November 24, 2025 • 30 mins
From testing hundreds of cancer drugs in 10 days to unlocking healthcare stories through audio—conversations with two innovators solving how we personalize treatment and tell those stories live from HLTH 2025.
Jim Foote is the founder of First Ascent Biomedical. He built the company after losing his 17-year-old son to cancer. First Ascent takes a biopsy, enriches cancer cells rapidly, and then tests hundreds of FDA-approved drugs to determine which work against your specific biology.
The results were published in Nature Medicine. The stakes are high: one in three cancer patients will die in 2025. Cancer is the number one killer of men under 50, number two for women, and number one for children by disease type. Foote believes we have the tools and technology, but doctors need better decision-making infrastructure to use them effectively.
Dan Kendall is the founder of Mission Based Media. He has been in health innovation since before digital health was called digital health. He has been listening to podcasts since 2005. In 2016, he could not find a healthcare podcast that worked, so he built one.
He now runs Health Podcast Network and Health Unmuted, which he describes as "WebMD for your ears." His insight is that audio unlocks content from its glass jail cell. People consume podcasts in cars, kitchens, and on dog walks. These are places where meaningful connection happens without competing for attention with thousands of other things.
Highlights from Jim Foote at First Ascent Biomedical:
- Combined with genomics, doctors receive a ranked drug list in 10 days with 85% correlation between lab results and body response. Nature Medicine showed 83% patient benefit rate versus standard care.
- Pictures of cancer patients line the lab walls because "every biopsy is somebody's loved one."
- His vision is to scale locally so biopsies are taken, analyzed, and treated in the same community. This closes the financial toxicity gap affecting 95% of pediatric cancer families.
Highlights from Dan Kendall at Mission Based Media:
- Built the first digital health podcast in 2016 when none existed. He has been a podcast listener since 2005 with his first 80-gigabyte iPod.
- His philosophy is that audio unleashes mechanical waves that physically stimulate thought, creating connection when people are ready rather than competing for attention.
- His mission is to amplify voices through audio-forward storytelling that meets audiences where they are rather than demanding they come to you.
Healthcare innovation personalizes treatment and meets people exactly where they are.
A "glow up" signifies a positive transformation, reflecting the journey of becoming a better, more successful version of oneself.
At The Tech Glow Up, we humanize the startup and innovation landscape by focusing on the essential aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. Groundbreaking ideas are often ahead of their time, making resilience and perseverance vital for founders and product leaders.
In our podcast, we engage with innovators to discuss their transformative ideas, the challenges they face, and how they create value for future success.
If you're a founder or product leader seeking your own glow up, or a seasoned entrepreneur with stories to share, we invite you to join our guest list via this link.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nathan C (00:00):
Hey, it's Nathan.
Welcome to another specialdouble episode from the HLTH
Conference.
Each one of these episodes islaunching Monday and Thursday,
and we'll feature conversationswith two different CEOs so
welcome, listen in
Jim Foote (00:21):
and so what we were able to publish in Nature
Medicine, is that the results wegenerate in the Petri dish have
about a 85% correlation with howyour body will respond to the
drugs that we've selected thatthe doctor will treat you with.
Nathan C (00:37):
We go 1, 2, 3, and then we clap in.
Okay?
Yep.
so we're gonna call that theclap in.
We did it.
Yep.
Hello and welcome to The GlowUp.
I'm Nathan C, and today I'mtalking with Jim Foote.
Jim, thank you so much forjoining me.
Thank you for having me.
Can you please introduceyourself and the work that you
do?
Jim Foote (00:57):
Yeah, so the name of the company's First Ascent
Biomedical.
We're a first, functionalprecision medicine company.
Focusing in cancer.
Nathan C (01:04):
Ooh.
Can you explain a little bitmore of what a focused precision
medicine company Means in mylanguage?
Jim Foote (01:11):
Yes.
Functional precision medicinemeans designing a personalized
cancer treatment plan for you.
Based on your biology, how yourcancer cells respond to
different drugs, combining itwith genomics and developing a
plan as personalized as yourfingerprint.
Nathan C (01:29):
Interesting.
And, what amount of samplingand, How do we do it?
How do you do it?
Yeah.
Is it a blood test?
Jim Foote (01:36):
yeah, so what we do is we work on both solid and
liquid tumors, so leukemias,lymphomas, but also solid
cancers, so bone cancer, braincancer, all cancer types.
We start with a biopsy, so we,so we start with a biopsy.
Yep.
we've invented a technology thatallows us to rapidly enrich
those cells to the point that wecan test hundreds of FDA
(01:58):
approved drugs against thatbiopsy.
We figure out what drugs areeffective against your cells and
which ones aren't.
We bring all that data togetherwith genomics.
We send it to your doctor, andit gives a ranked list of drugs
that are all FDA approved yourdoctor chooses which ones to
treat you with based on what weknow works for you.
Nathan C (02:20):
Oh, interesting.
So it's not just what works onthe cancer, like on the tumor
that you've sampled.
But it's also looking at otherfactors.
Biology within the biology.
Jim Foote (02:30):
and so what we were able to publish in Nature
Medicine, is that the results wegenerate in the Petri dish have
about a 85% correlation with howyour body will respond to the
drugs that we've selected thatthe doctor will treat you with.
Nathan C (02:46):
What's the timeframe?
10 days.
Jim Foote (02:48):
10 days.
And what we were able to publishin Nature Medicine was that when
doctors use our platform toguide treatment, patients
benefit 83% of the time betterthan doctor's choice or standard
of care.
The thing about it is, until youhear the word cancer.
You think that they've got itall figured out and they've done
a great job.
So I'm not, dismissing that.
(03:09):
But in 20 25, 1 in three cancerpatients will die.
It'll be the number one killerof men under 50.
And the number two killer ofwomen.
It's the number one killer ofchildren by disease type.
And so you look at it and you gowith all the tools and all the
technology and all the drugs andall of that.
(03:29):
we accept one in three cancerpatients still die and 50% of
cancer patients worldwide die.
And so that's really, I know,and that's where it's like,
we've gotta do better.
We've got the tools, we've gotthe technology we can enable if
physicians to make betterdecisions.
Nathan C (03:49):
There's, this is like the numerology of startups.
especially in Silicon Valleystartups.
There's a lot of conversationabout the 80/20 rule.
And it's about.
Focus your work on the 20% thatmakes an 80% difference to what
you're trying to do.
it sure sounds like You'restarting to get to that sort of
80 20 level.
Jim Foote (04:12):
Yeah.
I mean it's really interestingbecause when we publish in
Nature Medicine, there was a lotof, wow.
We had, one of our children wason Good Morning America.
He's a 8-year-old boy, hadleukemia.
not only did we get his leukemiainto remission, but we actually
found a drug that would havedestroyed his heart for the rest
of his life.
(04:32):
And it would've been a hundredpercent ineffective.
He's here today, healthy, happy,8-year-old little kid.
We have another one.
This is a letter that I got froma doctor just a month or two
ago.
Child's at home on hospice.
Parents are expecting the worst.
They come into our trial.
We return results.
Kid goes from hospice to back toschool to playing Football.
(04:54):
So the skepticism is when wepublish in Nature Medicine, the
83%, those numbers are great.
Patient count was really low.
I agree with that by the way.
