Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
We tireneered cardiac cathorization on an eighteen wheel truck.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Boom. There's clarity in the problem, there's clarity in the solution.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
I'm Richard Gerhart and I'm Elizabeth Gearhart.
Speaker 5 (00:19):
You just heard some snippets from our show. It was
a great one. Stay tuned to hear tips about how
you can start your business.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Ramping up your business. The time is near. You've given
it hard, now get it in gear. It's Passage to
Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart.
Speaker 6 (00:39):
I'm Richard Gearhart, founder of Gearheart Law, a full service
intellectual property law firm specializing in patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
Speaker 5 (00:46):
And I'm Elizabeth Gearhart. Not an attorney, but I do
marketing for Gearheart Law, and I have my own startups
and podcasts.
Speaker 6 (00:52):
Welcome to Passage to Profit, the Road to Entrepreneurship, where
we talk with entrepreneurs and celebrities who tell their stories
about their business journey and also share helpful insights about
the successes that they've had.
Speaker 5 (01:05):
Did you know that two in five Americans want to
start a new business or our business owners. We have
lots of information to help them too, and we.
Speaker 6 (01:13):
Also talk a little about the intellectual property that helps
them flourish. We have on our show doctor Joe Puma,
who is just an amazing physician. I went and visited
his office not too long ago and it was an
amazing experience. He's one of the top cardiologists in the
world and he has lots of interesting things to tell
you about your heart and cardiology.
Speaker 5 (01:34):
And then we have Diane You who doesn't love having
an investor on the show.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
She's a venture capitalist.
Speaker 5 (01:41):
She founded Phoenix Global and she's going to talk about
her investments and how this whole thing's working out great.
Speaker 6 (01:47):
But before we get to our distinguished guests, it's time
for your new business journey. Two and five Americans are
already business owners or are thinking about starting business, and
we always like to ask our panel question so that
our listeners and audience can get to know the business
landscape a little bit better. So today the question is
(02:08):
what are the dangers of being a yes person in business?
So doctor Puma, welcome to the show. What are the
dangers of being a yes person in the world of business.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Well, Richard, thanks so much for inviting me. Elizabeth, good
to see you. I think that's a great question. One
of the challenges of being a yes person is it
doesn't allow you to think through what you really want
to accomplish or who you really want to be. Saying
no or challenging the orthodoxy is what really allows you
to determine where the opportunities are in business. Now, if
(02:40):
you just want to stay in the background, not be noticed,
and you know, have some security in your job, keep
saying yes until those days end.
Speaker 6 (02:51):
Well, you know, it's really funny because what you say
is absolutely true. It takes a lot of work to
stand up for your opinions, not to mention a little
bit risky, which I think you alluded to, but it
takes a lot of energy. If somebody says, Okay, well
we'll try it your way, that means usually you have
to do it right, and so that's something that we
(03:12):
need to keep in mind. Diane, welcome to the show.
Speaker 7 (03:15):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (03:15):
We're definitely interested in hearing your answer to this question,
which is what are the dangers of being a yes
person in a business?
Speaker 7 (03:23):
The two things.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Number one is yes fails to provide critical feedback, and
number two, it's an echo chamber. Yes creates an echo
chamber of people that are more not wanting to talk,
and it doesn't create like disruption for innovation.
Speaker 6 (03:36):
Those are good points, Elizabeth.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
I feel like yes men or yes women or whatever.
Eventually you get thrown under the bus, like something happens
and the guy maybe two or three stories above you
doesn't like what happened, and your manager is like, well, yeah,
but she said it was okay to do, so she
blame her, and then you get fired.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
But I also think it just type a person.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
You know we're going to talk about on ip in
the news, somebody that did something to get back at
his employer, and you just kind of wonder, like, how
many times does this guy shut down because he tried
to say no instead of yes?
Speaker 6 (04:11):
Right, Well, I guess the moral of the story is,
don't be a yes person if you don't have to be,
but still watch your p's and q's and we all
do have to cooperate to somebody.
Speaker 5 (04:21):
That paycheck you can't say and if you need that paycheck.
Speaker 6 (04:24):
So anyway, it's time now for our main guest interview,
and I've been really enjoying my relationship with doctor Uma.
We've gotten to know each other a little bit over
the last couple of weeks. First of all, just tell
us about your practice, all the things that you've done,
and all of the things that you're doing.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I'm an interventional cardiologist. I spent the first half of
my career living in North Carolina. I was on faculty
at Due Hospital and to do clinical research institute, and
so it was a combination of clinical practice, developed community
networks in underserved communities, with Duke as the centerpiece for
(05:04):
tertiary care. But the goal was to try and bring
cardiovascular care into communities. And as you know, North Carolina
is a rural state, so we pioneered doing cardiac cathorization
on an eighteen wheel truck, bringing it to the different communities.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
How did that work out?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
You know, Elizabeth, It's amazing what you can actually accomplish
when you see a need, right.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
I mean, I just can't imagine having surgery in a truck.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Well, it was pretty mach Listen. I won't take credit
for any ideas, but these were other people's ideas or
other people's businesses. What I will take credit for is
being able to figure out what the needs of patients
are in different communities and then looking what's out there
in the marketplace and knowing how to utilize them. And
that's what we've done. Richard at Soren Medical Sourin I
(05:51):
named after a priest's father, Edward Soren, who was the
founder of the University of Notre Dame. I was inspired
by his backstory in his history when my older daughter
was an undergrad and Notre Dame, and his motto was
be a force for good in this world. And I
was very concerned about what was going to happen to
(06:11):
patients and physicians after the Affordable Care Act, and so
what I did was I took disparate technologies AI software,
technology that's available that was commercially available already, the best
imaging camera that was made in the world, and a
process and system and trademarked it and called it the
(06:33):
sore In Heart Scan. And we are now the number
one quality scan in America for eight quarters two years running.
And the reason I'm on your show and the way
we met is I've, in addition to that, coupled with that,
as I'm an older physician now and thought I was
set in my ways, recognized that I need to engage
(06:54):
in patients with patients in a different way. I might
not be able to change the law, but we can
certainly change the way we engage with patients. And since
then we have published improved outcomes, higher quality, greater access,
lower cost than traditional cardiovascular care.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
So I'm just curious, do people need to come to
your clinic in New York to get this or do
you have it going around on trucks still or I mean.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
We're working on now or model to put it on
an eighteen wheeler, but even through urban communities, and we're
now working And I'm glad to meet Diane today because
we're working with investment bankers and private equity to now
scale this on a national.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
Level because I love this mobile aspect of it. As
you say, you see where the need is greatest and
find a solution for that need, then you can go
anywhere with it. Are you opening any other storefronts like
medical clinics for it?
Speaker 2 (07:45):
So we have about twenty five office based facilities between
Orange County and the boroughs in New York, including Iglewood,
New Jersey. But our flagship, which is an ambulatory surgical
center and where the sore and heartskin sits is out
on Wall Street, right on the corner of Wall Street
in South Street. So the challenge in medicine as reimbursements
(08:06):
go down. We're one of the only businesses from a
business standpoint where every year we get paid less and
that's programmed into coms. You can't be an independent practice
today and not figure out the business side, and so
that's where we're at now, trying to figure out the
We think we have the business model figured out, we
think we have the approach to marketing and patient engagement
(08:29):
figured out, and now we're working on the financing for
both fixed based sites as well as mobile lab There's
no reason you can't drive an eighteen wheeler with a
sore and heart scan into any community and do twenty
five or thirty sore and heartscan. And let's remember, heart
disease is the number one killer. Doctors can only do
(08:51):
two things for patients, make them feel better or live longer.
And despite the promise of the Affordable Care Act, the
reality is in the left US fourteen years, survival in
the United States has gone down, and that's not just
from COVID. So there's a lot of work we can
do to improve the lives of our community, improve outcomes
(09:14):
for patients. Just got to be a little innovative and
stop saying.
Speaker 6 (09:17):
Yes passage to profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gerhart. Doctor
Joe Puma just an amazing physician. I went and visited
his office not too long ago. One of the things
that you mentioned before was the inexpensive nature of this
superior heart scan.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
I don't want to be political, but politics are now
in healthcare right in ways that we never imagined before.
But let's go back to twenty ten. One of the
major reasons for the Affordable Care Act was to, in
the words the president at the time, flatten the curve
on the rise of healthcare costs in the US. In
twenty ten, healthcare costs were at about fourteen percent of
(09:59):
GDP in the country. Where are we today over twenty percent.
It's essentially the largest business in the world. Let me
get back to your first question. First, A caronary CT
scan which can then give you with that data and
just a blood pressure and a cluster or profile, it
can give you a ten year risk of heart attack,
death or stroke. That's pretty valuable for men over forty
(10:21):
and women over fifty. Okay, And we'll get not only
assessment of the actual arteries, images of the arteries in
your heart plaque analysis whether it's calcified, non calcified, at
risk of a heart attack or not at risk. And
if there is blockage, we'll get an assessment of if
that blockage is severe and needs a coronary stent to
(10:43):
clear it away or bypass. I try and deal with
health and in a positive way. And yes, we always
talk about everything with a background of diet and exercise,
but I have to start looking at healthcare from a
business standpoint. We think we have a better product. It's
far less expensive, and we think it's both sustainable and
scalable and improve health of any community that we're in,
(11:05):
which is what's important to me. Seventy five to eighty
percent of doctors now work for a health system, which
means you are no longer employing them, Elizabeth, when you
see them. They are employed by the people that want
them to say yes, let's keep that in mind, right. Remember,
HMOs are just a healthcare delivery payment system. The Affordable
(11:26):
Care Act is a healthcare delivery payment system in an HMO.
The goal was to constrain costs, and those companies did great.
If you were a CEO of an HMO, you made
a lot of money. And the way they constrained costs
is by not providing care.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Right and they didn't, then okay.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
And then if you had to get it anyway and
you paid for it and tried to get reimbursed, well,
good luck.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Listen. I'm not arguing that in a fee for service
environment there are challenges where costs can get out of control.
But we have proven now when you take the doctor
out of the equation and the patient loses choice, the
rate of rise is higher and the quality of care
is less. Of course, I can tell you there were
(12:12):
already companies being formed for caronary CT. Will they have
the quality of a sore and heart skin? I don't know.
We're pretty good. We can figure out a way to
make it economically viable and it's actually a great business model.
Speaker 6 (12:24):
Doctor Joe Puma, who is one of the top cardiologists
in the world. Passage Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gerhart
will be back after this commercial break. Stay tuned for
Secrets of the Entrepreneurial Mind coming up later in the program.
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Speaker 1 (14:38):
Now back to Passage to profit once again. Richard and
Elizabeth Gearhart and.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
Our special guest, doctor Joe Puma, and we've been having
a spirited discussion about healthcare, and he has developed this innovative,
low cost solution and it's not even for when you're sick.
It's a preventative solution. It just blows my mind how
smart this guy is. But he also has a new
vent or he's starting called check In.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
The check In it's a hip hop health series. The
check In reaches out specifically to the hip hop community
because the rates of heart disease, the rates of high
blood pressure, the rates of heart attacks and strokes are
two to three times higher in black Americans compared to
whiteer Asian Americans. The goal was just an entertainment type
approach to bring stories to life around important healthcare issues,
(15:26):
primarily cardiovascular health. And we've actually filmed the actual procedures
we do at our ambulatory surgical center Wow again. Using technology,
we've worked with a startup and we are amazoning healthcare
go on our websites Soeign medicalny dot com. There's a
button that says a Soeign marketplace that's powered by a
company called Superscripts. You click on it. It has a
(15:49):
menu of tests or procedures, including consultations to see the doctor.
