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Conversation
Highlights
Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Nick Soman, CEO & Founder of Decent, a healthcare technology company that has raised $43 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Risk and Motivation: Nick secured the domain “Decent” by spending $60,000 from his home equity line, pushing himself to succeed with the venture by leveraging personal risk.
- Broken Healthcare System: Healthcare is fundamentally flawed because incentives are built around raising costs rather than reducing them, with insurance companies benefiting from inefficiencies in the system.
- Level Funded Health Plans: Decent offers an innovative solution by combining level-funded health plans and direct primary care, allowing even small businesses to self-insure and save up to 40% compared to traditional market rates.
- Direct Primary Care Movement: Decent is riding the wave of the growing direct primary care movement, which allows doctors to focus on personalized care for fewer patients while reducing overall healthcare costs.
- GTM Strategy Evolution: Initially, Decent struggled with messaging. They shifted from promoting direct primary care upfront to leading with cost savings, which significantly improved their sales success.
- Scaling Through Brokers: Instead of bypassing brokers, Decent embraced them, building tech tools to empower them, which proved crucial for scaling and reaching more small businesses.
Actionable
Takeaways
Leverage Personal Risk to Drive Commitment:
Nick’s decision to spend $60,000 on the Decent domain from his home equity line wasn't just a financial move—it was a motivator. Founders can use personal stakes as powerful incentives to push forward with their ventures, ensuring that success isn’t just a preference but a necessity.
Lead with What Customers Care About Most:
Decent’s initial GTM strategy failed because they focused on promoting direct primary care before addressing their audience’s primary concern: cost. They found success by flipping the messaging—leading with cost savings before explaining the innovative care model. For founders, this highlights the importance of understanding and speaking to your customers’ most immediate needs before introducing new concepts.
Harness Market Movements for GTM Traction:
Decent positioned itself as a support system for the growing direct primary care movement, rather than trying to build the movement itself. Founders should look for existing trends or movements in their market that they can align with to gain traction, rather than creating demand from scratch.
The Power of Strategic Partnerships in Scale:
Instead of bypassing intermediaries, Decent embraced the broker channel, turning it into a strategic asset by building tools that make brokers more effective. For B2B founders, building partnerships with key industry players—rather than trying to disrupt them—can be an effective scaling strategy.
Get Hands-On with Sales to Refine Strategy:
Nick refined Decent’s GTM approach only after stepping into a sales role himself and directly facing customer objections. Founders should consider leading sales efforts at critical stages, as firsthand customer interaction provides invaluable insights that can rapidly improve product positioning and strategy.
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