Now we're about 130 patients in,what do you think's happening to
that percentage?
Nathan C (05:09):
My hope for you is that it's increasing.
Jim Foote (05:14):
I wouldn't have posed that question if I didn't know
the answer to it, but yes, so itis, I can't say the number, but
we're starting to assemble thedata and it's going up
significantly.
Nathan C (05:26):
Jim, this is one of those topics that could eat up
our whole.
time together.
But your specific examplebrought up this very
interesting, answer to aquestion that's often really
hard to answer in medicine,which is, what is the value of
saved work, right?
(05:47):
It's hard to put a number onthat because there's so what
ifs.
But in your specific example,there was a potential harm, That
was avoided because of thisinsight.
And which could have been seen.
By many, with the existinginformation as a viable option.
If you go back to the basis ofmedicine and that Do no harm.
(06:09):
Do no harm, being able tounderstand that, like yes, while
we want every cancer patient tohave a treatment and to succeed
and to have that hope, right?
Jim Foote (06:20):
it's, that's the thing is there is an economic
side to what we do.
When you look at how muchinsurance companies spend on
cancer care, I don't know if youknow this one third of the
dollars they spend on cancercare goes to the two thirds of
the patients who survive.
Two thirds of the dollar goes tothe one third of the patients
that don't survive.
(06:41):
So the insurance companies arelike, I can't spend any more
money.
And, but when you start lookingat the economic benefits of that
child will live 60, 70, 80 yearswithout heart disease.
Because we eliminated a drug.
Let me give you anotherstatistic.
Specifically.
In kids, 95% of all patientsthat go through cancer care with
(07:05):
a kid, a child, report severefinancial impact.
10 to 15% of them move intopoverty.
And that's the, when you startlooking at the cancer death
rates, we often say there's afinancial gap that keeps people
from getting access to care.
(07:25):
Yes.
In that, most families, whenyou're undergoing, when you're
have a loved one going throughcancer, if I live in Paducah,
Kentucky, I may not have themoney to go to Cleveland Clinic
or Houston or Dallas or one ofthe cancer cubs.
So I get treated locally at mylocal hospital, and they do the
best that they can.
And this is where our technologycomes into play.
(07:47):
the biopsy can be taken locally,the results can be returned
locally, and the patient betreated locally with a class of
technology that enables thattrue personalization.
So it closes that financialtoxicity burden because I don't
have to travel anymore.
I can have it done locally.
Does that make sense?
Nathan C (08:07):
Oh, I love it.
we don't have enough time for meto make all the comments and
follow ups that I want.
But I love that model and that,again, it's positioning.
choice and information in thatoption of do we risk bankrupting
our family to go to this hub, Oris there an option that will
work for us here?
That's right.
(08:27):
those are the kinds of choicesthat parents are having to make
all the time, every day.
Jim, this is fantastic and I'mso excited to be learning about.
this kind of personalized care.
we just have a few more minutesleft.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I wanna get into some of theshow focus questions.
It's the tech glow up, thehealth Tech glow up because
we're here at Health and I'vebeen asking folks about the glow
(08:48):
up.
They want to see.
In the healthcare industryoverall.
And I've actually been a littleshocked by some of the answers,
so I'm curious,
Jim Foote (08:56):
it's, the system was built off of a hundred year old
practice of, they find it inyour breast, they call it breast
cancer.
But what if you have a markerthe same?
I'll use he two positive as anexample.
83,000 women have HER 2positive.
We got a drug boom.
But what if you have that 500patients that have HER 2
positive bladder cancer, theycan't give that drug to that
(09:19):
patient even though it's got thesame biomarker.
Because it hasn't been approved.
And so that's where insurancecompanies, again, with, if I
have evidence that drug willwork against that patient's, he
two positive bladder cancer.
I believe the insurancecompanies, it's a no brainer,
right?
It again, it's a technology thatallows'em to have the evidence
(09:41):
that supports this is gonnawork.
It makes approval almostinstantaneous.
Nathan C (09:48):
If you could make approvals instantaneous.
I know there's a lot of patientsand providers that are gonna
love you.
What's the glow up that you'relooking, to make in your own
work?
Jim Foote (09:59):
Yeah.
I got started on this pathway.
My son was one of those one andthree.
And I realized I had tools andtechnology available at my
fingertips that doctors,hospitals, nurses,
practitioners, insurancecompanies, didn't have to make
as important decisions aroundcancer.
And I knew it was a solvableproblem, and that's really why
(10:20):
we brought this companytogether.
This is why we've beenvalidating for 10 years.
We're there.
This is all about scale and Imake the correlation between
oncology and NASA and look whatSpaceX did.
Faster, cheaper, and safer.
Why?
Because they weren't rocketscientists.
They were that externaldisruptor.
And that's really the name ofour company's first descent,
(10:42):
because we will be the first todisrupt a lot of these things
that need disruption in a safe,clinically validated way,
Nathan C (10:52):
I love it so much.
the next question is about thetheme of the show.
Yeah, the theme for Health thisyear is Heroes and Legends, and
so I've been using it as anopportunity to ask people about
the mentors, coaches, and heroesthat have informed your
entrepreneurial journey.
Jim Foote (11:09):
One of my heroes, I'm gonna tear up my 17-year-old
son.
I learned lessons from him.
That I was, I'm ashamed to say,took me 40 years to learn, but I
say cancer picked the fight withthe wrong guy.
And this is gonna be mysignature because of my son and
(11:31):
because of other cancer patientswho have fought so courageously
and have won the battle or lostthe battle, I fight for them.
And those are my heroes.
They're the ones on the frontlines every day.
My job's easy, right?
their job is really hard and Inever wanna be a company that
looks at a biopsy as just a globof cells.
(11:51):
It's somebody's mom, it'ssomebody's sister, it's
somebody's brother, it'ssomebody's loved one.
And so in our lab, we havepictures of cancer patients on
our walls because every day Iwant people looking up at Levi.
And Thomas and Patrick, they allhave names.
Nathan C (12:11):
They do.
And this is maybe reading alittle deeper than you were
intending, but like even thehistory of genomics Is fraught
with some of that, valuing thepeople behind it.
And I love that your mission isbringing that value back.
Repairing some of the early,missteps of genomics.
(12:33):
So amazing
Jim Foote (12:33):
here.
Yeah.
Here's how it all comestogether.
You've been to an orchestra,right?
Genomics becomes the sheet ofmusic.
The notes on the sheet.
Functional precision medicine isthe orchestra, everything coming
together in perfect tone.
AI is the conductor that ischanging it in real time.
Nathan C (12:53):
Oh my gosh.
Jim, we are out of time.
That is the fantastic place toleave it.
Thank you so much for joining meon the HLTH Tech Glow Up.
We got one more thing to do.
We're gonna clap it out.
Okay.
Ready?
1, 2, 3.
Amazing.
Thank you so much.
No, it's awesome, dude.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So appreciate that.
You know what?
Anytime.
(13:13):
So 1, 2, 3.
Hello and welcome to the HLTHTech Glow Up.
I'm Nathan C and today I'mtalking with Dan Kendall.
Dan, it's so great to have youon the HLTH Tech Glow Up.
and thanks
Dan Kendal (13:26):
For the invitation, I'm really honored.
Nathan C (13:28):
Amazing.