You put in your insurance information. Actually, all you need
to put in is basically two clicks. It'll tell you
if you're insured and covers it. It'll tell you what
your copey is, it'll tell you what if you've met
your deductible, and you could go right online and schedule
your sore and heart scan or consultation. So these are
(16:10):
the ways that we're using technology partnering with other companies
to improve efficiency and workflow so that we can survive
in this new healthcare environment.
Speaker 6 (16:21):
That's great, doctor Joe Puma.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Richard, thanks so much for inviting me. Elizabeth. Good to
see you.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Passage to Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gearheart.
Speaker 6 (16:30):
Time for intellectual property news.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Oh it is.
Speaker 6 (16:32):
What could be more interesting than intellectual property?
Speaker 11 (16:35):
Come up?
Speaker 5 (16:35):
We were talking about people being yes men and getting
so ticked off the companies they worked for.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
They couldn't take it anymore.
Speaker 6 (16:42):
So I couldn't.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
What did somebody do about that?
Speaker 6 (16:45):
Richard? Well, this guy worked for Google. He was an
engineer and apparently things didn't go quite right for him.
Worked for Google for two years. He left and he
took a bunch of confidential information and he posted it
on the internet. And what he was doing, I'm just
going to read from the article by Blake Britain from Reuter's.
He said that he is going to tout his dominion
(17:08):
over the secrets and social media posts and he was
tagging competitors making threatening statements to the company, including I
need to take unethical means to get what I am
entitled to and remembers that empires fall and so will you.
(17:28):
So anyway, obviously Google actually behaved pretty well. I know
a lot of employers that would not behave as well.
But they asked him a couple of times to please
take down the information, and he just got more stirred
up and he posted more information. So finally Google had
to assume him. I guess they sued him in Texas.
(17:50):
They've even drawn more publicity to it because as this
has actually been in a couple of newswire services, so
it's a trade secret case. And I guess the moral
of the story is you can't really you shouldn't really
do that. But he was probably a yes man most
of his Google career and he just popped and blew
a feud. So anyway, Dan, do you have any thoughts
(18:13):
on this situation? I mean, what do you think does
this happen very often in your experience.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Absolutely, we see it, unfortunately, and also people that want
to take revenge. I have been ousted as CEOs because maybe
some investors or board members think that there needs to
be new leadership.
Speaker 7 (18:29):
So we do see that.
Speaker 6 (18:30):
I don't know if I were in that situation, would
I just go quietly or would I vent my frustration
at the world.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
Well, aren't your options pretty limited with just trade secrets?
I mean, there are some things you can do about
trade secrets, but if you have a patent. I know,
everybody gets to see the technology if you have a patent,
but there's a lot more you could do with the patent, right.
Speaker 6 (18:49):
So that's a good point. If the technology were protected
with patents, it really probably wouldn't matter so much. Anyway,
these secrets were like hardware, so they were chip designs
which probably were protected by patents. Google would protect that
kind of stuff with a patent, and so putting trade
secrets out there still is not a good thing, But
(19:11):
it doesn't mean that the competitors get to use the technology, right. So,
doctor Puma, what do you think?
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Well, I think, as Diane says, there's many disgruntled employees.
You know, the workplace could be frustrating. Sometimes they have
legitimate complaints. However, I mean it's kind of like your
girlfriend throwing all your stuff out the third floor window.
I mean it's like, come on, man.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Come.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Well, it's a tricky one.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
I mean, I can see how people get upset and
they want to spill the secrets all these fights were having. Now,
if you come up with an idea, well, if you
work for someone like Google, you sign away your rights
to your ideas, right right, You've.
Speaker 6 (19:48):
Got this lavish paycheck and incredible benefits. You're hired to
invent for the company. So the company should own it, right, right.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
So that's why so many people want to be entrepreneurs,
right because they want to own it. So, if I
wanted to learn more about patents, is there a way?
Speaker 6 (20:03):
Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. You can
go to learn more about patents dot com and download
a free white paper, or you can book a consultation
with one of our attorneys at Gearhart Law. That's learn
more about patents dot com. We'll be back with more
Passage profit right after this, and stay tuned. We're going
to be hearing about secrets from the Entrepreneurial Mind coming
(20:27):
up soon.
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Speaker 1 (22:26):
Passage to Profit continues with Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart.
Speaker 6 (22:31):
I just want to point out that Passage to Profit
is nationally syndicated on thirty eight radio stations across the country,
and it's been ranked in the top three percent of
podcasts globally by listen notes and it's a top ten
interview podcast for entrepreneurs according to feed spot database. Elizabeth,
(22:51):
it's time for you to tell us what you're up to.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
I'm wearing my Mani hats. Of course, I love doing
this show. I learned so much that that's one thing
I love. And then I'm doing another podcast with Danielle Woolley.
I had a sick cat that we could not find
a cure for, so we started a podcast about cat health.
It's our little meal cast. It's called the Jersey Podcats Podcast,
and we just talk about cat issues.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
It's pretty fun.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
And then I also about a year ago, Richard and
I have a building in New Jersey and we're trying
to think of what to do with it since everybody's
stayed remote since COVID. So I said, why don't we
rent out the podcast du Doo that we were using
during COVID. That's on the top floor, it's two floors,
and Richard was like, Okay, go ahead.
Speaker 7 (23:35):
So we looked at it.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
Yes, you can make money running podcasts. Use So we're
remodeling the whole thing and we're getting help. We're doing
some of the work ourselves, but we're getting as much
help as we can, but you know it's hard to
get people to come and do work like that. So anyway,
we're getting close to having that done. But I dove
into the podcast world. So one thing I did before
we started this work was to start a meetup called
Podcast and YouTube Creators Community so that we could see
(23:58):
there was any local because meetups are people that are
close by. And I started it with Stacey Sherman and
we decided to make it hybrid, so it's part Zoom,
part people showing up in person, and we've been getting
a great response to it, and it's just Stacy and
me talking about what we had to do to start
our podcast. We've already got almost three under people signed
up and this one is Zoom only. It just shows
(24:20):
there's a huge interest in this area. So that's really
what I've been working on. And I'm going to be
teaching a class just at the Adult School of the
Chathams about very very low level podcasts and like very
intro to podcasting in the spring.
Speaker 6 (24:34):
So you're quite the communicator, am I.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
I can say a lot at once.
Speaker 5 (24:39):
So enough about that. Now we want to go into
the medical minute. This is a news segment that we
put in the show. And it's really cool because we
have doctor Puma here, we have Diane here, who invests
in different companies, and I want to talk a little
bit about some new research that's happening using AI. That's
very I find very exciting. Doctor Puma knew all about this.
(25:01):
I never heard of this place, the Welcome Sanger Institute
in the UK. Can you talk about where they came from?
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
The Welcome Sanger Institute is a nonprofit and it's essentially
the nonprofit arm of with it Harry or Henry Welcome,
who was kind of the UK's version of the Pfizer
Brothers here in the United States. It's now in this
iteration the Glaxo Smith Klein. It was s to but
he was a pharmaceutical entrepreneur, invented different compounds. And the
(25:31):
Sanger Institute that they fund is working on the human
genome right.
Speaker 5 (25:36):
And it's really interesting. So they're using AI now to predict, design,
and engineer biological sequences such as data and proteins. Right now,
they're mapping one point six million gut cells to find
new ways to treat.
Speaker 6 (25:48):
The saking get each one individually.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
But what I ran across was this blog post they did.
The way they're using AI now is they combined twenty
five data sets. So I think in the past would
had to have like a huge computer and take up
many rooms to bring that much data together in one
place you could actually work with it and analyze it.
And now they're using AI and so they've brought together
(26:13):
twenty five data sets, and they've created the largest cohesive
cell at list of the human gut and uncovered a
new way that stomach sales may play a role in
inflammatory ball disease.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
Just fascinating.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
And when I was reading through the article, the blog
post on this actually had a link to this at list,
so like anybody can go look at it, which I
thought was really generous.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
I guess I should say, yeah, sort.
Speaker 6 (26:35):
Of like the human genome, right, where they just kind
of published the library and made it available for everybody.
Why not do that for the gut biome too, Right?
What I think is so interesting is the gut biome
is now being appreciated for all of the impacts that
it has on human health, and so understanding this, I
(26:56):
think is going to be a major step forward in
health generally. Right, I mean, we had Martin Blazer and
his wife Maria Gloria Domingas on the program they did
that Netflix film called The Invisible Extermination, and they talked
about how all of the studies that they did for
(27:16):
the human biome showed that health deteriorated when the people
received too much in terms of antibiotics. The antibiotics would
destroy the gut biome, It would rebuild itself, but it
would do it in a way that was not as healthy,
and diseases in general became more prevalent, and especially with
(27:37):
younger children, underserved communities. People who had received too many
antibiotics over the course of their life had higher incidences
of obesity and heart disease and diabetes. And it's a
really big problem now because physicians are so used to
treating with antibiotics. It's just a standard treatment. And unfortunately,
(27:59):
doctor Blazer did not feel especially optimistic because there's really
no way to control the prescription of these drugs because
people expect them and doctors want to prescribe them.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Well, it's amazing what's happening now. This is what you
would say, is AI for good or technology for good?
Because there's a big debate and ethically there's a big debate. Morally,
there's a good debate. However, we go back twenty five
thirty years when the Human Genome Project was first being
capitalized and taking place, right before the human genome was
(28:31):
actually mapped. I remember being a young attending physician and
we had this promise of targeted therapies for patients based
on their genomics. And now you look in twenty twenty four,
guess what we have targeted therapies for different cancers. We
have lung cancer survival rates now because of biologics that
(28:51):
come from information from the Human Genome Project, right, you know,
you have forty fifty percent five year survival rates. It
used to be eighty percent one year mortality rates. Yes,
you know the same thing for psoriasis, egzema. Biologics to
treat these diseases now. So I think the promise from
a large scale is making people live longer and feel
(29:14):
better again, the two things we can do with targeted
biologic therapy. But you know, especially diseases like sickle cell
Now we finally have through genomics, targeted therapy for sickle
cell disease, which is a devastating disease, but for a
small population right, there's probably one hundred thousand people that
have it, so they're a great promise. I know the
(29:36):
gut's important, but the process that they use, if they
can now apply it to different areas, what the applicability
might be. So I think it's an outstanding, truly amazing.
Twenty years from now, we may not be taking pills
for anything. We may be getting injectables. You know, who knows.
I'm hoping in my lifetime no one needs bypass surgery again.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
I hope.
Speaker 5 (29:59):
So, you know, you know when you talk about these
different illnesses that people have, I love watching Mystery Diagnosis
and I'm like, I didn't even know that could happen
to a person, right, Like having this kind of knowledge
to be able to use this amazing.
Speaker 6 (30:11):
So, Diane, do you have any thoughts about AI and
medical technology.
Speaker 7 (30:17):
I want to focus it back on doctor Joseph Puma.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
I think his technology is incredible three minutes three minute
scan and what you guys have achieved, I'm curious.
Speaker 7 (30:26):
You know, two questions.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
How will the role of AI shape and create a
big opportunity for investors for your technology?
Speaker 2 (30:33):
You know, the companies that develop the AI usually have
a pretty strong ip firewall. And that's why I'm not
sure that government is going to play this is these
are places where politics may not play a role, except
for the fact that politics has the purse strings. Okay,
because now all these health systems work for the government.
