Pear Healthcare Playbook

Pear VC
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We share stories from trailblazing entrepreneurs and leaders on how to build a healthcare business from 0 to 1.

  1. Lessons from Othman Laraki, CEO of Color Health, on Removing Friction for Virtual-first, End-to-end Cancer Care

    12/01/2025

    Lessons from Othman Laraki, CEO of Color Health, on Removing Friction for Virtual-first, End-to-end Cancer Care

    Welcome back to the Pear Healthcare Playbook! Today we're thrilled to sit down with Othman Laraki, Co-founder and CEO of Color Health, a company reinventing cancer care through a virtual-first, end-to-end model. Othman has spent his career at the intersection of technology and healthcare—from helping build Chrome at Google to leading product at Twitter to founding Color, where he now focuses on expanding access to high-quality cancer prevention, screening, and treatment. In this episode, we explore how Color got started, what the team learned transitioning from genomics into full-stack care delivery, and why reducing friction across the care pathway is critical for improving outcomes. We dive into how Color’s model works across the entire cancer journey, how the company thinks about system-level change and distribution, and how AI—through collaborations with OpenAI and Google Cloud—is powering new capabilities for patients and clinicians.

    41 min
  2. Lessons from Travis Zack, CMO of OpenEvidence, on Making Clinical Evidence Instantly Accessible through AI

    10/27/2025

    Lessons from Travis Zack, CMO of OpenEvidence, on Making Clinical Evidence Instantly Accessible through AI

    Today we're thrilled to get to know Travis Zack, Chief Medical Officer of OpenEvidence. OpenEvidence is the world's leading medical information platform and the fastest growing applications for physicians in history. Over 40% of US clinicians leverage OpenEvidence for evidence based practice support that is directly embedded into their workflows. Through an array of strategic content partnerships (including the American Medical Association, The New England Journal of Medicine, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and all eleven JAMA specialty journals—such as JAMA Oncology and JAMA Neurology) OpenEvidence gives clinicians the power to search once, skip the scavenger hunt, and surface the science in seconds. Most recently, OpenEvidence has raised $200M in its Series C from Top Investors like Sequoia, GV Thrive, Kleiner Perkins and others! In this episode, we discuss how OpenEvidence is transforming access to medical evidence, the company’s rapid growth and adoption by clinicians, its business model and journal partnerships, and the future roadmap for AI-powered clinical decision support.

    33 min
  3. Lessons from Amar Kendale, Cofounder and President of Homeward, on Addressing Care Gaps in Rural Health

    08/04/2025

    Lessons from Amar Kendale, Cofounder and President of Homeward, on Addressing Care Gaps in Rural Health

    Welcome back to the Pear Healthcare Playbook! Every week, we’ll be getting to know trailblazing healthcare leaders and diving into building a digital health business from 0 to 1. We would greatly appreciate if you took a moment to listen to the episode on either Apple or Spotify and leave us a rating! Your support helps our guests' insights reach a larger audience! Today we're grateful to get to know Amar Kendale,  Co-founder and President of Homeward, a company reinventing how care is delivered in rural America. Amar has spent the last 20 years building healthcare products that make life better for patients, providers, and health plans. At Homeward he is focused on improving access to care in rural communities. Before that, he helped grow Livongo from an early-stage startup to its $18B acquisition by Teladoc, where he became Chief Product Officer. In this episode, we’re diving into how Homeward started, the challenges in building in rural health, how Homeward operates and gets paid, and how the company hopes to scale and navigate the upcoming year.

    53 min
  4. Adam Stansell, CEO and Founder of Axle Health, bringing operational excellence to home health

    07/16/2025

    Adam Stansell, CEO and Founder of Axle Health, bringing operational excellence to home health

    Today, we’re excited to get to know Adam Stansell, CEO and Founder of Axle Health, the operating system for Home Health. Before founding Axle, Adam spearheaded the launch of new markets at UberEats and built a high-growth business line at Motive, a leader in fleet logistics. With deep expertise at the intersection of operations, technology, and scale, he’s now bringing world class logistics to one of healthcare’s most overlooked frontiers: home health. Founded in 2020, Axle is tackling the $150B+ home health industry in the US growing at 9% every year, of which most of home health still runs on old legacy software or spreadsheets. Recently announced, Axle has raised $10M in Series A led by Carl Byers and Julia McDowell at F-Prime Capital, joined by Lightbank and previous investors YC and us at Pear VC! We at Pear, especially my GP Mar Hershenson and I have been super grateful to be part of his journey.

