Looking Back to Push Forward: My Year in Healthcare Innovation

As the year draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on a whirlwind of travel, meetings, and insights. From the bustling streets of Tokyo to the sun-soaked shores of Greece, I’ve observed stark contrasts and surprising similarities in healthcare systems across the globe.

Japan’s focus on aging populations and low birth rate, the UK’s struggles with access and governmental system, Italy’s focus on lifestyle and wellness, and the U.S.’s ongoing dance between innovation and bureaucracy with a movement in biohacking and misinformation—it’s clear that the challenges are deeply rooted, yet the priorities remain remarkably aligned.

Healthcare, despite its local nuances which are mostly centered around how its paid for, is united by a universal imperative: to improve outcomes, lower costs, and harness technology to create meaningful change.

My theory of change in healthcare is to catch disease early and reverse it.  Our thesis is all about preventative care and proactivity. Longevity is a byproduct as we move away from the sick care environment and break / fix the model of care that is currently delivered worldwide.

2024 was both a mirror and a magnifying glass. It reflected decades-old problems—cost burdens, workforce shortages, access disparities—while magnifying the urgency for transformation.

The fundraising environment in healthcare venture capital demanded resilience, creativity, and clarity of vision. My travels reinforced this truth: the solutions we seek are as complex as the systems we aim to transform, yet the global appetite for change has never been greater which makes it even more compelling for me.

I look at my journey both personally and professionally, and through the years, I have had incredible mentors, leaders, friends and family help me along the way all of which has been a true blessing. Throughout my life, there are times where the people and processes are somewhat consistent – 2024 was not one of those years. While I am incredibly thankful for the people who have been in my life for years, my journey included new additions that would impact me more than I could have imagined. People joining the mission to invest time, energy, money and passion. The additions to our team this year have been impactful leaders who want to make a change – friends with passion, criticism, love, and faith in the mission.  I am thankful to old friends and new who believe passionately about our goals and objectives.

As I look in the rear-view mirror, both personally and professionally, my world was challenged with headwinds and big waves off the bow, while at the same time, incredible blessings lessened the waves, current, and wind. With all these challenges, even still, 2024 created more conviction in the belief of impact and success. The people and conviction of those are empowering us, empowering the direction.

We ask a lot of our founders, our leaders, our team, our friends and most of all our families.  The impact we will have, will impact many.  The profits, well, we will all try to do good, and impact others throughout. 

For all of 2024 and the people that impacted it, I am thankful.

I’ll finish this newsletter with a few insights I’ve learned along the way this year, between traveling, meeting new people, trying new innovations, and learning and living as much as I can.

12 Things I Learned in Healthcare VC This Year

1. Most Promising Trend

In 2024, one of the most promising healthcare investment trends I observed globally was the rise of precision prevention—technologies that not only diagnose diseases earlier but also predict their occurrence through AI-driven insights and biomarkers. Proactive care is no longer aspirational; it’s actionable.

2. Biggest Lesson Learned

A key lesson I learned about investing in disruptive healthcare technologies this year is that implementation matters as much as innovation. You cannot change healthcare without the providers. Brilliant tools are meaningless without adoption at scale. Real impact requires systems thinking and seamless integration into clinical workflows.

3. Top Tech for Impact

The healthcare technology I believe will have the most profound global impact in the next five years is AI-enhanced diagnostics combined with decentralized care models. By meeting patients where they are—physically, digitally, and economically—we can close access gaps and democratize quality healthcare.

4. Toughest Challenge

The most challenging part of navigating healthcare venture capital in 2024 was balancing long-term vision with short-term pressure. The need for capital often conflicts with the patience required for systemic healthcare transformation.

5. Best Investment Strategy

In 2024, my go-to strategy for identifying successful investment opportunities was focusing on companies that address root causes rather than symptoms. Whether it’s diagnostics, process of care, treatment, precision medicine, I look for innovators reimagining systems, not just patching problems.

6. Most Impactful SDG Role

The role of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) in healthcare has been significant, in that it keeps Goal 3: Health and Well-being top of mind, has a guiding framework, particularly for investments in early detection, equitable access, and preventive interventions.

7. Most Insightful Country

Japan stood out as the most insightful country I visited, mostly due to its approach to healthy aging. However, even Japan communicated the need to save their elderly with their rapidly declining population. It’s crucial that Japan’s younger generations address its population challenges.

8. Biggest Global Similarity & Difference

Traveling globally, I realized the biggest similarity between U.S. healthcare and global systems is reactive care. Regardless of the wrapper, the models are similar – we wait until you are sick to treat you. The biggest difference is the payer models, although ultimately in the US, we have 50 payer models. Globally, healthcare payment models differ greatly up to a point, but in the end, risk is passed to reinsurers, regardless of whether the initial payer is the government, employers, or others. It’s all the same.

9. Best Travel Recharge Spot

My favorite place to unwind during business travel this year was the Coast in Italy. There’s nothing like the simple joys of good food, sea air, and the reset that comes from stepping out of the constant hustle.

10. Most Valuable Cultural Insight

A cultural insight I gained while traveling that influences my approach to investing is the Japanese concept of Kaizen—continuous improvement. Small, incremental changes compound into monumental transformations over time—a mindset as applicable to investments as it is to healthcare.

11. Favorite Book or Podcast

This year, “The Innovator’s Dilemma” by Clayton Christensen reshaped my thinking. His principles around disruption ring true for healthcare today, where incumbent systems often resist the very change that can save them.

12. Top Biohack for Health

My top biohack this year was to embrace diagnostics to make sure I am not going to die of anything stupid (ie. heart disease, cancer, metabolic disease) and be aggressive about optimization and fitness. I’m proud to say I’ve added 18 lbs. of lean muscle in roughly 18 months!

That's a wrap!

Wishing you a joyful holiday season filled with peace, health, and happiness. Here's to even greater possibilities in the year ahead!

Todd