But you know, what is AI essentially but a accumulated
(30:56):
knowledge and then b you know, running the possibilities over
and over again. So I believe will come up with
targeted therapies that we would have never thought of before,
would have taken hundreds of years.
Speaker 6 (31:09):
To keep doing.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
If we do the scientific method, test it, fail, test
it differently, you know, that kind of thing, and be
the speed at which we do it. I also believe
it'll get healthcare to communities that otherwise would never get healthcare.
Right now, we go on Google and everyone puts their
symptom ins take my word for it. They show up
in the office and Google.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
Said, guilty, guilty.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Google is root most doctors life than mine. But I
think what we'll find is that today's search engines are
blunt objects. And once we get through several iterations of AI,
in addition to technologies and advancements and therapies, we're going
to find that the AI will be a surgical tool
in helping patients get diagnosis and treatment.
Speaker 7 (31:54):
Incredible.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
I love how you're ahead of the curve and envisioning AI,
whether it be AI, machine learning. What will it take
for you to dominate the market and be the lead.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Sometimes being first to market isn't always the best, even
though people think it's the best. But we've had several
years now to understand the pitfalls, understand the costs associated. Initially, Richard,
I would say the sir and Hartskin was a lost
leader to bring people into the practice, to be quite
honest with it, took us a while to figure out.
(32:24):
But once we figured it out, it now gives us
the ability to scale, which now gives us the ability
to contract with vendors that we need for it to
bring costs down or to get them to look at
it differently.
Speaker 6 (32:38):
Yeah, and that was our medical minute.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
That was quite a few minutes, but I thought that
was a.
Speaker 6 (32:42):
Good discussion Passage Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gerhart.
Speaker 5 (32:46):
So now Diane you has Phoenix Global f e Nix Global.
She's a venture capitalist and she's doing things a little differently,
and we're gonna let her tell her story.
Speaker 7 (32:58):
So welcome thank you.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
So this global represents over one hundred and fifty funds
that are actually woman led, but we've scaled it out
and it's for those that want to commit to diversity
as well.
Speaker 7 (33:08):
Including that.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
We also work with a lot of family offices and
investors and really work with the community of investors driving
demand for anything we see from early stage to late stage,
pre IPO, alternative investments, some commodities, and even trophy assets
such as sports teams.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
I have been in venture capital actually since the typical
route of MBA after graduate school. The fund itself just
on a side note, we have a five hundred million
dollar fund that invest in Africa actually technology and globally.
We're working in partnership with a lot of the first
ladies of Africa.
Speaker 5 (33:42):
So what do you look for in the companies you
invest in in.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
This specific investment thesis, We're looking for technology that would
improve the local African countries. We work together also with
the local governments and partner with local organizations.
Speaker 7 (33:57):
We also give back.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
To HBCUs here in the US to provide a certification
for venture capitals. So we provide an opportunity for African
students and executives to come and get an HBCU education
and the US fully paid for by US as well.
Speaker 6 (34:12):
Is there an extensive program associated with that? It's an
academic program.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
What do people study to get Fortunately they don't have
to go through what I went through. I went through
three of these programs and to get in so for example,
one of them has to lunch over sixty percent of
all vcs and in the world. Another one is partnered
with an ivy league like Stanford. So you get these
you know, great education, interaction with alumni and professors.
Speaker 7 (34:41):
And really getting into this.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
Whether it be a network or certification or business call,
it's all about one thing. It's the network and you're
purchasing that. And so we want an opportunity on our
social impact side of the fund to give back to
African countries and executives that are primed to go a
step further. So similar to many of the programs that
I went through, here to get your education and further
certification and get that network so you can start with
(35:05):
more investment.
Speaker 5 (35:06):
Network is so important.
Speaker 6 (35:08):
Yes, what kinds of companies are being created through your programs?
Speaker 3 (35:13):
We don't create companies, we can advise companies. Definitely, anything
from startup to late stage advice on what are investors
looking for? For example, and I will say, you know,
there are a couple of things that I know that
we're speaking to a lot of entrepreneurs today and your audience,
and there are some biggest fails I would say on
how to turn an investor away.
Speaker 4 (35:34):
We want to hear those so.
Speaker 7 (35:38):
I can run down that as well. They're they're fun.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
I think they're fun for us because we see probably
let's say VCC hundreds if not thousands deals on a
yearly basis, and how much that really is garbage or
prime to have investment? So number one is lack of clarity.
We always hear for these trigger words what is a problem?
Speaker 7 (35:58):
What is a solution?
Speaker 3 (35:59):
When you come right into that pitch and you see us,
you have very few minutes, you know, to really pitch
us the hook the problem just looking for the right words,
you could be the greatest salesman on earth and really
fly through that pitch. But some people just don't understand.
We need a lot of clarity on what is the problem.
A lot of people will talk about the issues in
their industry as an expert, but we still don't understand
(36:22):
the problem. Solution that they're solving. The second is weak leadership.
We see that often where the CEO thinks he may
be the answer to everything and doesn't hire out an
incredible team or doesn't know the missing links to building
out the right team. The other one is too much vision,
too much fluff, but not enough execution. It's most like
(36:42):
a ninety ten ninety percent, but the pitch is a
big idea and ten percent is ignoring what is a
go to market strategy for this overkill on buzzwords, there's overconfidence.
Speaker 7 (36:51):
But no execution.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
The next one is lack of a clear exit. So,
depending especially on the stage of the company, what is
an exit, what is an ROI for for these investors?
And lastly, ignoring feedback or challenges that we gave you.
Dismissing feedback may make you look a bit arrogant and
you may come back again.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
You know.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
One of the success stories we had is a woman
came to pitch and she had everything planned out on
her milestones page and the pitch deck, and she really
threw a low ball to the investors saying, this is
what I will perform in Q one and Q two,
and I'll be back in a year and give you
that update. Well she came back and she outperformed everything,
and all the investors doubled down.
Speaker 6 (37:31):
Doctor Puma, Do you have a question or comment.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
I was listening intently. I wish I had my microphone
on a recorder on what she just.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
Went through that. But well, this will be releasing the podcast.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
I'll be watching this on YouTube and taking that and
sharing that with my partners. That is very sage advice,
And like most advice, it's usually straightforward and simple in
front of you, but we all miss it.
Speaker 6 (37:57):
That was amazing. Yeah, I think the problem solution piece
is important because it's so easy for people who are
so involved in their companies and their industry to not
be able to communicate clearly what is the problem and
what is it that they're trying to solve. And I
think that's a great point. And you can't even run
(38:17):
the business right until you have that clarity to begin with, right,
because that's kind of what everything flows from, is understanding
the problem and understanding the solution. So I think that's
something you want to get down pretty early in the
game if you can.
Speaker 3 (38:33):
I think the misconception is entrepreneurs they're you know, some
of them are maybe a three time CEO founder. Great, well,
they can come in and they should be able to
nail it. Then there are those that are maybe uh
tech engineers or even doctors. They're extremely experiencing their expertise,
but when they come in it has to be boom.
You know, there's clarity in the problem, there's clarity in
(38:53):
the solution because they can get so in tune with
the industry and all this vernacular that we really don't need.
Speaker 5 (39:00):
And that was one thing that we had heard, so
we've been going around to these pitch competitions all this
stuff for years, was that yes, the investors are interested
in your industry, but they're more interested in your team
and how you can communicate to the investor. So they
don't need, for instance, to know how to read a
CT scan, but they do need to know what problem
you're solving, which obvious was very obvious today. So if
(39:22):
you're pitching to an investor, I mean that would be
a no brainer, right, So what is the most important
thing for you?
Speaker 3 (39:29):
You know, we used to say it comes down to
one thing, the founder. It really does. There's a lot too,
there's a lot of soft skill, there's a lot of character.
There's a lot of reading between the lines because at
the end that you invest housands to millions of dollars,
and if they cannot be coachable, if they can't listen,
you know there's going to be a lot of litigation.
Speaker 7 (39:46):
For example, that could helpen That.
Speaker 6 (39:47):
Doesn't sound good. I've heard that said a lot of times.
Is that you want somebody who's open minded and willing
to learn. And you do get a little nervous when
somebody's in the room and they think they know everything,
because nobody knows everything, and you really have to have
a good team and you have to take their input,
take your shoes off, sit down and listen with empathy,
(40:09):
find out what it's on their mind, and soak it
all in.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
I'll tell you one thing on the flip side, as
an entrepreneur, you know, one of the things that always
gets me on my pet peeves is entrepreneurs come pitch
to investors and they're not prepared. They haven't done the
research on what is this VC known for, what are
their exits, what's their secret sauce.
Speaker 7 (40:28):
Because when you're.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
An entrepreneur, whether it be an ice cream truck or
whatever it may be, technology, you want to go to
the best VC who has had an incredible track record,
not two x, maybe one hundred x one hundred and
fifty x in it so many times you want them
to invest in you because you'll be in good hands.
They already have all the growth sales channels to to
help you out to a faster exit.
Speaker 5 (40:48):
That is a really good point. And I've heard that before.
And actually, I know someone is looking for a job
and they're like, I put on all these resumes on.
Speaker 4 (40:54):
Indeed, should I do a cover letter?
Speaker 5 (40:55):
I'm like, if you're going to do a cover letter,
go research that company, Research the CEO, research what they're for,
Research what they're doing. Right now, you know as much
as you can if you're going to apply for a
job there, and then do your cover letter and send them.
Speaker 4 (41:07):
It's almost like applying for a job.
Speaker 5 (41:09):
I mean, you're asking somebody for their money to support
you so you can do this work right, and people
should know all about you as much as they can,
and you make it easy right.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
Do you have office hours?
Speaker 3 (41:19):
Of course, office hours, but typically you don't always meet
the GP, the general partner, meaning the maybe the top
dog of the firm. You'll typically talk to the face
of the company, which would be the analysts or the associates,
because they get the first first blush of the one
hundred deals that are coming in and so go through
that and then they'll pitch to their boss and it'll
go up the ladder and we call it on Mondays.
(41:39):
Don't call vcs on Mondays because they're typically having meetings,
these presentations from associates to general partners on the here's
my top three picks that's going to move forward.
Speaker 6 (41:49):
What do you say to somebody who has an idea
and they want to do something with it and they're
just starting from ground zero?
Speaker 4 (41:56):
What kind of question that is?
Speaker 3 (41:58):
Like extreme ground zero all the way You've.
Speaker 6 (42:01):
Back right, I want to do this product, So what
do you tell them about how to get out there
and do it?
Speaker 3 (42:06):
Well, there's many ways to answer that question, but truly,
is there an opportunity in the market. You're looking at
the competitor landscape?
Speaker 7 (42:14):
What is a market opportunity?
Speaker 3 (42:15):
How difficult all the hurdles, and then you have to
integrate technology. I mean, there are some vcs, but we're
not known to invest in non technology.
Speaker 7 (42:23):
We're known to invest in AI and technology.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
And once you get those buzzwords in you really have
to defend yourself. I have AI tech coming great, but
what is the best use of AI that you have?
Speaker 7 (42:33):
What are you using it for?
Speaker 3 (42:34):
Because once you use AI, sure you get access to
a huge tunnel of funding versus not having AI going back.
Is there truly a market opportunity? Are you the leader,
are you the talent with the industry experience, or do
you have the team to come in and do that.
