Shot of Digital Health Therapy podcast

Available Episodes

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Farina Schurzfeld: From Rocket Internet to Digital Health’s DiGA Queen
Ever wonder what happens when a German economics grad skips the surf lessons in Sydney and builds one of Australia’s fastest-scaling startups? Farina Schurzfeld did exactly that — and then turned the same operational firepower toward mental health. In this episode of #TheShot of #DigitalHealth Therapy, Jim Joyce and I speak with Farina who shares her journey from launching Groupon in Australia to co-founding Selfapy (Germany’s leading digital mental health platform) and taking it through the bureaucratic gauntlet of DiGA approval - before stepping back to build AndRobin, a sidekick-for-hire growth and ops squad. 💻 Fast growth isn't sustainable without long-term thinking and ethical grounding. 🛒 What scales in e-commerce doesn’t always translate to regulated, B2B-driven systems. 🏥 Selfapy didn’t start with DiGA—but became a pioneer anyway. They built for users, then adapted as policy opened the reimbursement door. 🛠️ Startups need senior operators, not just advisors or consultants AndRobin fills the Series A void with hands-on executional leadership. 🚪 Step out when your superpower isn’t needed anymore 👇If you're in digital health, health tech, or just building something that matters - this one’s for you Fun mentions as always: Roberto Ascione Frontiers Health Andrew Mason Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte hims & hers
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Innes Meldrum : The Adherence Architect on Tech, Trust & Braveheart Leadership
What do William Wallace, smart pill bottles, and pharma sales have in common?They all showed up in this week's #TheShot of #DigitalHealth Therapy. Jim Joyce and I had a chat with Innes Meldrum - Scottish-born, New Jersey-rooted CEO of AdhereTech. Innes unpacks his journey from flunking high school to running $Big brands and now cracking one of healthcare’s stickiest problems: medication adherence. We covered: 🤖 Tech vs. human behavior in adherence 🧩 Pharma’s paradox (have to watch to get more) 🧠 Leadership = authenticity + heart 🫥 Tech must be invisible for patients 📈 Adherence is greater than acquisition in long run Big lessons. Big heart. Big impact. 🎧 Listen now and learn why belief might just be your biggest asset. Fun mentions as always: Josh Stein Dave Griffiths 🇮🇪 Kaiser Permanente YourCoach.Health 00:00 – 03:00 — Opening Banter & Setup Eugene, Jim & Innes kick things off across time zones with laughs and backstory. 03:00 – 08:00 — From Scotland to Kentucky Innes shares his multicultural roots, flunking high school, and a summer teaching soccer in the US. 08:00 – 14:00 — Career Leap: Tech to Pharma The unexpected journey from engineering at Nortel to global marketing at Novartis. 14:00 – 18:00 — Mental Health & Authentic Leadership How neuroscience drew Innes in—and why emotional connection is key to commercial success. 18:00 – 22:00 — Joining AdhereTech Why Innes took the CEO seat and what surprised him when he arrived. 22:00 – 27:00 — Solving the Adherence Problem A dive into AdhereTech’s smart pill bottle and how it’s changing patient behavior. 27:00 – 32:00 — Pharma Economics & Ownership Gaps The financial burden of non-adherence—and who really owns the problem in healthcare. 32:00 – 36:00 — Stress, Behavior, and Health Coaching Exploring the real reasons patients don’t take meds—and how health coaching can help. 36:00 – 41:00 — Resilience & System Innovation Innes reflects on leadership growth, system constraints, and building a startup culture. 41:00 – 45:00 — Future Vision & Final Advice A keynote moment: belief, purpose, and what Innes would tell his younger self.
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Esther Dyson: From Cosmos to Caregiving — Why Humanity Still Wins
What do angel investing, cosmonaut training, and funding a 10-year health community project have in common? Esther Dyson. Obviously. In our latest episode #164 of #TheShot of #DigitalHealth Therapy, Jim Joyce and I had the pleasure to catchup with Esther. We covered: 💸 Why she funded Wellville to rebuild social fabric in underserved communities (and what she really learned) 🧬 What 23andMe got right — and what it didn’t... 📕 Her next chapter: writing "Term Limits", a book about being human in the age of infinite AI 🧠 And why “making new mistakes” is a better life motto than “move fast and break things” Esther’s wisdom is as timeless as her curiosity — and we’re just glad she finally made it on #TheShot. 😅 Fun mentions as always: Matthew Holt Unity Stoakes Marina Borukhovich Rick Brush Peter H. Diamandis Linda Avey Stepan Pachikov Anne Wojcicki 🧭 Section Breakdown (Topics + Timestamps): Intro & Background Setup Esther joins & shares how this podcast started as a pandemic experiment. ⏱️ 00:00 – 04:00 Esther’s Life Journey in 3 Speeds From Oppenheimer roots to Forbes to cosmonaut training. ⏱️ 04:00 – 08:00 Cosmonaut Training & Health Discovery How a space detour saved her life. ⏱️ 08:00 – 12:00 Wellness Habits & Biohacking Wisdom Swimming, eating early, and NOT eating at cocktail parties. ⏱️ 12:00 – 14:00 Becoming an Angel Investor How a million-dollar challenge turned her into an investor. ⏱️ 14:00 – 17:00 Why She Started Wellville From judging the Healthcare XPrize to 10 years of social fabric repair. ⏱️ 18:00 – 25:00 Hard Truths About Systems & Poverty Trust, grants-as-drugs, and funding that's actually fair. ⏱️ 25:00 – 27:00 On Government, Prevention & Food Systems Sugar taxes, vaccines, and the real trends that matter. ⏱️ 27:00 – 29:00 23andMe’s Rise, Fall, and Lessons She got the education, not the return. ⏱️ 29:00 – 33:00 Term Limits & Being Fully Human Why we need constraints, not infinity — and why Pam the hygienist is the real hero. ⏱️ 35:00 – 44:00
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Anthony Veneziale: Freestyle, Beatbox & Power of Yes, And...
