On today’s episode, Laurie talks purpose-driven businesses with Andy Slavitt. Andy’s been a White House advisor, crisis response leader, health and technology business leader and investor with Town Hall Ventures. He was also the host of Lemonada’s hit podcast In the Bubble. He’s been called the ultimate outsider’s insider. Today, he gives Laurie the insider’s scoop on how to succeed when your company is fueled by a passion to make change for the better. What do passionate leaders have to know to build a successful, scalable, and sustainable business?
Key Takeaways
- Equity and Access are Extremely Important in the Innovation and Development of the U.S. Healthcare System: It’s not a secret that the U.S. healthcare is riddled with issues of inequity and a lack of proper access. But these faults are definitely fixable. Supporting healthcare reforms that target access will allow new innovation within the healthcare sector that aids all individuals regardless of identity.
- Not Every Great Idea or Solution is a Company: There are many places to fund great ideas and building a company is not always the answer. Explore grants or alternate sources of funding; question if a great solution idea is better done through a government source. But once you do know, commit to building something important that can scale to the magnitude of your vision.
- Understanding the Problem Is Key to Building the Right Solution. Technology is Secondary: Using the newest technology can be exciting, but technology first is never the answer to addressing a large and complex issue. Consider the nature of the issue you are hoping to address. Make sure you understand it thoroughly if you are going to build a sound business. Some of the most important solutions and businesses are addressing fundamentally unsexy problems.
- Surrounding Yourself with a Team of People you Trust and those that will Enable your Success: Leaning on others as a CEO may seem counterintuitive, but through taking others advice to make decisions you will grow your integrity as a CEO. Making sure your team is trustworthy is imperative to fostering an environment destined for success. Having a framework of trust with those around you will also allow you to pursue your passion through your work. Passion for a project can help you overcome obstacles that will inevitably arise, but it cannot save you from all of the challenges you will face as an entrepreneur. And do not confuse trust with just encouragement. You want to have encouragement, but you also want people who will be pushing you to look at things differently and expand your point of view.
- Supporting Women in Business Requires Change From Many Levels: As a woman in business, you want to do everything you can to put your best foot forward and help other women in business as much as possible, but change is difficult to spur as an individual, and is not a burden that you alone should bear. Getting out of your head and manufacturing confidence will help attract investors, but many changes have to come from the top down. Funders should make an effort to designate funds to female entrepreneurs, and mentor women hoping to become CEOs.
Supporting Resources
- Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response, Andy Slavitt, 2021
- In The Bubble, Podcast from Lemonada Media, Andy Slavitt
- The State of Health Disparities in the United States, Baciu A, Negussie Y, Geller A, et al., 2017
- Building Confidence as a Leader in Business, Elsye Stoltz Dickerson, 2020
- The Road to Health Equity According to the CDC, 2024
- How to Approach Problems in Business, Dr. Amy David, 2024
- Employers Can Do More to Advance Health Equity, Shantanu Nundy, Lisa A. Cooper, and Ellen Kelsay, 2023
- How I Support Women at My Company, Jeanna Barrett, 2023