Speaker 5 (42:50):
So I started doing the marketing at your heart Law
because we weren't happy with the agencies and people that
would hire because it's such a niche thing. Patents, trademarks, copyrights,
people get them confused. But how much of marketing do
you want these people to have? Like should they have
done studies? Should they have done focus groups? Should they
be bringing that to you?
Speaker 7 (43:07):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (43:07):
I mean I'm telling you we lift up the hood
and will ask one hundred questions because again we may
be writing a check for X amount.
Speaker 7 (43:15):
We will go through.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Every single It's called a data room. So once we
sign our access to the data room, we'll go in
and that's what the entrepreneur uploads every single hundreds, if
not thousands of files from every board meeting to your
p and L to everything so that we can go
through and catch those red flags.
Speaker 7 (43:32):
We will ask you.
Speaker 3 (43:33):
How many people did you interview to prove or what
was your pilot? If you say ten, we may walk away.
If you say a couple hundred, then there may be
some evidence.
Speaker 6 (43:43):
Doctor Prouveman, it's really incredible.
Speaker 2 (43:45):
The one thing I never really thought of is the
milestones and how do you get to market? Right, it's challenging.
On the medical side, we never think about going to
the market. You know, who deals with private equity. We
deal with patients. But how do you construct those concepts
or explain those concepts a little further?
Speaker 3 (44:02):
Yeah, that's what excites me is it really comes down
to a lot of finance and numbers and when are
you going to hit your break even Let's say your
startup company. As you had mentioned, I have to go
do your research, your R and D have to prove it,
and then you have to write your pitch deck and
you have to write these milestones to pitch to the
investor and on that. It's really driven by numbers. So
within the first year we look for when are you
(44:24):
going to break even or when are you going to
hit your first million. These are considered some milestones, and
then you backtrack from there and you consider what are
the growth sales channels that I have to plug in?
How am I going to scale? But then there's a
lot of other financial questions that come with them.
Speaker 6 (44:38):
And it takes a lot of time to do that.
By the way, if you're an entrepreneur and you're just
throwing together a deck, but the deck represents all of
your thinking about the business and why it's going to
be successful and how you're going to get there right,
So that deck is really your blueprint for what's going
to happen with your company, and then you have to
(45:01):
convince your potential investors that this blueprint makes sense, it
has a good chance of success.
Speaker 3 (45:07):
Well, what's missing lot from these pitch chicks is the
finance part of the deck. You know, the business revenue model.
I'm always asking where's your business? What is your business
revenue model? You know, make it very succinct. But that
all goes into the milestones as well.
Speaker 5 (45:21):
So do you feel like if somebody came to you
with a deck and their very first slide was I'm
going to start with the return on the investment and
work backwards from there.
Speaker 4 (45:31):
Would you like that approach?
Speaker 7 (45:33):
Yeah, it's not typical.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
I guess you could use it as a hook, right, yeah.
Speaker 5 (45:38):
Because I know we've been to some of these and
the people don't have a strong financial part. It's like
they do, I don't know, half an hour and then
two minutes.
Speaker 4 (45:46):
Of financial say well we think it's going to do this.
They have this exponential curve.
Speaker 7 (45:51):
I mean out there.
Speaker 3 (45:51):
Then dates the investors writing let's say one dollar to
a million dollars, they want to know, am I going
to get a five X in one year?
Speaker 5 (45:58):
Two years?
Speaker 6 (45:59):
It requires making decisions, and sometimes the people who are
pitching the project don't really have the experience to make
those decisions in the right way. Which is not to
say they can't be successful or they can't learn, but
they don't have enough experience with the product or the
industry to be able to say, oh, yeah, this is
what the margin I can sell this for this maybe
(46:20):
it's a new product. Who knows what they can sell
it for? Right. You're kind of in a tough spot sometimes,
I think, but you have to do something, and what
you have to put up there has to be credible.
Speaker 3 (46:29):
I would say in the state of VC kind of
going further from the early stage to the late stage.
The VC market has really gone under some difficult times
post COVID as people are investors or family offices are
looking to invest in in less risk. What's really hot
is secondary market and secondary market meaning late stage, pre IPO,
(46:50):
faster liquidity, and a lot of these companies are billions
of dollars in revenue and definitely in valuation. But their
table stake's name, you know, their anthropic open AI, right chat, GPT,
SpaceX and a lot of these companies want access to
that because probably you know, like Canva and the next
by twenty twenty five there will be an exit and
if you looked at their last quarterly earnings, it's it's
(47:12):
pretty incredible. So you want to get into these very
limited access cap table.
Speaker 5 (47:16):
This has been really valuable. How do people find you?
Speaker 3 (47:19):
You can find us on my LinkedIn that's fine. You
can also check out our podcast which is separate from
Phoenix Global. Would love to meet yous well as a
guest on our show and Identity Unveiled is a network
of over twelve hundred AAPI, Asian, American, Pacific Islander C level.
Speaker 5 (47:36):
Executives Diane you Gia, n E Space, Yo, Oh, Phoenix
Global FBNIX. So thank you so much, Diane.
Speaker 6 (47:45):
Stay tuned. We'll be back with more Passage to Profit
and Secrets of the entrepreneur mind.
Speaker 13 (47:51):
I'm Jack CEO and co founder at ushabits dot Com.
When I left my job as a Wall Street banker
back in my twenties, I felt completely lost trying to
navigate the process of hiring a financial advisor. I thought
it should be easy to find the right financial advisor,
so I created a place where young families could feel
understood and their unique needs would be met with empathy
(48:12):
and expertise. That's why I started usehabits dot com, where
we help you find your financial advisor free of charge.
Use habits dot com.
Speaker 2 (48:21):
It's Passage to Profit.
Speaker 11 (48:23):
Now it's time for Noah's retrospective. Noah Fleischmann is our
amazing producer here at Passage to Profit, and you know what,
He just has a way of putting his best memories
in perspective.
Speaker 14 (48:34):
Whether it's business or social. Communication is key, especially the
verbal kind. With all the texting and emailing going on nowadays,
it's become a very elite quality. As a kid. My
mother wouldn't let me out of a house if I
didn't speak with absolute perfection. I had some great times
around the house. But the point is your spoken words
are your lasting image. My parents were like E. F.
Speaker 2 (48:56):
Hutton.
Speaker 14 (48:57):
When they spoke, people listened, people had When they spoke,
you couldn't hear anything else. It was like that big
in the convenience store. I'm fifteen years old and I'm
with my mother and these two girls from my English
class come walking in. My mother calls out from two
rows away. You want me to ask them if they
have a bathroom, But can you wait till we get home.
So distinctly spoken, no one missed a syllable, and she
(49:17):
certainly put those two girls to shame. By the time
she was done, they were so busy, doubled over laughing,
they couldn't even get two words out of their.
Speaker 1 (49:24):
Mouths Now more with Richard and Elizabeth Passage to Profit.
Speaker 5 (49:28):
And our special guest today, doctor Joseph Puma, and our
other guest Diane You it has been just a fabulous show.
Speaker 6 (49:35):
But new absolutely incredible.
Speaker 5 (49:37):
It is now time for Secrets of the Entrepreneurial Mind.
This is where our guests give a secret that they've
used to help make them successful, or a secret about
something that you should never do, because really what you're doing.
Speaker 4 (49:51):
So doctor Joseph A.
Speaker 5 (49:53):
Puma of soeign medicalny dot com, who is a doctor,
a cardiologist, has his ow practice, what would you tell
listeners that's a good secret.
Speaker 2 (50:04):
I think the entrepreneurial mind analyzes what's happening and they
typically do not follow the pack, looking for unmet needs
and coming up with novel and new ways to solve
unmet needs. You'll be surprised how many there are.
Speaker 5 (50:19):
Yeah, where everybody else sees so this is nice. They're like,
I can make that better.
Speaker 2 (50:23):
That's the key point. How do you make it better?
But it's not just making a better mouse trap, you know,
as Diane said earlier, if you're looking for venture money,
don't say, oh, you're going to make a better mousetrap
with you know, wooden nails. It's got to be technology driven.
You got to identify what the need is and how
you're going to solve that need. But I think it's
the mind of an entrepreneur trying to answer that question,
(50:44):
what could we do different? That's the secret, Diane.
Speaker 3 (50:47):
I've seen some really successful entrepreneurs, and they're coming back
and saying, look, in the next five years, I'm going
to make five hundred million dollars. And they're very sure
of it, and that's their one focus, and they're going
to exit. Well, how do they do all this? How
do they even hit a billion dollars in the next
decade or so? I think it really comes down to,
having seen so many cases, is relationship. I mean, I
(51:07):
can just whittle off you got to work on this
and this and this and all these hard skills, when
really the success I've seen and the entrepreneurs that do
make five hundred million in five years is honing relationship.
Speaker 7 (51:19):
You already have the chops all aside.
Speaker 3 (51:21):
They come in and they're extremely experienced and have all
the know how, but it's a relational aspect of meeting
with investors knowing the long term game.
Speaker 5 (51:31):
Relationships has come up a lot on this show as
a very important factor that really smart people off and overlooked.
Speaker 2 (51:40):
Relationships are hard, they take time and they take effort.
Speaker 5 (51:43):
And we've had some shows like this one, I think
where people develop a synergy between themselves the guests that
we bring in. I prefer to do a lot of
things in person, but I am kind of lazy sometimes,
so I do like some things too well.
Speaker 6 (51:56):
My secrets actually inspired by our two guests, So part
of it was a discussion that doctor Puma and I
were having about next steps at this phase of our career,
and Diane talking about the next entrepreneur who had a
five million dollar goal. And so my thinking is always
(52:17):
think big and always look for the next big step.
Speaker 5 (52:23):
And I feel like entrepreneurs have to have a part
of their brain that can look into the future. So
kind of funny when Richard and I started this six
and a half years ago, this radio show, people thought
we were crazy in the entrepreneurial community in northern New
Jersey where we are. It has turned out to be
a very beneficial thing for us. It's given us not
just revenue for the law firm, but a lot of
(52:44):
benefits in business, in personal life, and just to be
able to maybe take out a telescope and see if
you can see something further down the road. It's hard
to do, but that's kind of what entrepreneurs do.
Speaker 2 (52:55):
There were always the people that have ideas that people
are telling them not to do. Yeah, the people telling
them not to do it all the yes people.
Speaker 6 (53:06):
Yeah, that's great. Passage to Profit is a nationally syndicated
radio show appearing in thirty eight markets across the United States.
In addition, Passage to Profit has also been recently selected
by feed Spot Podcasters database as a top ten entrepreneur
interview podcast. Thank you to the P two P team,
(53:26):
our producer Noah Fleischman, and our program coordinator Alisha Morrissey
and our studio assistant Brissy Cabbasari. Look for our podcast
tomorrow anywhere you get your podcasts. Our podcast is ranked
in the top three percent globally. You can also find
us on Facebook, Instagram, x and on our YouTube channel.
And remember, while the information on this program is believed
(53:48):
to be correct, never take a legal step without checking
with your legal professional first. Gearheart Law is here for
your patent, trademark and copyright needs. You can find us
at gearheartlaw dot com and contact us for free consultation.
Take care, everybody, thanks for listening, and we'll be back
next week.
Speaker 1 (54:04):
The proceeding was a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.
The following is a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
We tireneered cardiac cathorization on an eighteen wheel truck.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Boom. There's clarity in the problem, there's clarity in the solution.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
I'm Richard Gerhart and I'm Elizabeth Gearhart.