So the theme for this year'sHLTH is Heroes and Legends and,
from my perspective.
You're a bit of a healthcarepodcasting hero and legend.
can you explain for those who,maybe don't listen to as many
health tech podcasts as I do,who you are and what you do in
this industry?
Dan Kendal (13:48):
Thank you for that overwhelming compliment.
I'm a little bit, embarrassed,but, I have been in health
innovation since before digitalhealth was called digital
health.
What it was called mHealth.
And before that eHealth.
And before that, just simplehealth it.
I've also been a podcastlistener since 2005.
I bought my first 80 gigabytecolor screen iPod and that you
(14:10):
had to plug it into yourcomputer and download the things
that you wanted.
So I've been listening topodcasts for a long time, and it
was in 2016 when I was workingin digital health, this new
industry of digital health.
And I couldn't find any digitalhealth podcast that I thought,
if nobody's making one, maybe Ican do it.
And I started, because I'm abuilder, I'm a maker.
(14:30):
I like to create and I seeproblems and I try to solve
them.
And I started a podcast calledDigital Health Today, and that
opened up an entirely new worldof, conversations and
connections and understandingand storytelling and technology.
Nathan C (14:44):
That's amazing.
if I have my numbers right, likeyou're not just in healthcare
podcasting, but in podcasting ingeneral as somebody, the amount
of time that you've been in it,it puts you as an OG there as
well.
I think chronologically.
I probably would fit that
Dan Kendal (15:02):
qualification.
Nathan C (15:03):
I'm curious, do you mind, talking a little bit
about, have you always been acommunicator, and a connector
when you were working in healthinnovation and health, eHealth
or, have you played other rolesbefore you found this one?
Dan Kendal (15:19):
I've always been, I guess the short answer is yes.
I have been in sales, I've beenin marketing, and it was in 2013
when I was working at this earlysort of computational health
world that I first heard theterm storytelling in relation to
healthcare.
I was at the Body ComputingConference at USC led by Dr.
Leslie Saxon, a cardiologistthere at Keck, and her brother
(15:42):
is a director in Hollywood, andhe came and spoke.
About storytelling and I thoughtstorytelling and healthcare,
that doesn't, I don't understandhow that relates.
And then it was like a lightbulb moment because I thought
that's what we need to do.
And actually, when I looked atwhat I had been doing, that's
what I had been doing.
'cause I'm an engineer bytraining, but I'd like to say
(16:05):
that I'm not a very good onebecause I need to really break
things down into simple terms.
But when I do that.
So that I can understand howthings work.
It puts me in a situation to beable to explain it to people in
a way that they can alsounderstand it and reduce that
burden of trying to get thatcomplex idea down to something
simple.
I can then just translate thesimple idea to the person to
help them build up theirknowledge and that storytelling.
(16:27):
So I've worked betweenclinicians that have been
working at the forefront,leading edge of technology, and
understanding their problems.
Sometimes when they don't evensee them as problems, they just
are experiences.
That's just the way things work.
They have to do.
And then observing that, takingthat back, translating that to a
very technical group of people,scientists, researchers,
engineers, developers,regulatory people, and having
(16:48):
them come back with a solutionthat often blows me away.
And I remember one conversationI had with a vice president of
RD Rick Beter at Stryker, and Iwalked into his office and he
had this amazing equation acrossthe huge, like 12 foot,
whiteboard.
And I said, what is that?
And he said, that's thesoundboard you designed.
And I said, I assure you I didnot design that.
(17:09):
but my words, when he put thatinto a product, that's what it
came out as.
And I was really pleased to seethe product that he built off of
my description of what needed toexist for the clinicians who
needed to use it.
Nathan C (17:23):
so not just telling the stories of like products
that have already existed andhow they go to market, but also
helping to tell the stories ofproviders, of clinicians, of
other pieces within theecosystem.
and sharing that back in,exactly.
Dan Kendal (17:40):
Exactly.
So once you understand theproblems and you relate that
back to the people who can helpcome up with the technical
solutions, yeah.
You need to take those solutionsand then explain them back to
the people who need to use thesolution about how they can
apply it and how it solves theirproblems.
And what I love about howhealthcare is actually something
that some people dislike, whichis the complexity of it.
Because it forces you to becreative inside of some
(18:02):
constraints.
there's so many differentpriorities and perspectives and
people who are looking atdifferent parts of this elephant
that are trying to describetheir part of the solution they
need.
And as a developer, as asolution provider, as a creator,
you need to find out how can Itry to solve as many of the
things that might not be theperfect solution across every
(18:22):
single area, but gives enough ofthe solution that everyone's
able to say, this works for me.
I'm on board.
Nathan C (18:28):
Can you tell me a little bit more about your
mission?
Dan Kendal (18:32):
I got older, like all of us will hopefully do, and
I realized that life is tooshort to work with people that
you don't really like or work onproblems that you don't really
enjoy.
Nathan C (18:42):
No,
Dan Kendal (18:42):
no.
It's really important I think,to work with people who you
enjoy I realized that I enjoyedworking with people who were on
a mission.
It doesn't have to be mymission, but when they're on a
mission to solve somethingaround women's health or
technology they're trying toreally do something.
I thought if we can take mediasolutions and apply it to people
who are on some sort of mission,how can we amplify?
(19:03):
The impact of their voice likeyou're doing here.
And that's really the basis ofwhy I started mission based
media.
Nathan C (19:11):
I love that.
And honestly, that's one of thebest green flags is when
somebody is on a mission, theycan see, something that nobody
else does.
Like helping them see the partsthat they don't.
Know is like one of the mostfulfilling because they do
something with it, right?
Yeah.
Like they'll take that adviceand run.
(19:34):
So this is potentially anotherpointed question.
You had mentioned how you get towork with people who are on a
mission, and you mentioned how,your insights and the advice and
how you've been able totranslate The market, to
doctors, to innovators, butthose are people who innovators
(19:58):
and doctors both are notoriouslynot interested.
They're not asking forsuggestions.
Dan Kendal (20:03):
Right.
Nathan C (20:04):
So how do you as a leader and an innovator yourself
open those doors to have thoseconversations and to bring the
storytelling and mediaperspective into these places
that aren't necessarily open toit as a default
Dan Kendal (20:18):
So when I look at the way things have changed over
the course of my career, there'sbeen a lot of change in the past
20 years, in the past 10 yearsAnd I think that what got us
here won't get us where we haveto go.
And we can't keep thinking aboutthe solutions the way that we
used to solve them.
And we have to think about howare we going to meet people
where they are and how are wegoing to articulate things some
(20:41):
of the people who are makingdecisions are in my age group
that grew up in a differentworld and haven't necessarily
pivoted and kept up with all ofthe changes.
I remember the first time, firstjob I had outta college and I
had to.
Explain to somebody how to use afax machine who was a lot older
than me.
That's a fax machine.
That's 30 years ago.
So I, that's 30 years of changethat's happened there.
(21:03):
And we need to realize that wecan't just rely on, actually,
fast forwarding another 10years, 20 years ago, I had to
explain to people why we neededa website.
And I remember sitting around atable with people who were, then
they're my age now in theirfifties saying, but if we put
things on the internet, theneverybody can see them.
That was literally theconversation around people who
(21:25):
said, but we can't put this newproduct on the internet.
