Episode 20:2 Abby Levy on Innovation around Health Span and Wealth Span

Abby Levy is Managing Partner and Founder at Primetime Partners, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage businesses that improve quality of life for older adults. Abby gets real about the challenges of heading up a venture-backed business and the exciting technologies that will reduce the cost of healthcare and raise the bar in preventive medicine, wellness, and financial longevity.

About Abby

Abby Miller Levy has spent her career helping businesses and consumer brands grow as an operator, entrepreneur, and advisor, most notably in the wellness sector. Prior to Primetime Partners, she was Senior Vice President of Strategy & Growth at SoulCycle, where she oversaw business development and revenue growth outside the consumer studio business, with an emphasis on building new digital products.

Abby teamed with Arianna Huffington to launch Thrive Global, a behavior change technology company focused on employee productivity and wellness. Abby served as President of Thrive Global and remains on the Thrive Board. Abby began her career at McKinsey & Company then led product development at OXO International. She is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School. 

Key Takeaways

• Aging is a global megatrend. By 2030 in the US, there will be more Americans over the age of 65 than under 18, which has major repercussions on every industry including health care, financial services, housing, workplace, and travel.

• Technologies and services that reduce the cost of healthcare are essential. Medicare is a “runaway train” growing at 8% a year, with spend approaching a trillion dollars a year. It is predicted that 50% of Americans will run out of money as they age.

• Preventative care is driven by “quantified selves” in terms of the healthcare data and diagnostics we collect on ourselves. With an Oura ring or Apple watch, it is easy to track key health indicators like blood biomarkers and gut health.
• Persistent internalized ageism prevents us from wanting to think about getting older. Not wanting to plan for getting older and engage in content around aging has been a very big inhibitor for businesses, especially if the business model is direct to consumer.

• It is not culturally normal to have conversations around aging. We have been trained to think that aging is bad and don’t  talk about the wisdom, experience, gravitas, and expertise that comes with age.
• AI will help people make better decisions—data will be easier to access and more manageable and actionable. AI-driven personalized nudges will help people make better decisions and healthier choices.