Speaker 5 (00:19):
You just heard some snippets from our show. It was
a great one. Stay tuned to hear tips about how
you can start your business.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Ramping up your business. The time is near. You've given
it hard, now get it in gear. It's Passage to
Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart.
Speaker 6 (00:39):
I'm Richard Gearhart, founder of Gearheart Law, a full service
intellectual property law firm specializing in patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
Speaker 5 (00:46):
And I'm Elizabeth Gearhart. Not an attorney, but I do
marketing for Gearheart Law, and I have my own startups
and podcasts.
Speaker 6 (00:52):
Welcome to Passage to Profit, the Road to Entrepreneurship, where
we talk with entrepreneurs and celebrities who tell their stories
about their business journey and also share helpful insights about
the successes that they've had.
Speaker 5 (01:05):
Did you know that two in five Americans want to
start a new business or our business owners. We have
lots of information to help them too, and we.
Speaker 6 (01:13):
Also talk a little about the intellectual property that helps
them flourish. We have on our show doctor Joe Puma,
who is just an amazing physician. I went and visited
his office not too long ago and it was an
amazing experience. He's one of the top cardiologists in the
world and he has lots of interesting things to tell
you about your heart and cardiology.
Speaker 5 (01:34):
And then we have Diane You who doesn't love having
an investor on the show.
Speaker 4 (01:39):
She's a venture capitalist.
Speaker 5 (01:41):
She founded Phoenix Global and she's going to talk about
her investments and how this whole thing's working out great.
Speaker 6 (01:47):
But before we get to our distinguished guests, it's time
for your new business journey. Two and five Americans are
already business owners or are thinking about starting business, and
we always like to ask our panel question so that
our listeners and audience can get to know the business
landscape a little bit better. So today the question is
(02:08):
what are the dangers of being a yes person in business?
So doctor Puma, welcome to the show. What are the
dangers of being a yes person in the world of business.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Well, Richard, thanks so much for inviting me. Elizabeth, good
to see you. I think that's a great question. One
of the challenges of being a yes person is it
doesn't allow you to think through what you really want
to accomplish or who you really want to be. Saying
no or challenging the orthodoxy is what really allows you
to determine where the opportunities are in business. Now, if
(02:40):
you just want to stay in the background, not be noticed,
and you know, have some security in your job, keep
saying yes until those days end.
Speaker 6 (02:51):
Well, you know, it's really funny because what you say
is absolutely true. It takes a lot of work to
stand up for your opinions, not to mention a little
bit risky, which I think you alluded to, but it
takes a lot of energy. If somebody says, Okay, well
we'll try it your way, that means usually you have
to do it right, and so that's something that we
(03:12):
need to keep in mind. Diane, welcome to the show.
Speaker 7 (03:15):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (03:15):
We're definitely interested in hearing your answer to this question,
which is what are the dangers of being a yes
person in a business?
Speaker 7 (03:23):
The two things.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
Number one is yes fails to provide critical feedback, and
number two, it's an echo chamber. Yes creates an echo
chamber of people that are more not wanting to talk,
and it doesn't create like disruption for innovation.
Speaker 6 (03:36):
Those are good points, Elizabeth.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
I feel like yes men or yes women or whatever.
Eventually you get thrown under the bus, like something happens
and the guy maybe two or three stories above you
doesn't like what happened, and your manager is like, well, yeah,
but she said it was okay to do, so she
blame her, and then you get fired.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
But I also think it just type a person.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
You know we're going to talk about on ip in
the news, somebody that did something to get back at
his employer, and you just kind of wonder, like, how
many times does this guy shut down because he tried
to say no instead of yes?
Speaker 6 (04:11):
Right, Well, I guess the moral of the story is,
don't be a yes person if you don't have to be,
but still watch your p's and q's and we all
do have to cooperate to somebody.
Speaker 5 (04:21):
That paycheck you can't say and if you need that paycheck.
Speaker 6 (04:24):
So anyway, it's time now for our main guest interview,
and I've been really enjoying my relationship with doctor Uma.
We've gotten to know each other a little bit over
the last couple of weeks. First of all, just tell
us about your practice, all the things that you've done,
and all of the things that you're doing.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
I'm an interventional cardiologist. I spent the first half of
my career living in North Carolina. I was on faculty
at Due Hospital and to do clinical research institute, and
so it was a combination of clinical practice, developed community
networks in underserved communities, with Duke as the centerpiece for
(05:04):
tertiary care. But the goal was to try and bring
cardiovascular care into communities. And as you know, North Carolina
is a rural state, so we pioneered doing cardiac cathorization
on an eighteen wheel truck, bringing it to the different communities.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
How did that work out?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
You know, Elizabeth, It's amazing what you can actually accomplish
when you see a need, right.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
I mean, I just can't imagine having surgery in a truck.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Well, it was pretty mach Listen. I won't take credit
for any ideas, but these were other people's ideas or
other people's businesses. What I will take credit for is
being able to figure out what the needs of patients
are in different communities and then looking what's out there
in the marketplace and knowing how to utilize them. And
that's what we've done. Richard at Soren Medical Sourin I
(05:51):
named after a priest's father, Edward Soren, who was the
founder of the University of Notre Dame. I was inspired
by his backstory in his history when my older daughter
was an undergrad and Notre Dame, and his motto was
be a force for good in this world. And I
was very concerned about what was going to happen to
(06:11):
patients and physicians after the Affordable Care Act, and so
what I did was I took disparate technologies AI software,
technology that's available that was commercially available already, the best
imaging camera that was made in the world, and a
process and system and trademarked it and called it the
(06:33):
sore In Heart Scan. And we are now the number
one quality scan in America for eight quarters two years running.
And the reason I'm on your show and the way
we met is I've, in addition to that, coupled with that,
as I'm an older physician now and thought I was
set in my ways, recognized that I need to engage
(06:54):
in patients with patients in a different way. I might
not be able to change the law, but we can
certainly change the way we engage with patients. And since
then we have published improved outcomes, higher quality, greater access,
lower cost than traditional cardiovascular care.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
So I'm just curious, do people need to come to
your clinic in New York to get this or do
you have it going around on trucks still or I mean.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
We're working on now or model to put it on
an eighteen wheeler, but even through urban communities, and we're
now working And I'm glad to meet Diane today because
we're working with investment bankers and private equity to now
scale this on a national.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
Level because I love this mobile aspect of it. As
you say, you see where the need is greatest and
find a solution for that need, then you can go
anywhere with it. Are you opening any other storefronts like
medical clinics for it?
Speaker 2 (07:45):
So we have about twenty five office based facilities between
Orange County and the boroughs in New York, including Iglewood,
New Jersey. But our flagship, which is an ambulatory surgical
center and where the sore and heartskin sits is out
on Wall Street, right on the corner of Wall Street
in South Street. So the challenge in medicine as reimbursements
(08:06):
go down. We're one of the only businesses from a
business standpoint where every year we get paid less and
that's programmed into coms. You can't be an independent practice
today and not figure out the business side, and so
that's where we're at now, trying to figure out the
We think we have the business model figured out, we
think we have the approach to marketing and patient engagement
(08:29):
figured out, and now we're working on the financing for
both fixed based sites as well as mobile lab There's
no reason you can't drive an eighteen wheeler with a
sore and heart scan into any community and do twenty
five or thirty sore and heartscan. And let's remember, heart
disease is the number one killer. Doctors can only do
(08:51):
two things for patients, make them feel better or live longer.
And despite the promise of the Affordable Care Act, the
reality is in the left US fourteen years, survival in
the United States has gone down, and that's not just
from COVID. So there's a lot of work we can
do to improve the lives of our community, improve outcomes
(09:14):
for patients. Just got to be a little innovative and
stop saying.
Speaker 6 (09:17):
Yes passage to profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gerhart. Doctor
Joe Puma just an amazing physician. I went and visited
his office not too long ago. One of the things
that you mentioned before was the inexpensive nature of this
superior heart scan.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
I don't want to be political, but politics are now
in healthcare right in ways that we never imagined before.
But let's go back to twenty ten. One of the
major reasons for the Affordable Care Act was to, in
the words the president at the time, flatten the curve
on the rise of healthcare costs in the US. In
twenty ten, healthcare costs were at about fourteen percent of
(09:59):
GDP in the country. Where are we today over twenty percent.
It's essentially the largest business in the world. Let me
get back to your first question. First, A caronary CT
scan which can then give you with that data and
just a blood pressure and a cluster or profile, it
can give you a ten year risk of heart attack,
death or stroke. That's pretty valuable for men over forty
(10:21):
and women over fifty. Okay, And we'll get not only
assessment of the actual arteries, images of the arteries in
your heart plaque analysis whether it's calcified, non calcified, at
risk of a heart attack or not at risk. And
if there is blockage, we'll get an assessment of if
that blockage is severe and needs a coronary stent to
(10:43):
clear it away or bypass. I try and deal with
health and in a positive way. And yes, we always
talk about everything with a background of diet and exercise,
but I have to start looking at healthcare from a
business standpoint. We think we have a better product. It's
far less expensive, and we think it's both sustainable and
scalable and improve health of any community that we're in,
(11:05):
which is what's important to me. Seventy five to eighty
percent of doctors now work for a health system, which
means you are no longer employing them, Elizabeth, when you
see them. They are employed by the people that want
them to say yes, let's keep that in mind, right. Remember,
HMOs are just a healthcare delivery payment system. The Affordable
(11:26):
Care Act is a healthcare delivery payment system in an HMO.
The goal was to constrain costs, and those companies did great.
If you were a CEO of an HMO, you made
a lot of money. And the way they constrained costs
is by not providing care.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Right and they didn't, then okay.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
And then if you had to get it anyway and
you paid for it and tried to get reimbursed, well,
good luck.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
Listen. I'm not arguing that in a fee for service
environment there are challenges where costs can get out of control.
But we have proven now when you take the doctor
out of the equation and the patient loses choice, the
rate of rise is higher and the quality of care
is less. Of course, I can tell you there were
(12:12):
already companies being formed for caronary CT. Will they have
the quality of a sore and heart skin? I don't know.
We're pretty good. We can figure out a way to
make it economically viable and it's actually a great business model.
Speaker 6 (12:24):
Doctor Joe Puma, who is one of the top cardiologists
in the world. Passage Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gerhart
will be back after this commercial break. Stay tuned for
Secrets of the Entrepreneurial Mind coming up later in the program.
Speaker 8 (12:39):
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Speaker 1 (14:38):
Now back to Passage to profit once again. Richard and
Elizabeth Gearhart and.
Speaker 5 (14:43):
Our special guest, doctor Joe Puma, and we've been having
a spirited discussion about healthcare, and he has developed this innovative,
low cost solution and it's not even for when you're sick.
It's a preventative solution. It just blows my mind how
smart this guy is. But he also has a new
vent or he's starting called check In.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
The check In it's a hip hop health series. The
check In reaches out specifically to the hip hop community
because the rates of heart disease, the rates of high
blood pressure, the rates of heart attacks and strokes are
two to three times higher in black Americans compared to
whiteer Asian Americans. The goal was just an entertainment type
approach to bring stories to life around important healthcare issues,
(15:26):
primarily cardiovascular health. And we've actually filmed the actual procedures
we do at our ambulatory surgical center Wow again. Using technology,
we've worked with a startup and we are amazoning healthcare
go on our websites Soeign medicalny dot com. There's a
button that says a Soeign marketplace that's powered by a
company called Superscripts. You click on it. It has a
(15:49):
menu of tests or procedures, including consultations to see the doctor.