Then everybody will be able tosee it.
That's point, that's still, Thatwas just 20 years ago.
So look at all the innovationwe've had since then.
Actually that was almost 20years ago.
Oh, shit.
So we need to realize that wecan't just keep making videos
and PDFs and websites andevents.
They all have a place.
But we have to find a way toengage with people where they
(21:47):
spend their time, which is oftenoff screen.
and what's more powerful andwhat I am on a mission to do
through mission based media isto focus on the audio
experience.
Not even audio first, but anaudio forward way of connecting
with people.
Because when you can takemessages and content from and
unlock them from their glassjail cells and unleash them into
(22:09):
audio waves that have theability to mechanically affect
the small hairs inside yourinner ear to create electrical
pulses to stimulate thought inthe soft tissue between your
ears, then suddenly you have areal ability to connect with
people in a really meaningfulway, and you do that.
In their cars, in theirkitchens, on their dog walks, on
their treadmills, all thesedifferent places where you can
(22:31):
connect with people when they'renormally spending time, either
by themselves or with closefamily or friends, and you're
able to be a part of that in ameaningful way and give them
some value, just like you'redoing here with your show.
Nathan C (22:41):
I am that audience.
I'm walking my dog.
I've got, the podcasts that Ilisten to fast because I want to
hear all the information and Igot the ones that I listen to
slow because I want to processit and sit with it.
There's something.
In your description That audiois actually a way to build a
(23:04):
physical connection With peopleand how they think is like very
science nuanced, but frigginggreat.
Beautiful.
And I love it.
let's get into some of thethematic questions.
Dan Kendal (23:17):
Okay.
Nathan C (23:18):
We're here at.
Health, it's the center ofwhat's going on in health
technology, what's going on ininnovation.
As somebody who's seen and hadsome goals for this space for a
while, my expectation is some ofthe hype around.
touchless measurement or thehype around AI or EHR probably
(23:41):
doesn't hit you as hard, assomebody who hasn't been.
I'm looking for like an OGs takeon.
Healthcare innovation, right?
Innovation is a glow up, right?
How do we make it better?
How do we make it more fabulous,more effective?
So what's the glow up that youwanna see this industry or
story, health, tech,storytellers, that you wanna see
(24:04):
in this space that would reallyhelp move us forward in the next
six to 12 months?
Dan Kendal (24:09):
So I think as we see all this technology.
It's, it becomes so much moreubiquitous and so much more
powerful.
I think that it really is goingto increase the importance of
real authentic connection.
That authentic connection willhappen digitally through real
people that are makingconnections.
We've never we've met a coupletimes in person, but more often
we connect and we meet peopledigitally before we have a
(24:32):
chance to connect with them inperson so that digital
connection, I don't wannadiscount it, but the physical
connection and the connectionwith real people.
Because I think as the AIbecomes more powerful and the
insights and the learning andthe reliance that we have in
terms of getting informationfrom AI increases, that's gonna
put a higher premium on beingconnected to real people.
(24:52):
That one feels a good connectionand affinity to.
And that's what I see as a realpowerful thing.
And that's why I think that allfrom an industry perspective, to
look at it from thisperspective, when we're spending
all this time thinking aboutpackaging and PDFs and videos
and websites and events andbooths and these beautiful
things, we also need to thinkabout once we've driven that
(25:13):
attention through our socialmedia page or our website, our
newsletter.
How do we give people a say, anopportunity to say, look, thanks
for looking at my social media,my website, my video.
You're busy.
Take this message with you.
Put me in the car with you, andlet's listen to my founding
story, to my company's foundingstory.
Or listen to some people whowe've helped solve their
problems, and you can then usethat audio.
(25:35):
So it gives that connection withreal human beings.
and it also honors the personthat you're trying to connect
with to say, you don't need todiscount 4,000 other things that
are trying to steal yourattention right now.
you can consume this when you'rein the car on your, so that's
what I'd like to see more peoplethinking about, how do we take
all of this and then convertthat into an audio forward
(25:56):
approach to say.
Let's deliver this in ameaningful way with real people,
perhaps with the productionsupport of AI and other tools.
Nathan C (26:05):
The I, I love the idea that audio allows you to like,
add, calm to the learning andengaging and building process.
And that by giving somebodysomething that's a little bit
more portable, the audio, ifit's, that you can literally
(26:27):
take it with you for when you'reready.
And so many things today likewould benefit from that level of
values just bake to just whenyou're ready.
Exactly.
Like here's something you canengage with.
Amazing.
So what about for Mission Based?
In the next six months.
What's the glow up you'reworking on?
Dan Kendal (26:46):
So there are a couple main things that we are
doing.
So I run Health Podcast Network,which is a sort of curated group
of health content creators thatwe work to amplify their
message, help them improve theirstorytelling, their technology,
have community in connectionwith other people.
We just ran the Health PodcastSummit, which is available for
everyone for free.
Go to health podcast summit.com.
(27:07):
You can register and get accessto.
37 sessions with 42 differentspeakers.
People from Academy Health,people from as far field as
Australia, all the way up toVancouver, Canada, and all
across, even including Europe.
And a lot of people across theUS talking about the power of
podcasting.
So you don't have to believe me,you can listen to these other
creators who are doing it intheir area, whether they're
(27:28):
providers or pharmaceuticalcompanies or medical device
companies that are doingstorytelling.
So we wanted to do HealthPodcast Summit again in 2026.
The response was at.
Absolutely far more than Iexpected in terms of the need of
understanding how we take thispowerful medium of audio and
podcasting, which includesvideo, and then also combine
that with the healthcare space.
And then something else I'mreally passionate about is
(27:50):
health Un unmuted, which Idescribe.
They haven't told me to stopsaying this yet.
I haven't gotten a cease anddesist order yet, but I describe
it as WebMD for your ears.
Health Unmuted is a collectionof audio miniseries that take
people along a patient journeyas they are diagnosed or
concerned about a condition, andthey're narrated audio
documentaries that instead of metelling Nathan's story for an
(28:12):
entire episode, it talks about.
This is the question, or this isthe condition.
Let me describe it.
And this is what it was like forNathan or, their caregiver or a
health expert weighing in avariety of different health
experts, pharmacists, speechtherapists, respiratory
therapists.
whoever it might be, that's partof that problem.
And then takes people through anarrated journey and importantly
gives them guidance about whereelse they can go for more
(28:34):
information.
Amazing.
So those are the things I'mreally passionate about.
Health, podcast, network, andHealth Unmuted, and of course,
helping creators like you beeffective and getting Your word
out and affecting people on thesoft tissue between their ears,
Nathan C (28:47):
the idea of Un-muted to me sounds like.
Like the Curious Nerds TrueCrime Podcast to learn about
healthcare and every bit aboutit, just feels good.
Again, meet people where they'reinterested that tell me the rest
of the story is like nine timesout of 10 what I hear people
(29:10):
wanna know when they hear apodcast.
It's what else?
What happened there?
Part of the interest ofpodcasting is it builds that
connection and it gets youinvested in the people part,
right?
Of the story.
So it's just lighting me up.
The last question I've gotHeroes and Legends is the theme
of the show.
I'm curious, has a hero, alegend, coach, mentor?
(29:34):
supported you or encouraged youto keep going in your journey in
health innovation?
