Ep 45: Sword Health CEO Virgílio (“V”) Bento on Sword's New AI Solution and the Decisions That Shaped the Company

Jacob and Nikhil sit down with Virgílio (“V”) Bento, Founder and CEO of Sword Health, the $3 billion company focused on improving pain management. They discuss Sword’s new AI care model, the evolution and key decisions behind Sword’s success, customer acquisition, and more.

(0:00) intro

(1:15) Sword’s journey

(9:13) advice on selling to employers

(16:45) getting employees to use the product

(18:41) building Phoenix, an AI care model

(22:50) limitations of Phoenix

(31:17) Sword’s org structure

(33:56) less successful ventures for Sword

(36:23) working with brokers

(39:01) international opportunities

(42:12) over-hyped/under-hyped

(42:37) parts of the U.S. healthcare system that don’t make sense

(44:23) flying across the world for dinner with Vinod Khosla

(46:57) decisions that were instrumental to Sword’s success

Out-Of-Pocket: https://www.outofpocket.health/