You put in your insurance information. Actually, all you need
to put in is basically two clicks. It'll tell you
if you're insured and covers it. It'll tell you what
your copey is, it'll tell you what if you've met
your deductible, and you could go right online and schedule
your sore and heart scan or consultation. So these are
(16:10):
the ways that we're using technology partnering with other companies
to improve efficiency and workflow so that we can survive
in this new healthcare environment.
Speaker 6 (16:21):
That's great, doctor Joe Puma.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Richard, thanks so much for inviting me. Elizabeth. Good to
see you.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
Passage to Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gearheart.
Speaker 6 (16:30):
Time for intellectual property news.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Oh it is.
Speaker 6 (16:32):
What could be more interesting than intellectual property?
Speaker 11 (16:35):
Come up?
Speaker 5 (16:35):
We were talking about people being yes men and getting
so ticked off the companies they worked for.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
They couldn't take it anymore.
Speaker 6 (16:42):
So I couldn't.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
What did somebody do about that?
Speaker 6 (16:45):
Richard? Well, this guy worked for Google. He was an
engineer and apparently things didn't go quite right for him.
Worked for Google for two years. He left and he
took a bunch of confidential information and he posted it
on the internet. And what he was doing, I'm just
going to read from the article by Blake Britain from Reuter's.
He said that he is going to tout his dominion
(17:08):
over the secrets and social media posts and he was
tagging competitors making threatening statements to the company, including I
need to take unethical means to get what I am
entitled to and remembers that empires fall and so will you.
(17:28):
So anyway, obviously Google actually behaved pretty well. I know
a lot of employers that would not behave as well.
But they asked him a couple of times to please
take down the information, and he just got more stirred
up and he posted more information. So finally Google had
to assume him. I guess they sued him in Texas.
(17:50):
They've even drawn more publicity to it because as this
has actually been in a couple of newswire services, so
it's a trade secret case. And I guess the moral
of the story is you can't really you shouldn't really
do that. But he was probably a yes man most
of his Google career and he just popped and blew
a feud. So anyway, Dan, do you have any thoughts
(18:13):
on this situation? I mean, what do you think does
this happen very often in your experience.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Absolutely, we see it, unfortunately, and also people that want
to take revenge. I have been ousted as CEOs because maybe
some investors or board members think that there needs to
be new leadership.
Speaker 7 (18:29):
So we do see that.
Speaker 6 (18:30):
I don't know if I were in that situation, would
I just go quietly or would I vent my frustration
at the world.
Speaker 5 (18:38):
Well, aren't your options pretty limited with just trade secrets?
I mean, there are some things you can do about
trade secrets, but if you have a patent. I know,
everybody gets to see the technology if you have a patent,
but there's a lot more you could do with the patent, right.
Speaker 6 (18:49):
So that's a good point. If the technology were protected
with patents, it really probably wouldn't matter so much. Anyway,
these secrets were like hardware, so they were chip designs
which probably were protected by patents. Google would protect that
kind of stuff with a patent, and so putting trade
secrets out there still is not a good thing, But
(19:11):
it doesn't mean that the competitors get to use the technology, right. So,
doctor Puma, what do you think?
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Well, I think, as Diane says, there's many disgruntled employees.
You know, the workplace could be frustrating. Sometimes they have
legitimate complaints. However, I mean it's kind of like your
girlfriend throwing all your stuff out the third floor window.
I mean it's like, come on, man.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Come.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Well, it's a tricky one.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
I mean, I can see how people get upset and
they want to spill the secrets all these fights were having. Now,
if you come up with an idea, well, if you
work for someone like Google, you sign away your rights
to your ideas, right right, You've.
Speaker 6 (19:48):
Got this lavish paycheck and incredible benefits. You're hired to
invent for the company. So the company should own it, right, right.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
So that's why so many people want to be entrepreneurs,
right because they want to own it. So, if I
wanted to learn more about patents, is there a way?
Speaker 6 (20:03):
Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. You can
go to learn more about patents dot com and download
a free white paper, or you can book a consultation
with one of our attorneys at Gearhart Law. That's learn
more about patents dot com. We'll be back with more
Passage profit right after this, and stay tuned. We're going
to be hearing about secrets from the Entrepreneurial Mind coming
(20:27):
up soon.
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Speaker 1 (22:26):
Passage to Profit continues with Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart.
Speaker 6 (22:31):
I just want to point out that Passage to Profit
is nationally syndicated on thirty eight radio stations across the country,
and it's been ranked in the top three percent of
podcasts globally by listen notes and it's a top ten
interview podcast for entrepreneurs according to feed spot database. Elizabeth,
(22:51):
it's time for you to tell us what you're up to.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
I'm wearing my Mani hats. Of course, I love doing
this show. I learned so much that that's one thing
I love. And then I'm doing another podcast with Danielle Woolley.
I had a sick cat that we could not find
a cure for, so we started a podcast about cat health.
It's our little meal cast. It's called the Jersey Podcats Podcast,
and we just talk about cat issues.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
It's pretty fun.
Speaker 5 (23:18):
And then I also about a year ago, Richard and
I have a building in New Jersey and we're trying
to think of what to do with it since everybody's
stayed remote since COVID. So I said, why don't we
rent out the podcast du Doo that we were using
during COVID. That's on the top floor, it's two floors,
and Richard was like, Okay, go ahead.
Speaker 7 (23:35):
So we looked at it.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
Yes, you can make money running podcasts. Use So we're
remodeling the whole thing and we're getting help. We're doing
some of the work ourselves, but we're getting as much
help as we can, but you know it's hard to
get people to come and do work like that. So anyway,
we're getting close to having that done. But I dove
into the podcast world. So one thing I did before
we started this work was to start a meetup called
Podcast and YouTube Creators Community so that we could see
(23:58):
there was any local because meetups are people that are
close by. And I started it with Stacey Sherman and
we decided to make it hybrid, so it's part Zoom,
part people showing up in person, and we've been getting
a great response to it, and it's just Stacy and
me talking about what we had to do to start
our podcast. We've already got almost three under people signed
up and this one is Zoom only. It just shows
(24:20):
there's a huge interest in this area. So that's really
what I've been working on. And I'm going to be
teaching a class just at the Adult School of the
Chathams about very very low level podcasts and like very
intro to podcasting in the spring.
Speaker 6 (24:34):
So you're quite the communicator, am I.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
I can say a lot at once.
Speaker 5 (24:39):
So enough about that. Now we want to go into
the medical minute. This is a news segment that we
put in the show. And it's really cool because we
have doctor Puma here, we have Diane here, who invests
in different companies, and I want to talk a little
bit about some new research that's happening using AI. That's
very I find very exciting. Doctor Puma knew all about this.
(25:01):
I never heard of this place, the Welcome Sanger Institute
in the UK. Can you talk about where they came from?
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Sure?
Speaker 2 (25:07):
The Welcome Sanger Institute is a nonprofit and it's essentially
the nonprofit arm of with it Harry or Henry Welcome,
who was kind of the UK's version of the Pfizer
Brothers here in the United States. It's now in this
iteration the Glaxo Smith Klein. It was s to but
he was a pharmaceutical entrepreneur, invented different compounds. And the
(25:31):
Sanger Institute that they fund is working on the human
genome right.
Speaker 5 (25:36):
And it's really interesting. So they're using AI now to predict, design,
and engineer biological sequences such as data and proteins. Right now,
they're mapping one point six million gut cells to find
new ways to treat.
Speaker 6 (25:48):
The saking get each one individually.
Speaker 5 (25:51):
But what I ran across was this blog post they did.
The way they're using AI now is they combined twenty
five data sets. So I think in the past would
had to have like a huge computer and take up
many rooms to bring that much data together in one
place you could actually work with it and analyze it.
And now they're using AI and so they've brought together
(26:13):
twenty five data sets, and they've created the largest cohesive
cell at list of the human gut and uncovered a
new way that stomach sales may play a role in
inflammatory ball disease.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
Just fascinating.
Speaker 5 (26:24):
And when I was reading through the article, the blog
post on this actually had a link to this at list,
so like anybody can go look at it, which I
thought was really generous.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
I guess I should say, yeah, sort.
Speaker 6 (26:35):
Of like the human genome, right, where they just kind
of published the library and made it available for everybody.
Why not do that for the gut biome too, Right?
What I think is so interesting is the gut biome
is now being appreciated for all of the impacts that
it has on human health, and so understanding this, I
(26:56):
think is going to be a major step forward in
health generally. Right, I mean, we had Martin Blazer and
his wife Maria Gloria Domingas on the program they did
that Netflix film called The Invisible Extermination, and they talked
about how all of the studies that they did for
(27:16):
the human biome showed that health deteriorated when the people
received too much in terms of antibiotics. The antibiotics would
destroy the gut biome, It would rebuild itself, but it
would do it in a way that was not as healthy,
and diseases in general became more prevalent, and especially with
(27:37):
younger children, underserved communities. People who had received too many
antibiotics over the course of their life had higher incidences
of obesity and heart disease and diabetes. And it's a
really big problem now because physicians are so used to
treating with antibiotics. It's just a standard treatment. And unfortunately,
(27:59):
doctor Blazer did not feel especially optimistic because there's really
no way to control the prescription of these drugs because
people expect them and doctors want to prescribe them.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Well, it's amazing what's happening now. This is what you
would say, is AI for good or technology for good?
Because there's a big debate and ethically there's a big debate. Morally,
there's a good debate. However, we go back twenty five
thirty years when the Human Genome Project was first being
capitalized and taking place, right before the human genome was
(28:31):
actually mapped. I remember being a young attending physician and
we had this promise of targeted therapies for patients based
on their genomics. And now you look in twenty twenty four,
guess what we have targeted therapies for different cancers. We
have lung cancer survival rates now because of biologics that
(28:51):
come from information from the Human Genome Project, right, you know,
you have forty fifty percent five year survival rates. It
used to be eighty percent one year mortality rates. Yes,
you know the same thing for psoriasis, egzema. Biologics to
treat these diseases now. So I think the promise from
a large scale is making people live longer and feel
(29:14):
better again, the two things we can do with targeted
biologic therapy. But you know, especially diseases like sickle cell
Now we finally have through genomics, targeted therapy for sickle
cell disease, which is a devastating disease, but for a
small population right, there's probably one hundred thousand people that
have it, so they're a great promise. I know the
(29:36):
gut's important, but the process that they use, if they
can now apply it to different areas, what the applicability
might be. So I think it's an outstanding, truly amazing.
Twenty years from now, we may not be taking pills
for anything. We may be getting injectables. You know, who knows.
I'm hoping in my lifetime no one needs bypass surgery again.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
I hope.
Speaker 5 (29:59):
So, you know, you know when you talk about these
different illnesses that people have, I love watching Mystery Diagnosis
and I'm like, I didn't even know that could happen
to a person, right, Like having this kind of knowledge
to be able to use this amazing.
Speaker 6 (30:11):
So, Diane, do you have any thoughts about AI and
medical technology.
Speaker 7 (30:17):
I want to focus it back on doctor Joseph Puma.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
I think his technology is incredible three minutes three minute
scan and what you guys have achieved, I'm curious.
Speaker 7 (30:26):
You know, two questions.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
How will the role of AI shape and create a
big opportunity for investors for your technology?
Speaker 2 (30:33):
You know, the companies that develop the AI usually have
a pretty strong ip firewall. And that's why I'm not
sure that government is going to play this is these
are places where politics may not play a role, except
for the fact that politics has the purse strings. Okay,
because now all these health systems work for the government.