Dan Kendal (29:41):
There are too many to list, I think.
but I, just to reflect on acouple, I think my father has
been one of my biggest championsand, I connected, to be a little
bit, candid here.
I connected quite late with myfather.
I didn't have a relationshipmuch with him.
When I was younger, and, as I'veconnected with him as an adult
and gotten to know him, he'sbeen a huge champion for
encouraging me to be the bestperson that I could be as a
(30:04):
father, as a human being, as acitizen, and as an entrepreneur
and, someone who's trying tocontribute in a positive way.
I'll give a hat tip, to him andmy stepmom, but it's also been a
big part of the support thatI've received from my family.
Nathan C (30:17):
It gave me a bunch of warm fuzzies.
I really appreciate that thesupport from family is so
crucial.
An earned relationship meansthat much more.
Because you had to connectintentionally, when you were
able to, so yeah.
What a lovely outcome, to comefrom that connection.
Thank you.
Dan Kendal (30:36):
That's a nice way to put it.
Nathan C (30:37):
Thank you for sharing that.
I really appreciate it.
Dan Kendall, Mission BasedMedia, Thank you so much for
joining me on the HLTH Tech GlowUp.
Dan Kendal (30:44):
It's my pleasure.
Thank you so much for having meindeed.
Thank you all for payingattention Alright.
Thank you so much.
Nathan C (30:49):
Thank you.
Hey, it's Nathan.
Welcome to another specialdouble episode from the HLTH
Conference.
Each one of these episodes islaunching Monday and Thursday,
and we'll feature conversationswith two different CEOs so
welcome, listen in
Jim Foote (00:21):
and so what we were able to publish in Nature
Medicine, is that the results wegenerate in the Petri dish have
about a 85% correlation with howyour body will respond to the
drugs that we've selected thatthe doctor will treat you with.
Nathan C (00:37):
We go 1, 2, 3, and then we clap in.
Okay?
Yep.
so we're gonna call that theclap in.
We did it.
Yep.
Hello and welcome to The GlowUp.
I'm Nathan C, and today I'mtalking with Jim Foote.
Jim, thank you so much forjoining me.
Thank you for having me.
Can you please introduceyourself and the work that you
do?
Jim Foote (00:57):
Yeah, so the name of the company's First Ascent
Biomedical.
We're a first, functionalprecision medicine company.
Focusing in cancer.
Nathan C (01:04):
Ooh.
Can you explain a little bitmore of what a focused precision
medicine company Means in mylanguage?
Jim Foote (01:11):
Yes.
Functional precision medicinemeans designing a personalized
cancer treatment plan for you.
Based on your biology, how yourcancer cells respond to
different drugs, combining itwith genomics and developing a
plan as personalized as yourfingerprint.
Nathan C (01:29):
Interesting.
And, what amount of samplingand, How do we do it?
How do you do it?
Yeah.
Is it a blood test?
Jim Foote (01:36):
yeah, so what we do is we work on both solid and
liquid tumors, so leukemias,lymphomas, but also solid
cancers, so bone cancer, braincancer, all cancer types.
We start with a biopsy, so we,so we start with a biopsy.
Yep.
we've invented a technology thatallows us to rapidly enrich
those cells to the point that wecan test hundreds of FDA
(01:58):
approved drugs against thatbiopsy.
We figure out what drugs areeffective against your cells and
which ones aren't.
We bring all that data togetherwith genomics.
We send it to your doctor, andit gives a ranked list of drugs
that are all FDA approved yourdoctor chooses which ones to
treat you with based on what weknow works for you.
Nathan C (02:20):
Oh, interesting.
So it's not just what works onthe cancer, like on the tumor
that you've sampled.
But it's also looking at otherfactors.
Biology within the biology.
Jim Foote (02:30):
and so what we were able to publish in Nature
Medicine, is that the results wegenerate in the Petri dish have
about a 85% correlation with howyour body will respond to the
drugs that we've selected thatthe doctor will treat you with.
Nathan C (02:46):
What's the timeframe?
10 days.
Jim Foote (02:48):
10 days.
And what we were able to publishin Nature Medicine was that when
doctors use our platform toguide treatment, patients
benefit 83% of the time betterthan doctor's choice or standard
of care.
The thing about it is, until youhear the word cancer.
You think that they've got itall figured out and they've done
a great job.
So I'm not, dismissing that.
(03:09):
But in 20 25, 1 in three cancerpatients will die.
It'll be the number one killerof men under 50.
And the number two killer ofwomen.
It's the number one killer ofchildren by disease type.
And so you look at it and you gowith all the tools and all the
technology and all the drugs andall of that.
(03:29):
we accept one in three cancerpatients still die and 50% of
cancer patients worldwide die.
And so that's really, I know,and that's where it's like,
we've gotta do better.
We've got the tools, we've gotthe technology we can enable if
physicians to make betterdecisions.
Nathan C (03:49):
There's, this is like the numerology of startups.
especially in Silicon Valleystartups.
There's a lot of conversationabout the 80/20 rule.
And it's about.
Focus your work on the 20% thatmakes an 80% difference to what
you're trying to do.
it sure sounds like You'restarting to get to that sort of
80 20 level.
Jim Foote (04:12):
Yeah.
I mean it's really interestingbecause when we publish in
Nature Medicine, there was a lotof, wow.
We had, one of our children wason Good Morning America.
He's a 8-year-old boy, hadleukemia.
not only did we get his leukemiainto remission, but we actually
found a drug that would havedestroyed his heart for the rest
of his life.
(04:32):
And it would've been a hundredpercent ineffective.
He's here today, healthy, happy,8-year-old little kid.
We have another one.
This is a letter that I got froma doctor just a month or two
ago.
Child's at home on hospice.
Parents are expecting the worst.
They come into our trial.
We return results.
Kid goes from hospice to back toschool to playing Football.
(04:54):
So the skepticism is when wepublish in Nature Medicine, the
83%, those numbers are great.
Patient count was really low.
I agree with that by the way.
Now we're about 130 patients in,what do you think's happening to
that percentage?
Nathan C (05:09):
My hope for you is that it's increasing.
Jim Foote (05:14):
I wouldn't have posed that question if I didn't know
the answer to it, but yes, so itis, I can't say the number, but
we're starting to assemble thedata and it's going up
significantly.
Nathan C (05:26):
Jim, this is one of those topics that could eat up
our whole.
time together.
But your specific examplebrought up this very
interesting, answer to aquestion that's often really
hard to answer in medicine,which is, what is the value of
saved work, right?
(05:47):
It's hard to put a number onthat because there's so what
ifs.
But in your specific example,there was a potential harm, That
was avoided because of thisinsight.
And which could have been seen.
By many, with the existinginformation as a viable option.
If you go back to the basis ofmedicine and that Do no harm.
(06:09):
Do no harm, being able tounderstand that, like yes, while
we want every cancer patient tohave a treatment and to succeed
and to have that hope, right?
Jim Foote (06:20):
it's, that's the thing is there is an economic
side to what we do.
When you look at how muchinsurance companies spend on
cancer care, I don't know if youknow this one third of the
dollars they spend on cancercare goes to the two thirds of
the patients who survive.
Two thirds of the dollar goes tothe one third of the patients
that don't survive.
(06:41):
So the insurance companies arelike, I can't spend any more
money.
