Nick Soman.
CEO & Founder · Decent
Nick Soman is the Founder and CEO of Decent, a healthcare technology company that aims to make affordable health insurance accessible to small businesses and self-employed individuals. With a background in tech and health benefits, Soman was inspired to create Decent after his personal experience with Guillain-Barré Syndrome and seeing the challenges faced by his parents, both primary care doctors. Before starting Decent, Soman led growth at Gusto and sold his previous company to Napster​.
Guest
Nick Soman
CEO & Founder
Company:
Decent
Location:
Mill Valley, California, United States
Funding:
$43M Raised
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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:

Five takeaways from this conversation.

Actionable for Healthcare Tech founders

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.