But you know, what is AI essentially but a accumulated
(30:56):
knowledge and then b you know, running the possibilities over
and over again. So I believe will come up with
targeted therapies that we would have never thought of before,
would have taken hundreds of years.
Speaker 6 (31:09):
To keep doing.
Speaker 2 (31:09):
If we do the scientific method, test it, fail, test
it differently, you know, that kind of thing, and be
the speed at which we do it. I also believe
it'll get healthcare to communities that otherwise would never get healthcare.
Right now, we go on Google and everyone puts their
symptom ins take my word for it. They show up
in the office and Google.
Speaker 4 (31:30):
Said, guilty, guilty.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Google is root most doctors life than mine. But I
think what we'll find is that today's search engines are
blunt objects. And once we get through several iterations of AI,
in addition to technologies and advancements and therapies, we're going
to find that the AI will be a surgical tool
in helping patients get diagnosis and treatment.
Speaker 7 (31:54):
Incredible.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
I love how you're ahead of the curve and envisioning AI,
whether it be AI, machine learning. What will it take
for you to dominate the market and be the lead.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Sometimes being first to market isn't always the best, even
though people think it's the best. But we've had several
years now to understand the pitfalls, understand the costs associated. Initially, Richard,
I would say the sir and Hartskin was a lost
leader to bring people into the practice, to be quite
honest with it, took us a while to figure out.
(32:24):
But once we figured it out, it now gives us
the ability to scale, which now gives us the ability
to contract with vendors that we need for it to
bring costs down or to get them to look at
it differently.
Speaker 6 (32:38):
Yeah, and that was our medical minute.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
That was quite a few minutes, but I thought that
was a.
Speaker 6 (32:42):
Good discussion Passage Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gerhart.
Speaker 5 (32:46):
So now Diane you has Phoenix Global f e Nix Global.
She's a venture capitalist and she's doing things a little differently,
and we're gonna let her tell her story.
Speaker 7 (32:58):
So welcome thank you.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
So this global represents over one hundred and fifty funds
that are actually woman led, but we've scaled it out
and it's for those that want to commit to diversity
as well.
Speaker 7 (33:08):
Including that.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
We also work with a lot of family offices and
investors and really work with the community of investors driving
demand for anything we see from early stage to late stage,
pre IPO, alternative investments, some commodities, and even trophy assets
such as sports teams.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
I have been in venture capital actually since the typical
route of MBA after graduate school. The fund itself just
on a side note, we have a five hundred million
dollar fund that invest in Africa actually technology and globally.
We're working in partnership with a lot of the first
ladies of Africa.
Speaker 5 (33:42):
So what do you look for in the companies you
invest in in.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
This specific investment thesis, We're looking for technology that would
improve the local African countries. We work together also with
the local governments and partner with local organizations.
Speaker 7 (33:57):
We also give back.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
To HBCUs here in the US to provide a certification
for venture capitals. So we provide an opportunity for African
students and executives to come and get an HBCU education
and the US fully paid for by US as well.
Speaker 6 (34:12):
Is there an extensive program associated with that? It's an
academic program.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
What do people study to get Fortunately they don't have
to go through what I went through. I went through
three of these programs and to get in so for example,
one of them has to lunch over sixty percent of
all vcs and in the world. Another one is partnered
with an ivy league like Stanford. So you get these
you know, great education, interaction with alumni and professors.
Speaker 7 (34:41):
And really getting into this.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
Whether it be a network or certification or business call,
it's all about one thing. It's the network and you're
purchasing that. And so we want an opportunity on our
social impact side of the fund to give back to
African countries and executives that are primed to go a
step further. So similar to many of the programs that
I went through, here to get your education and further
certification and get that network so you can start with
(35:05):
more investment.
Speaker 5 (35:06):
Network is so important.
Speaker 6 (35:08):
Yes, what kinds of companies are being created through your programs?
Speaker 3 (35:13):
We don't create companies, we can advise companies. Definitely, anything
from startup to late stage advice on what are investors
looking for? For example, and I will say, you know,
there are a couple of things that I know that
we're speaking to a lot of entrepreneurs today and your audience,
and there are some biggest fails I would say on
how to turn an investor away.
Speaker 4 (35:34):
We want to hear those so.
Speaker 7 (35:38):
I can run down that as well. They're they're fun.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
I think they're fun for us because we see probably
let's say VCC hundreds if not thousands deals on a
yearly basis, and how much that really is garbage or
prime to have investment? So number one is lack of clarity.
We always hear for these trigger words what is a problem?
Speaker 7 (35:58):
What is a solution?
Speaker 3 (35:59):
When you come right into that pitch and you see us,
you have very few minutes, you know, to really pitch
us the hook the problem just looking for the right words,
you could be the greatest salesman on earth and really
fly through that pitch. But some people just don't understand.
We need a lot of clarity on what is the problem.
A lot of people will talk about the issues in
their industry as an expert, but we still don't understand
(36:22):
the problem. Solution that they're solving. The second is weak leadership.
We see that often where the CEO thinks he may
be the answer to everything and doesn't hire out an
incredible team or doesn't know the missing links to building
out the right team. The other one is too much vision,
too much fluff, but not enough execution. It's most like
(36:42):
a ninety ten ninety percent, but the pitch is a
big idea and ten percent is ignoring what is a
go to market strategy for this overkill on buzzwords, there's overconfidence.
Speaker 7 (36:51):
But no execution.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
The next one is lack of a clear exit. So,
depending especially on the stage of the company, what is
an exit, what is an ROI for for these investors?
And lastly, ignoring feedback or challenges that we gave you.
Dismissing feedback may make you look a bit arrogant and
you may come back again.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
You know.
Speaker 3 (37:10):
One of the success stories we had is a woman
came to pitch and she had everything planned out on
her milestones page and the pitch deck, and she really
threw a low ball to the investors saying, this is
what I will perform in Q one and Q two,
and I'll be back in a year and give you
that update. Well she came back and she outperformed everything,
and all the investors doubled down.
Speaker 6 (37:31):
Doctor Puma, Do you have a question or comment.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
I was listening intently. I wish I had my microphone
on a recorder on what she just.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
Went through that. But well, this will be releasing the podcast.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
I'll be watching this on YouTube and taking that and
sharing that with my partners. That is very sage advice,
And like most advice, it's usually straightforward and simple in
front of you, but we all miss it.
Speaker 6 (37:57):
That was amazing. Yeah, I think the problem solution piece
is important because it's so easy for people who are
so involved in their companies and their industry to not
be able to communicate clearly what is the problem and
what is it that they're trying to solve. And I
think that's a great point. And you can't even run
(38:17):
the business right until you have that clarity to begin with, right,
because that's kind of what everything flows from, is understanding
the problem and understanding the solution. So I think that's
something you want to get down pretty early in the
game if you can.
Speaker 3 (38:33):
I think the misconception is entrepreneurs they're you know, some
of them are maybe a three time CEO founder. Great, well,
they can come in and they should be able to
nail it. Then there are those that are maybe uh
tech engineers or even doctors. They're extremely experiencing their expertise,
but when they come in it has to be boom.
You know, there's clarity in the problem, there's clarity in
(38:53):
the solution because they can get so in tune with
the industry and all this vernacular that we really don't need.
Speaker 5 (39:00):
And that was one thing that we had heard, so
we've been going around to these pitch competitions all this
stuff for years, was that yes, the investors are interested
in your industry, but they're more interested in your team
and how you can communicate to the investor. So they
don't need, for instance, to know how to read a
CT scan, but they do need to know what problem
you're solving, which obvious was very obvious today. So if
(39:22):
you're pitching to an investor, I mean that would be
a no brainer, right, So what is the most important
thing for you?
Speaker 3 (39:29):
You know, we used to say it comes down to
one thing, the founder. It really does. There's a lot too,
there's a lot of soft skill, there's a lot of character.
There's a lot of reading between the lines because at
the end that you invest housands to millions of dollars,
and if they cannot be coachable, if they can't listen,
you know there's going to be a lot of litigation.
Speaker 7 (39:46):
For example, that could helpen That.
Speaker 6 (39:47):
Doesn't sound good. I've heard that said a lot of times.
Is that you want somebody who's open minded and willing
to learn. And you do get a little nervous when
somebody's in the room and they think they know everything,
because nobody knows everything, and you really have to have
a good team and you have to take their input,
take your shoes off, sit down and listen with empathy,
(40:09):
find out what it's on their mind, and soak it
all in.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
I'll tell you one thing on the flip side, as
an entrepreneur, you know, one of the things that always
gets me on my pet peeves is entrepreneurs come pitch
to investors and they're not prepared. They haven't done the
research on what is this VC known for, what are
their exits, what's their secret sauce.
Speaker 7 (40:28):
Because when you're.
Speaker 3 (40:29):
An entrepreneur, whether it be an ice cream truck or
whatever it may be, technology, you want to go to
the best VC who has had an incredible track record,
not two x, maybe one hundred x one hundred and
fifty x in it so many times you want them
to invest in you because you'll be in good hands.
They already have all the growth sales channels to to
help you out to a faster exit.
Speaker 5 (40:48):
That is a really good point. And I've heard that before.
And actually, I know someone is looking for a job
and they're like, I put on all these resumes on.
Speaker 4 (40:54):
Indeed, should I do a cover letter?
Speaker 5 (40:55):
I'm like, if you're going to do a cover letter,
go research that company, Research the CEO, research what they're for,
Research what they're doing. Right now, you know as much
as you can if you're going to apply for a
job there, and then do your cover letter and send them.
Speaker 4 (41:07):
It's almost like applying for a job.
Speaker 5 (41:09):
I mean, you're asking somebody for their money to support
you so you can do this work right, and people
should know all about you as much as they can,
and you make it easy right.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
Do you have office hours?
Speaker 3 (41:19):
Of course, office hours, but typically you don't always meet
the GP, the general partner, meaning the maybe the top
dog of the firm. You'll typically talk to the face
of the company, which would be the analysts or the associates,
because they get the first first blush of the one
hundred deals that are coming in and so go through
that and then they'll pitch to their boss and it'll
go up the ladder and we call it on Mondays.
(41:39):
Don't call vcs on Mondays because they're typically having meetings,
these presentations from associates to general partners on the here's
my top three picks that's going to move forward.
Speaker 6 (41:49):
What do you say to somebody who has an idea
and they want to do something with it and they're
just starting from ground zero?
Speaker 4 (41:56):
What kind of question that is?
Speaker 3 (41:58):
Like extreme ground zero all the way You've.
Speaker 6 (42:01):
Back right, I want to do this product, So what
do you tell them about how to get out there
and do it?
Speaker 3 (42:06):
Well, there's many ways to answer that question, but truly,
is there an opportunity in the market. You're looking at
the competitor landscape?
Speaker 7 (42:14):
What is a market opportunity?
Speaker 3 (42:15):
How difficult all the hurdles, and then you have to
integrate technology. I mean, there are some vcs, but we're
not known to invest in non technology.
Speaker 7 (42:23):
We're known to invest in AI and technology.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
And once you get those buzzwords in you really have
to defend yourself. I have AI tech coming great, but
what is the best use of AI that you have?
Speaker 7 (42:33):
What are you using it for?
Speaker 3 (42:34):
Because once you use AI, sure you get access to
a huge tunnel of funding versus not having AI going back.
Is there truly a market opportunity? Are you the leader,
are you the talent with the industry experience, or do
you have the team to come in and do that.
