.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes
LETTER #14
The Power of Joining Mission-Aligned Networks
Since 2011 when we launched StartUp Health we’ve been guided by this unifying principle: Health Transformers multiplied by the Network Effect equals Achieving Health Moonshots. At first glance, it may seem the multiplying force of network effects is the key variable, but it’s not. The real power lies in the purpose behind the networks—our Health Transformers and their health moonshot missions.
Health Transformers are mission-driven innovators taking on bold challenges like eradicating Alzheimer’s or ending diabetes. What sets them apart isn’t just their expertise or groundbreaking technology—it’s their unwavering commitment to a mission fueled by purpose.
We unite these brilliant minds in Health Moonshot Communities, creating a constellation of innovation around a dedicated health challenge. Together, they navigate obstacles more easily, collaborate more effectively, and share wisdom to avoid costly mistakes.
Imagine a single beam of light shining into the night sky. It’s bright, but its reach is limited, cutting through only a small patch of darkness. Now, picture thousands of beams of light scattered across the sky, shining independently— each illuminating a small area but still disconnected from one another. Together, they are bright, but fragmented.
But what happens when those beams are aligned? When they are focused toward a single, shared purpose, something extraordinary happens. They merge, creating a powerful, unified force that can light up the entire sky.
This is the power of a purpose-driven network. It’s not just about bringing people together—it’s about aligning them around a bold, shared mission that transforms individual efforts into something far greater than the sum of its parts.
Today, thousands of healthcare innovators, doctorpreneurs, and scientists are working tirelessly to bring transformative health solutions to the world. These bright stars are full of potential, yet many are navigating the complex, often isolating universe of the health industry alone. Too many are working in silos, grappling with the enormous challenges of innovation without enough support.
Network effects aren’t just theoretical— they are a practical, essential ingredient for leapfrogging progress. We’ve seen this time and again over the past 14 years: when Health Transformers collaborate, share insights, or make the perfect introduction at just the right moment, the entire network benefits.
Yet the most powerful force driving this network forward is purpose. When a community of innovators is united by a shared mission, network effects are supercharged. Purpose transforms connection into collaboration, and collaboration into lasting, collective impact.
If you’re a founder working on your own health moonshot and want to join a community of like-minded Health Transformers, we’d love to meet you.
-Steven Krein & Unity Stoakes