And, but when you start lookingat the economic benefits of that
child will live 60, 70, 80 yearswithout heart disease.
Because we eliminated a drug.
Let me give you anotherstatistic.
Specifically.
In kids, 95% of all patientsthat go through cancer care with
(07:05):
a kid, a child, report severefinancial impact.
10 to 15% of them move intopoverty.
And that's the, when you startlooking at the cancer death
rates, we often say there's afinancial gap that keeps people
from getting access to care.
(07:25):
Yes.
In that, most families, whenyou're undergoing, when you're
have a loved one going throughcancer, if I live in Paducah,
Kentucky, I may not have themoney to go to Cleveland Clinic
or Houston or Dallas or one ofthe cancer cubs.
So I get treated locally at mylocal hospital, and they do the
best that they can.
And this is where our technologycomes into play.
(07:47):
the biopsy can be taken locally,the results can be returned
locally, and the patient betreated locally with a class of
technology that enables thattrue personalization.
So it closes that financialtoxicity burden because I don't
have to travel anymore.
I can have it done locally.
Does that make sense?
Nathan C (08:07):
Oh, I love it.
we don't have enough time for meto make all the comments and
follow ups that I want.
But I love that model and that,again, it's positioning.
choice and information in thatoption of do we risk bankrupting
our family to go to this hub, Oris there an option that will
work for us here?
That's right.
(08:27):
those are the kinds of choicesthat parents are having to make
all the time, every day.
Jim, this is fantastic and I'mso excited to be learning about.
this kind of personalized care.
we just have a few more minutesleft.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I wanna get into some of theshow focus questions.
It's the tech glow up, thehealth Tech glow up because
we're here at Health and I'vebeen asking folks about the glow
(08:48):
up.
They want to see.
In the healthcare industryoverall.
And I've actually been a littleshocked by some of the answers,
so I'm curious,
Jim Foote (08:56):
it's, the system was built off of a hundred year old
practice of, they find it inyour breast, they call it breast
cancer.
But what if you have a markerthe same?
I'll use he two positive as anexample.
83,000 women have HER 2positive.
We got a drug boom.
But what if you have that 500patients that have HER 2
positive bladder cancer, theycan't give that drug to that
(09:19):
patient even though it's got thesame biomarker.
Because it hasn't been approved.
And so that's where insurancecompanies, again, with, if I
have evidence that drug willwork against that patient's, he
two positive bladder cancer.
I believe the insurancecompanies, it's a no brainer,
right?
It again, it's a technology thatallows'em to have the evidence
(09:41):
that supports this is gonnawork.
It makes approval almostinstantaneous.
Nathan C (09:48):
If you could make approvals instantaneous.
I know there's a lot of patientsand providers that are gonna
love you.
What's the glow up that you'relooking, to make in your own
work?
Jim Foote (09:59):
Yeah.
I got started on this pathway.
My son was one of those one andthree.
And I realized I had tools andtechnology available at my
fingertips that doctors,hospitals, nurses,
practitioners, insurancecompanies, didn't have to make
as important decisions aroundcancer.
And I knew it was a solvableproblem, and that's really why
(10:20):
we brought this companytogether.
This is why we've beenvalidating for 10 years.
We're there.
This is all about scale and Imake the correlation between
oncology and NASA and look whatSpaceX did.
Faster, cheaper, and safer.
Why?
Because they weren't rocketscientists.
They were that externaldisruptor.
And that's really the name ofour company's first descent,
(10:42):
because we will be the first todisrupt a lot of these things
that need disruption in a safe,clinically validated way,
Nathan C (10:52):
I love it so much.
the next question is about thetheme of the show.
Yeah, the theme for Health thisyear is Heroes and Legends, and
so I've been using it as anopportunity to ask people about
the mentors, coaches, and heroesthat have informed your
entrepreneurial journey.
Jim Foote (11:09):
One of my heroes, I'm gonna tear up my 17-year-old
son.
I learned lessons from him.
That I was, I'm ashamed to say,took me 40 years to learn, but I
say cancer picked the fight withthe wrong guy.
And this is gonna be mysignature because of my son and
(11:31):
because of other cancer patientswho have fought so courageously
and have won the battle or lostthe battle, I fight for them.
And those are my heroes.
They're the ones on the frontlines every day.
My job's easy, right?
their job is really hard and Inever wanna be a company that
looks at a biopsy as just a globof cells.
(11:51):
It's somebody's mom, it'ssomebody's sister, it's
somebody's brother, it'ssomebody's loved one.
And so in our lab, we havepictures of cancer patients on
our walls because every day Iwant people looking up at Levi.
And Thomas and Patrick, they allhave names.
Nathan C (12:11):
They do.
And this is maybe reading alittle deeper than you were
intending, but like even thehistory of genomics Is fraught
with some of that, valuing thepeople behind it.
And I love that your mission isbringing that value back.
Repairing some of the early,missteps of genomics.
(12:33):
So amazing
Jim Foote (12:33):
here.
Yeah.
Here's how it all comestogether.
You've been to an orchestra,right?
Genomics becomes the sheet ofmusic.
The notes on the sheet.
Functional precision medicine isthe orchestra, everything coming
together in perfect tone.
AI is the conductor that ischanging it in real time.
Nathan C (12:53):
Oh my gosh.
Jim, we are out of time.
That is the fantastic place toleave it.
Thank you so much for joining meon the HLTH Tech Glow Up.
We got one more thing to do.
We're gonna clap it out.
Okay.
Ready?
1, 2, 3.
Amazing.
Thank you so much.
No, it's awesome, dude.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So appreciate that.
You know what?
Anytime.
(13:13):
So 1, 2, 3.
Hello and welcome to the HLTHTech Glow Up.
I'm Nathan C and today I'mtalking with Dan Kendall.
Dan, it's so great to have youon the HLTH Tech Glow Up.
and thanks
Dan Kendal (13:26):
For the invitation, I'm really honored.
Nathan C (13:28):
Amazing.
So the theme for this year'sHLTH is Heroes and Legends and,
from my perspective.
You're a bit of a healthcarepodcasting hero and legend.
can you explain for those who,maybe don't listen to as many
health tech podcasts as I do,who you are and what you do in
this industry?
Dan Kendal (13:48):
Thank you for that overwhelming compliment.
I'm a little bit, embarrassed,but, I have been in health
innovation since before digitalhealth was called digital
health.
What it was called mHealth.
And before that eHealth.
And before that, just simplehealth it.
I've also been a podcastlistener since 2005.
I bought my first 80 gigabytecolor screen iPod and that you
(14:10):
had to plug it into yourcomputer and download the things
that you wanted.
So I've been listening topodcasts for a long time, and it
was in 2016 when I was workingin digital health, this new
industry of digital health.
And I couldn't find any digitalhealth podcast that I thought,
if nobody's making one, maybe Ican do it.
And I started, because I'm abuilder, I'm a maker.
(14:30):
I like to create and I seeproblems and I try to solve
them.
And I started a podcast calledDigital Health Today, and that
opened up an entirely new worldof, conversations and
connections and understandingand storytelling and technology.
Nathan C (14:44):
That's amazing.
if I have my numbers right, likeyou're not just in healthcare
podcasting, but in podcasting ingeneral as somebody, the amount
of time that you've been in it,it puts you as an OG there as
well.