Imagine starting life with a speech impediment and ending up as a Broadway's beatboxing, improv master - that’s Anthony Veneziale’s journey! A presentation and storytelling expert, Grammy-nominated star of both Broadway and film, he is the co-creator of the acclaimed Freestyle Love Supreme, an improvised, hip hop, live musical performance with a rolling cast of characters including the likes of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Christopher Jackson and Daveed Diggs. Anthony proves that the best ideas come from embracing yes, and... Jim Joyce and I had a blast on today's episode of #TheShot of #DigitalHealth today as it was packed with epic freestyle moments, brain science, and enough energy to light up all of Las Vegas. 🏆 🔥 Bonus: We even got Anthony to drop a custom freestyle rap about ClearIP! If you want to laugh, learn, and maybe rethink how improv can revolutionize creativity, mental health, and business, this one’s for you. 🎧👇 Top 3 Key Insights 🎭 Improv fuels confidence, creativity & problem-solving 🧠 Brain science proves improv enhances cognition & mental agility 💡 Saying ‘Yes, And’ unlocks innovation & business success Fun mentions as always: Matthew Holt Daniel Couchman Kendall Roberto Ascione Kristin Milburn Frontiers Health Rachel Loui Christie Pitts Matt Loeb #YesAnd #Improvisation #Creativity #Neuroscience #MentalFitness #FreestyleInnovation Podcast Breakdown 1️⃣ Welcome & Icebreaker (00:00 - 03:00) 👉 Hosts discuss podcast rankings, meeting Anthony, and app testing. 2️⃣ Anthony’s Origin Story (03:00 - 07:00) 👉 From speech therapy struggles to founding Freestyle Love Supreme. 3️⃣ The Birth of Freestyle Love Supreme (07:00 - 10:00) 👉 How a college improv troupe shaped his career & led to Broadway. 4️⃣ The Magic of Improv (10:00 - 14:00) 👉 Why improv is a tool for confidence, creativity & problem-solving. 5️⃣ Neuroscience & Improv (14:00 - 19:00) 👉 Brain science behind improv, fMRI studies, and cognitive benefits. 6️⃣ Mindless, Inc. & AI-Powered Games (19:00 - 25:00) 👉 AI-driven mental fitness games & their impact on mental health. 7️⃣ The Art of Freestyle & Startup Pitches (25:00 - 29:00) 👉 Freestyling startup pitches at AARP & turning ideas into rap. 8️⃣ Clear IP Freestyle Moment (29:00 - 33:00) 👉 Anthony creates an impromptu rap about Jim’s startup. 9️⃣ The Power of Yes, And (33:00 - 36:00) 👉 How embracing ‘yes, and’ can transform business & creativity. 🔟 Closing Advice & Big Takeaways (36:00 - End) 👉 Anthony’s wisdom for entrepreneurs & creators.
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37:01
Rachel Francine: Singing Our Way to Better Health with SingFit
🎤 Music as medicine? More like a prescription for good vibes! 🎶 In our latest episode of #TheShot of #DigitalHealth Therapy, Jim Joyce and I jammed with Rachel Francine, CEO of Musical Health Technologies aka SingFit, the company bringing singing-based therapy to people worldwide. Turns out, belting out tunes can be as powerful as a prescription—especially for dementia care 🤯 Rachel’s journey? From growing up in a beanbag factory (yes, really) with an opera-singing inventor dad, to riding every major tech wave before it was cool. Now, she’s scaling music therapy to change lives at scale—because, let’s be real, we could all use some more dopamine and less stress. What’s next? SingFit is making waves in care homes, hospitals, and even football clubs.. Top 5 Key Takeaways 🎵 Singing is therapy 🧠 Music unlocks memories 💊 Less meds, more music Singing reduces anxiety & agitation 🎤 Singing reduces anxiety & agitation 🌍 Scaling music therapy Fun mentions as always: Andy Tubman Chandana Fitzgerald Francesca Wuttke Ali Parsa Jorge Juan Fernández García ⏱️ [00:00 - 04:00] | Intro & Banter Jim & Eugene joke about podcast delays, St. Patrick’s Day, and Irish gifts to the White House. ⏱️ [04:00 - 10:00] | Meet Rachel Francine: A Life in Tech From VHS vs. Beta to CitySearch, Rachel recounts her wild career journey. ⏱️ [10:00 - 15:00] | Growing Up in a Beanbag Factory with an Opera-Singing Inventor Dad Yes, really. Also, how patents were dinner table conversations. ⏱️ [15:00 - 20:00] | From Nashville to Music Tech: The Road to SingFit Rachel’s experience in the music industry & early digital platforms. ⏱️ [20:00 - 27:00] | What is SingFit? And Why Singing is Medicine Explaining the science of active music therapy and its impact. ⏱️ [27:00 - 33:00] | Case Studies: Dementia, Autism & Mental Health How singing reduces agitation, anxiety, and even hospital visits. ⏱️ [33:00 - 37:00] | Scaling Music Therapy: The Market Challenge Why music therapists are rare & how SingFit is bridging the gap. ⏱️ [37:00 - 40:00] | The Future of SingFit & Big Announcements Coming Expansion to B2C, football clubs, and a mystery mega-partnership. ⏱️ [40:00 - 42:00] | Jim’s “Famous Last Question” Rachel’s advice? Follow the money & understand the music business. ⏱️ [42:00 - End] | Wrap-Up & Subscribe! Final thoughts, audience shout-outs, and the importance of hitting that subscribe button.
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