Speaker 5 (42:50):
So I started doing the marketing at your heart Law
because we weren't happy with the agencies and people that
would hire because it's such a niche thing. Patents, trademarks, copyrights,
people get them confused. But how much of marketing do
you want these people to have? Like should they have
done studies? Should they have done focus groups? Should they
be bringing that to you?
Speaker 7 (43:07):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (43:07):
I mean I'm telling you we lift up the hood
and will ask one hundred questions because again we may
be writing a check for X amount.
Speaker 7 (43:15):
We will go through.
Speaker 3 (43:17):
Every single It's called a data room. So once we
sign our access to the data room, we'll go in
and that's what the entrepreneur uploads every single hundreds, if
not thousands of files from every board meeting to your
p and L to everything so that we can go
through and catch those red flags.
Speaker 7 (43:32):
We will ask you.
Speaker 3 (43:33):
How many people did you interview to prove or what
was your pilot? If you say ten, we may walk away.
If you say a couple hundred, then there may be
some evidence.
Speaker 6 (43:43):
Doctor Prouveman, it's really incredible.
Speaker 2 (43:45):
The one thing I never really thought of is the
milestones and how do you get to market? Right, it's challenging.
On the medical side, we never think about going to
the market. You know, who deals with private equity. We
deal with patients. But how do you construct those concepts
or explain those concepts a little further?
Speaker 3 (44:02):
Yeah, that's what excites me is it really comes down
to a lot of finance and numbers and when are
you going to hit your break even Let's say your
startup company. As you had mentioned, I have to go
do your research, your R and D have to prove it,
and then you have to write your pitch deck and
you have to write these milestones to pitch to the
investor and on that. It's really driven by numbers. So
within the first year we look for when are you
(44:24):
going to break even or when are you going to
hit your first million. These are considered some milestones, and
then you backtrack from there and you consider what are
the growth sales channels that I have to plug in?
How am I going to scale? But then there's a
lot of other financial questions that come with them.
Speaker 6 (44:38):
And it takes a lot of time to do that.
By the way, if you're an entrepreneur and you're just
throwing together a deck, but the deck represents all of
your thinking about the business and why it's going to
be successful and how you're going to get there right,
So that deck is really your blueprint for what's going
to happen with your company, and then you have to
(45:01):
convince your potential investors that this blueprint makes sense, it
has a good chance of success.
Speaker 3 (45:07):
Well, what's missing lot from these pitch chicks is the
finance part of the deck. You know, the business revenue model.
I'm always asking where's your business? What is your business
revenue model? You know, make it very succinct. But that
all goes into the milestones as well.
Speaker 5 (45:21):
So do you feel like if somebody came to you
with a deck and their very first slide was I'm
going to start with the return on the investment and
work backwards from there.
Speaker 4 (45:31):
Would you like that approach?
Speaker 7 (45:33):
Yeah, it's not typical.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
I guess you could use it as a hook, right, yeah.
Speaker 5 (45:38):
Because I know we've been to some of these and
the people don't have a strong financial part. It's like
they do, I don't know, half an hour and then
two minutes.
Speaker 4 (45:46):
Of financial say well we think it's going to do this.
They have this exponential curve.
Speaker 7 (45:51):
I mean out there.
Speaker 3 (45:51):
Then dates the investors writing let's say one dollar to
a million dollars, they want to know, am I going
to get a five X in one year?
Speaker 5 (45:58):
Two years?
Speaker 6 (45:59):
It requires making decisions, and sometimes the people who are
pitching the project don't really have the experience to make
those decisions in the right way. Which is not to
say they can't be successful or they can't learn, but
they don't have enough experience with the product or the
industry to be able to say, oh, yeah, this is
what the margin I can sell this for this maybe
(46:20):
it's a new product. Who knows what they can sell
it for? Right. You're kind of in a tough spot sometimes,
I think, but you have to do something, and what
you have to put up there has to be credible.
Speaker 3 (46:29):
I would say in the state of VC kind of
going further from the early stage to the late stage.
The VC market has really gone under some difficult times
post COVID as people are investors or family offices are
looking to invest in in less risk. What's really hot
is secondary market and secondary market meaning late stage, pre IPO,
(46:50):
faster liquidity, and a lot of these companies are billions
of dollars in revenue and definitely in valuation. But their
table stake's name, you know, their anthropic open AI, right chat, GPT,
SpaceX and a lot of these companies want access to
that because probably you know, like Canva and the next
by twenty twenty five there will be an exit and
if you looked at their last quarterly earnings, it's it's
(47:12):
pretty incredible. So you want to get into these very
limited access cap table.
Speaker 5 (47:16):
This has been really valuable. How do people find you?
Speaker 3 (47:19):
You can find us on my LinkedIn that's fine. You
can also check out our podcast which is separate from
Phoenix Global. Would love to meet yous well as a
guest on our show and Identity Unveiled is a network
of over twelve hundred AAPI, Asian, American, Pacific Islander C level.
Speaker 5 (47:36):
Executives Diane you Gia, n E Space, Yo, Oh, Phoenix
Global FBNIX. So thank you so much, Diane.
Speaker 6 (47:45):
Stay tuned. We'll be back with more Passage to Profit
and Secrets of the entrepreneur mind.
Speaker 13 (47:51):
I'm Jack CEO and co founder at ushabits dot Com.
When I left my job as a Wall Street banker
back in my twenties, I felt completely lost trying to
navigate the process of hiring a financial advisor. I thought
it should be easy to find the right financial advisor,
so I created a place where young families could feel
understood and their unique needs would be met with empathy
(48:12):
and expertise. That's why I started usehabits dot com, where
we help you find your financial advisor free of charge.
Use habits dot com.
Speaker 2 (48:21):
It's Passage to Profit.
Speaker 11 (48:23):
Now it's time for Noah's retrospective. Noah Fleischmann is our
amazing producer here at Passage to Profit, and you know what,
He just has a way of putting his best memories
in perspective.
Speaker 14 (48:34):
Whether it's business or social. Communication is key, especially the
verbal kind. With all the texting and emailing going on nowadays,
it's become a very elite quality. As a kid. My
mother wouldn't let me out of a house if I
didn't speak with absolute perfection. I had some great times
around the house. But the point is your spoken words
are your lasting image. My parents were like E. F.
Speaker 2 (48:56):
Hutton.
Speaker 14 (48:57):
When they spoke, people listened, people had When they spoke,
you couldn't hear anything else. It was like that big
in the convenience store. I'm fifteen years old and I'm
with my mother and these two girls from my English
class come walking in. My mother calls out from two
rows away. You want me to ask them if they
have a bathroom, But can you wait till we get home.
So distinctly spoken, no one missed a syllable, and she
(49:17):
certainly put those two girls to shame. By the time
she was done, they were so busy, doubled over laughing,
they couldn't even get two words out of their.
Speaker 1 (49:24):
Mouths Now more with Richard and Elizabeth Passage to Profit.
Speaker 5 (49:28):
And our special guest today, doctor Joseph Puma, and our
other guest Diane You it has been just a fabulous show.
Speaker 6 (49:35):
But new absolutely incredible.
Speaker 5 (49:37):
It is now time for Secrets of the Entrepreneurial Mind.
This is where our guests give a secret that they've
used to help make them successful, or a secret about
something that you should never do, because really what you're doing.
Speaker 4 (49:51):
So doctor Joseph A.
Speaker 5 (49:53):
Puma of soeign medicalny dot com, who is a doctor,
a cardiologist, has his ow practice, what would you tell
listeners that's a good secret.
Speaker 2 (50:04):
I think the entrepreneurial mind analyzes what's happening and they
typically do not follow the pack, looking for unmet needs
and coming up with novel and new ways to solve
unmet needs. You'll be surprised how many there are.
Speaker 5 (50:19):
Yeah, where everybody else sees so this is nice. They're like,
I can make that better.
Speaker 2 (50:23):
That's the key point. How do you make it better?
But it's not just making a better mouse trap, you know,
as Diane said earlier, if you're looking for venture money,
don't say, oh, you're going to make a better mousetrap
with you know, wooden nails. It's got to be technology driven.
You got to identify what the need is and how
you're going to solve that need. But I think it's
the mind of an entrepreneur trying to answer that question,
(50:44):
what could we do different? That's the secret, Diane.
Speaker 3 (50:47):
I've seen some really successful entrepreneurs, and they're coming back
and saying, look, in the next five years, I'm going
to make five hundred million dollars. And they're very sure
of it, and that's their one focus, and they're going
to exit. Well, how do they do all this? How
do they even hit a billion dollars in the next
decade or so? I think it really comes down to,
having seen so many cases, is relationship. I mean, I
(51:07):
can just whittle off you got to work on this
and this and this and all these hard skills, when
really the success I've seen and the entrepreneurs that do
make five hundred million in five years is honing relationship.
Speaker 7 (51:19):
You already have the chops all aside.
Speaker 3 (51:21):
They come in and they're extremely experienced and have all
the know how, but it's a relational aspect of meeting
with investors knowing the long term game.
Speaker 5 (51:31):
Relationships has come up a lot on this show as
a very important factor that really smart people off and overlooked.
Speaker 2 (51:40):
Relationships are hard, they take time and they take effort.
Speaker 5 (51:43):
And we've had some shows like this one, I think
where people develop a synergy between themselves the guests that
we bring in. I prefer to do a lot of
things in person, but I am kind of lazy sometimes,
so I do like some things too well.
Speaker 6 (51:56):
My secrets actually inspired by our two guests, So part
of it was a discussion that doctor Puma and I
were having about next steps at this phase of our career,
and Diane talking about the next entrepreneur who had a
five million dollar goal. And so my thinking is always
(52:17):
think big and always look for the next big step.
Speaker 5 (52:23):
And I feel like entrepreneurs have to have a part
of their brain that can look into the future. So
kind of funny when Richard and I started this six
and a half years ago, this radio show, people thought
we were crazy in the entrepreneurial community in northern New
Jersey where we are. It has turned out to be
a very beneficial thing for us. It's given us not
just revenue for the law firm, but a lot of
(52:44):
benefits in business, in personal life, and just to be
able to maybe take out a telescope and see if
you can see something further down the road. It's hard
to do, but that's kind of what entrepreneurs do.
Speaker 2 (52:55):
There were always the people that have ideas that people
are telling them not to do. Yeah, the people telling
them not to do it all the yes people.
Speaker 6 (53:06):
Yeah, that's great. Passage to Profit is a nationally syndicated
radio show appearing in thirty eight markets across the United States.
In addition, Passage to Profit has also been recently selected
by feed Spot Podcasters database as a top ten entrepreneur
interview podcast. Thank you to the P two P team,
(53:26):
our producer Noah Fleischman, and our program coordinator Alisha Morrissey
and our studio assistant Brissy Cabbasari. Look for our podcast
tomorrow anywhere you get your podcasts. Our podcast is ranked
in the top three percent globally. You can also find
us on Facebook, Instagram, x and on our YouTube channel.
And remember, while the information on this program is believed
(53:48):
to be correct, never take a legal step without checking
with your legal professional first. Gearheart Law is here for
your patent, trademark and copyright needs. You can find us
at gearheartlaw dot com and contact us for free consultation.
Take care, everybody, thanks for listening, and we'll be back
next week.
Speaker 1 (54:04):
The proceeding was a paid podcast. iHeartRadio's hosting of this
podcast constitutes neither an endorsement of the products offered or
the ideas expressed.
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