I think chronologically.
I probably would fit that
Dan Kendal (15:02):
qualification.
Nathan C (15:03):
I'm curious, do you mind, talking a little bit
about, have you always been acommunicator, and a connector
when you were working in healthinnovation and health, eHealth
or, have you played other rolesbefore you found this one?
Dan Kendal (15:19):
I've always been, I guess the short answer is yes.
I have been in sales, I've beenin marketing, and it was in 2013
when I was working at this earlysort of computational health
world that I first heard theterm storytelling in relation to
healthcare.
I was at the Body ComputingConference at USC led by Dr.
Leslie Saxon, a cardiologistthere at Keck, and her brother
(15:42):
is a director in Hollywood, andhe came and spoke.
About storytelling and I thoughtstorytelling and healthcare,
that doesn't, I don't understandhow that relates.
And then it was like a lightbulb moment because I thought
that's what we need to do.
And actually, when I looked atwhat I had been doing, that's
what I had been doing.
'cause I'm an engineer bytraining, but I'd like to say
(16:05):
that I'm not a very good onebecause I need to really break
things down into simple terms.
But when I do that.
So that I can understand howthings work.
It puts me in a situation to beable to explain it to people in
a way that they can alsounderstand it and reduce that
burden of trying to get thatcomplex idea down to something
simple.
I can then just translate thesimple idea to the person to
help them build up theirknowledge and that storytelling.
(16:27):
So I've worked betweenclinicians that have been
working at the forefront,leading edge of technology, and
understanding their problems.
Sometimes when they don't evensee them as problems, they just
are experiences.
That's just the way things work.
They have to do.
And then observing that, takingthat back, translating that to a
very technical group of people,scientists, researchers,
engineers, developers,regulatory people, and having
(16:48):
them come back with a solutionthat often blows me away.
And I remember one conversationI had with a vice president of
RD Rick Beter at Stryker, and Iwalked into his office and he
had this amazing equation acrossthe huge, like 12 foot,
whiteboard.
And I said, what is that?
And he said, that's thesoundboard you designed.
And I said, I assure you I didnot design that.
(17:09):
but my words, when he put thatinto a product, that's what it
came out as.
And I was really pleased to seethe product that he built off of
my description of what needed toexist for the clinicians who
needed to use it.
Nathan C (17:23):
so not just telling the stories of like products
that have already existed andhow they go to market, but also
helping to tell the stories ofproviders, of clinicians, of
other pieces within theecosystem.
and sharing that back in,exactly.
Dan Kendal (17:40):
Exactly.
So once you understand theproblems and you relate that
back to the people who can helpcome up with the technical
solutions, yeah.
You need to take those solutionsand then explain them back to
the people who need to use thesolution about how they can
apply it and how it solves theirproblems.
And what I love about howhealthcare is actually something
that some people dislike, whichis the complexity of it.
Because it forces you to becreative inside of some
(18:02):
constraints.
there's so many differentpriorities and perspectives and
people who are looking atdifferent parts of this elephant
that are trying to describetheir part of the solution they
need.
And as a developer, as asolution provider, as a creator,
you need to find out how can Itry to solve as many of the
things that might not be theperfect solution across every
(18:22):
single area, but gives enough ofthe solution that everyone's
able to say, this works for me.
I'm on board.
Nathan C (18:28):
Can you tell me a little bit more about your
mission?
Dan Kendal (18:32):
I got older, like all of us will hopefully do, and
I realized that life is tooshort to work with people that
you don't really like or work onproblems that you don't really
enjoy.
Nathan C (18:42):
No,
Dan Kendal (18:42):
no.
It's really important I think,to work with people who you
enjoy I realized that I enjoyedworking with people who were on
a mission.
It doesn't have to be mymission, but when they're on a
mission to solve somethingaround women's health or
technology they're trying toreally do something.
I thought if we can take mediasolutions and apply it to people
who are on some sort of mission,how can we amplify?
(19:03):
The impact of their voice likeyou're doing here.
And that's really the basis ofwhy I started mission based
media.
Nathan C (19:11):
I love that.
And honestly, that's one of thebest green flags is when
somebody is on a mission, theycan see, something that nobody
else does.
Like helping them see the partsthat they don't.
Know is like one of the mostfulfilling because they do
something with it, right?
Yeah.
Like they'll take that adviceand run.
(19:34):
So this is potentially anotherpointed question.
You had mentioned how you get towork with people who are on a
mission, and you mentioned how,your insights and the advice and
how you've been able totranslate The market, to
doctors, to innovators, butthose are people who innovators
(19:58):
and doctors both are notoriouslynot interested.
They're not asking forsuggestions.
Dan Kendal (20:03):
Right.
Nathan C (20:04):
So how do you as a leader and an innovator yourself
open those doors to have thoseconversations and to bring the
storytelling and mediaperspective into these places
that aren't necessarily open toit as a default
Dan Kendal (20:18):
So when I look at the way things have changed over
the course of my career, there'sbeen a lot of change in the past
20 years, in the past 10 yearsAnd I think that what got us
here won't get us where we haveto go.
And we can't keep thinking aboutthe solutions the way that we
used to solve them.
And we have to think about howare we going to meet people
where they are and how are wegoing to articulate things some
(20:41):
of the people who are makingdecisions are in my age group
that grew up in a differentworld and haven't necessarily
pivoted and kept up with all ofthe changes.
I remember the first time, firstjob I had outta college and I
had to.
Explain to somebody how to use afax machine who was a lot older
than me.
That's a fax machine.
That's 30 years ago.
So I, that's 30 years of changethat's happened there.
(21:03):
And we need to realize that wecan't just rely on, actually,
fast forwarding another 10years, 20 years ago, I had to
explain to people why we neededa website.
And I remember sitting around atable with people who were, then
they're my age now in theirfifties saying, but if we put
things on the internet, theneverybody can see them.
That was literally theconversation around people who
(21:25):
said, but we can't put this newproduct on the internet.
Then everybody will be able tosee it.
That's point, that's still, Thatwas just 20 years ago.
So look at all the innovationwe've had since then.
Actually that was almost 20years ago.
Oh, shit.
So we need to realize that wecan't just keep making videos
and PDFs and websites andevents.
They all have a place.
But we have to find a way toengage with people where they
(21:47):
spend their time, which is oftenoff screen.
and what's more powerful andwhat I am on a mission to do
through mission based media isto focus on the audio
experience.
Not even audio first, but anaudio forward way of connecting
with people.
Because when you can takemessages and content from and
unlock them from their glassjail cells and unleash them into
(22:09):
audio waves that have theability to mechanically affect
the small hairs inside yourinner ear to create electrical
pulses to stimulate thought inthe soft tissue between your
ears, then suddenly you have areal ability to connect with
people in a really meaningfulway, and you do that.
In their cars, in theirkitchens, on their dog walks, on
their treadmills, all thesedifferent places where you can
(22:31):
connect with people when they'renormally spending time, either
by themselves or with closefamily or friends, and you're
able to be a part of that in ameaningful way and give them
some value, just like you'redoing here with your show.
Nathan C (22:41):
I am that audience.
I'm walking my dog.
I've got, the podcasts that Ilisten to fast because I want to
hear all the information and Igot the ones that I listen to
slow because I want to processit and sit with it.