    42 min
  5. Lessons from Chris Ellis, CEO and Co-Founder of Thatch, on Modernizing Health Benefits

    07/09/2025

    Lessons from Chris Ellis, CEO and Co-Founder of Thatch, on Modernizing Health Benefits

    We're excited to introduce Chris Ellis, CEO of Thatch. With a background in cancer research and clinical software, Chris brings a unique blend of scientific rigor and product vision to one of the most complex challenges in the United States: healthcare. Under his leadership, Thatch has scaled quickly, now serving over a thousand companies and helping employees navigate their health coverage through a modern, fintech-powered experience.

    53 min
  6. Lessons from Michelle Davey, CEO of Wheel, on creating the infrastructure for virtual healthcare

    05/19/2025

    Lessons from Michelle Davey, CEO of Wheel, on creating the infrastructure for virtual healthcare

    Today, we’re excited to feature Michelle Davey, CEO of Wheel. Wheel is redefining virtual care by connecting clinicians to telehealth opportunities and equipping healthcare organizations with scalable, tech-enabled solutions. Under Michelle’s leadership, the company has become a leading platform expanding access to care nationwide. Before Wheel, Michelle brought together experience from Google, Favor Delivery, and Medtronic—insight that now helps shape her vision for the future of care delivery. In this episode, we dive into how Wheel is powering virtual care infrastructure for enterprise healthcare, the strategic thinking behind acquiring GoodRx’s virtual care platform, how Michelle sees the future of telehealth evolving across consumer and pharma markets, and what founders should consider when navigating M&A in digital health.

    38 min
  7. Lessons from Dr. Ali Khan, Chief Medical Officer of CVS/Aetna Medicare, on scaling value-based care

    04/08/2025

    Lessons from Dr. Ali Khan, Chief Medical Officer of CVS/Aetna Medicare, on scaling value-based care

    Today, we’re excited to get to know Dr. Ali Khan, Chief Medical Officer of Aetna Medicare, overseeing healthcare services for over 4 million members. His career spans across some of the most impactful value-based care organizations, including Oak Street Health, CareMore, and Iora Health. He is also an adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and serves on the clinical faculty of the Yale School of Medicine. Additionally, Dr. Khan is a director on the American Board of Internal Medicine. Also a trusted advisor on Pear’s Health Industry Council. Before Aetna, Dr. Khan played a key role in Oak Street Health’s rapid expansion, scaling it from 21 to 200+ clinics, culminating in its acquisition by CVS Health. Prior to that, he was instrumental in CareMore Health’s growth and innovation in care delivery for vulnerable populations. He holds an MD-MPP from Virginia Commonwealth University and Harvard Kennedy School, completed his residency at Yale, and has taught at institutions like Northwestern Kellogg and Yale School of Medicine. As a leader in value-based care, he has firsthand experience in building, scaling, and optimizing healthcare startups—making his insights invaluable for founders, investors, and industry leaders navigating the complex world of healthcare innovation.

    45 min
  8. Lessons from Sam Holliday, CEO and Co-Founder of Oshi Health, on Building a Virtual GI Center of Excellence

    04/01/2025

    Lessons from Sam Holliday, CEO and Co-Founder of Oshi Health, on Building a Virtual GI Center of Excellence

    We're thrilled to get to know Sam Holliday, CEO of Oshi Health. Oshi Health is changing the paradigm of GI care. They’re building a virtual GI center of excellence—not just tweaking the system, but completely redefining what high-quality, comprehensive digestive care looks like. This involves multidisciplinary teams, evidence-backed care models, and a real focus on driving outcomes while reducing avoidable medical spend. They are also fully in-network with leading health plans, making this care truly accessible. In this episode, we’re diving into the future of GI care, what it takes to build a sustainable digital health company, and lessons Sam has  learned with building Oshi.

    43 min
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We share stories from trailblazing entrepreneurs and leaders on how to build a healthcare business from 0 to 1.

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