Vator recently interviewed Mike McSherry, Founder and CEO of Xealth, a platform that enables clinicians to prescribe digital health tools to patients.
Through the Xealth platform, clinicians can find and order digital health tools and programs for patients direct from a health system’s electronic health records workflow, and send those orders to the patient’s smartphone or computer. Afterwards, those clinicians can monitor patient engagement and analyze the effects of those digital health tools on the patients’ health outcomes.
Prior to founding Xealth, McSherry was the CEO of Swype, a touchscreen keyboard which made communication easier, faster, and more exclusive. The app was sold to Nuance, where McSherry led the team that managed Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and other early mobile voice recognition platforms. He also co-founded several other electronic businesses. But then he made it his mission to connect the things that matter.
When asked why he founded Xealth, McSherry said, “I successfully co-founded several companies in Mobile. I wanted to try and do something more meaningful, with a larger purpose. Healthcare was interesting for those reasons. The CEO of Providence Health [the U.S.’s third largest hospital] convinced my team and I that incubating an idea with Providence would be a great launching pad for ideation and commercialization.”
“As CEO, you wear the ultimate responsibility of success and the ensuing challenges of inventing an idea, product, company, business model, etc.,” McSherry said. “I thrive on working with the same team for 20+ years in creating several globally successful businesses. The trust, camaraderie, and shared commitment to a goal is my greatest reward.”
But what about frustrations? “My greatest frustration is the market’s tolerance for change and acceptance of new technology/business models. Institutional bureaucracy on the purchasing side and the required ‘selling’ to convince the establishment should be unnecessary. A good product sells itself!”
When asked about the top three lessons he’s learned as an entrepreneur, McSherry said:
“1. I don’t have all the answers. 2. Have fun. 3. Find a core team, stick with them, succeed with them. Co-founder trust, respect, and loyalty have been my winning recipe!”
Read the full interview here.