There's something.
In your description That audiois actually a way to build a
(23:04):
physical connection With peopleand how they think is like very
science nuanced, but frigginggreat.
Beautiful.
And I love it.
let's get into some of thethematic questions.
Dan Kendal (23:17):
Okay.
Nathan C (23:18):
We're here at.
Health, it's the center ofwhat's going on in health
technology, what's going on ininnovation.
As somebody who's seen and hadsome goals for this space for a
while, my expectation is some ofthe hype around.
touchless measurement or thehype around AI or EHR probably
(23:41):
doesn't hit you as hard, assomebody who hasn't been.
I'm looking for like an OGs takeon.
Healthcare innovation, right?
Innovation is a glow up, right?
How do we make it better?
How do we make it more fabulous,more effective?
So what's the glow up that youwanna see this industry or
story, health, tech,storytellers, that you wanna see
(24:04):
in this space that would reallyhelp move us forward in the next
six to 12 months?
Dan Kendal (24:09):
So I think as we see all this technology.
It's, it becomes so much moreubiquitous and so much more
powerful.
I think that it really is goingto increase the importance of
real authentic connection.
That authentic connection willhappen digitally through real
people that are makingconnections.
We've never we've met a coupletimes in person, but more often
we connect and we meet peopledigitally before we have a
(24:32):
chance to connect with them inperson so that digital
connection, I don't wannadiscount it, but the physical
connection and the connectionwith real people.
Because I think as the AIbecomes more powerful and the
insights and the learning andthe reliance that we have in
terms of getting informationfrom AI increases, that's gonna
put a higher premium on beingconnected to real people.
(24:52):
That one feels a good connectionand affinity to.
And that's what I see as a realpowerful thing.
And that's why I think that allfrom an industry perspective, to
look at it from thisperspective, when we're spending
all this time thinking aboutpackaging and PDFs and videos
and websites and events andbooths and these beautiful
things, we also need to thinkabout once we've driven that
(25:13):
attention through our socialmedia page or our website, our
newsletter.
How do we give people a say, anopportunity to say, look, thanks
for looking at my social media,my website, my video.
You're busy.
Take this message with you.
Put me in the car with you, andlet's listen to my founding
story, to my company's foundingstory.
Or listen to some people whowe've helped solve their
problems, and you can then usethat audio.
(25:35):
So it gives that connection withreal human beings.
and it also honors the personthat you're trying to connect
with to say, you don't need todiscount 4,000 other things that
are trying to steal yourattention right now.
you can consume this when you'rein the car on your, so that's
what I'd like to see more peoplethinking about, how do we take
all of this and then convertthat into an audio forward
(25:56):
approach to say.
Let's deliver this in ameaningful way with real people,
perhaps with the productionsupport of AI and other tools.
Nathan C (26:05):
The I, I love the idea that audio allows you to like,
add, calm to the learning andengaging and building process.
And that by giving somebodysomething that's a little bit
more portable, the audio, ifit's, that you can literally
(26:27):
take it with you for when you'reready.
And so many things today likewould benefit from that level of
values just bake to just whenyou're ready.
Exactly.
Like here's something you canengage with.
Amazing.
So what about for Mission Based?
In the next six months.
What's the glow up you'reworking on?
Dan Kendal (26:46):
So there are a couple main things that we are
doing.
So I run Health Podcast Network,which is a sort of curated group
of health content creators thatwe work to amplify their
message, help them improve theirstorytelling, their technology,
have community in connectionwith other people.
We just ran the Health PodcastSummit, which is available for
everyone for free.
Go to health podcast summit.com.
(27:07):
You can register and get accessto.
37 sessions with 42 differentspeakers.
People from Academy Health,people from as far field as
Australia, all the way up toVancouver, Canada, and all
across, even including Europe.
And a lot of people across theUS talking about the power of
podcasting.
So you don't have to believe me,you can listen to these other
creators who are doing it intheir area, whether they're
(27:28):
providers or pharmaceuticalcompanies or medical device
companies that are doingstorytelling.
So we wanted to do HealthPodcast Summit again in 2026.
The response was at.
Absolutely far more than Iexpected in terms of the need of
understanding how we take thispowerful medium of audio and
podcasting, which includesvideo, and then also combine
that with the healthcare space.
And then something else I'mreally passionate about is
(27:50):
health Un unmuted, which Idescribe.
They haven't told me to stopsaying this yet.
I haven't gotten a cease anddesist order yet, but I describe
it as WebMD for your ears.
Health Unmuted is a collectionof audio miniseries that take
people along a patient journeyas they are diagnosed or
concerned about a condition, andthey're narrated audio
documentaries that instead of metelling Nathan's story for an
(28:12):
entire episode, it talks about.
This is the question, or this isthe condition.
Let me describe it.
And this is what it was like forNathan or, their caregiver or a
health expert weighing in avariety of different health
experts, pharmacists, speechtherapists, respiratory
therapists.
whoever it might be, that's partof that problem.
And then takes people through anarrated journey and importantly
gives them guidance about whereelse they can go for more
(28:34):
information.
Amazing.
So those are the things I'mreally passionate about.
Health, podcast, network, andHealth Unmuted, and of course,
helping creators like you beeffective and getting Your word
out and affecting people on thesoft tissue between their ears,
Nathan C (28:47):
the idea of Un-muted to me sounds like.
Like the Curious Nerds TrueCrime Podcast to learn about
healthcare and every bit aboutit, just feels good.
Again, meet people where they'reinterested that tell me the rest
of the story is like nine timesout of 10 what I hear people
(29:10):
wanna know when they hear apodcast.
It's what else?
What happened there?
Part of the interest ofpodcasting is it builds that
connection and it gets youinvested in the people part,
right?
Of the story.
So it's just lighting me up.
The last question I've gotHeroes and Legends is the theme
of the show.
I'm curious, has a hero, alegend, coach, mentor?
(29:34):
supported you or encouraged youto keep going in your journey in
health innovation?
Dan Kendal (29:41):
There are too many to list, I think.
but I, just to reflect on acouple, I think my father has
been one of my biggest championsand, I connected, to be a little
bit, candid here.
I connected quite late with myfather.
I didn't have a relationshipmuch with him.
When I was younger, and, as I'veconnected with him as an adult
and gotten to know him, he'sbeen a huge champion for
encouraging me to be the bestperson that I could be as a
(30:04):
father, as a human being, as acitizen, and as an entrepreneur
and, someone who's trying tocontribute in a positive way.
I'll give a hat tip, to him andmy stepmom, but it's also been a
big part of the support thatI've received from my family.
Nathan C (30:17):
It gave me a bunch of warm fuzzies.
I really appreciate that thesupport from family is so
crucial.
An earned relationship meansthat much more.
Because you had to connectintentionally, when you were
able to, so yeah.
What a lovely outcome, to comefrom that connection.
Thank you.
Dan Kendal (30:36):
That's a nice way to put it.
Nathan C (30:37):
Thank you for sharing that.
I really appreciate it.
Dan Kendall, Mission BasedMedia, Thank you so much for
joining me on the HLTH Tech GlowUp.
Dan Kendal (30:44):
It's my pleasure.
Thank you so much for having meindeed.
Thank you all for payingattention Alright.
Thank you so much.
Nathan C (30:49):
Thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.