I frequently find myself at a loss for words when asked to describe what it was like to be a founder. The lows were gut-wrenching and felt, despite best efforts, personal, and the highs were whiffs of hope magically wiping away the memory of the stings. Now, as an investor, my firm sometimes refers to these early days of company-building as the “fog of war”, a scary time and place I remember vividly.
Looking back, the thing that got me through the fog was quite simply my tribe — the people who helped craft a sound battle plan and who I knew would have my back.
When I first intersected with Scale Health, I saw that the team was singularly focused on this: helping founders assemble their tribes to push progress forward. In the early stages of a company, it’s not just about the money (funding or revenue), although those things can be very important. I’d argue the most important thing is caring — having a burning passion to solve a big problem and surrounding yourself with people who deeply care. Someone who cares will go the extra mile to offer assistance, even when they’re “off the clock”. It’s what drives me when working with the companies I invest in — I care a LOT. And I have seen this is what motivates and guides the leadership and team at Scale Health.
Although programming can’t be in person, they quickly moved online, and I was happy they reached out so I could help answer founder questions in a roundtable around the uncertainty of the times. And I made my first investment in a Scale Health company earlier this year and hope to have many more.
It’s a special thing when you find people who care. I hope all of us are so lucky as to find them and also be those people for others as well.
