The Founder's Journey: Bootstrapping, AI, and Human Touch in Healthcare
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In a candid conversation, Eric Hinman of Founders Only Club sits down with Josh Whalen, co-founder of Blokes and Joi, to delve into the realities of entrepreneurship. Their discussion offers invaluable lessons on building a business from the ground up, making strategic decisions, and adapting to an ever-evolving market, particularly in the dynamic healthcare sector.
The Genesis of Blokes and Joi: Solving a Personal Problem
Josh Whalen's journey with Blokes began from a deeply personal struggle with his own health. Faced with a lack of solutions from conventional healthcare, he embarked on a quest to reclaim his well-being. This personal mission ultimately became the foundation of Blokes, a company dedicated to providing accessible and convenient preventative healthcare. This narrative underscores a powerful entrepreneurial principle: solving your own problems often leads to solutions that resonate with many others.
Bootstrapping and Strategic Independence
One of the most compelling aspects of Blokes story is its commitment to bootstrapping. Josh and his co-founder, Katie, made the difficult but ultimately empowering decision to decline a majority investment, prioritizing authenticity and control over rapid external funding. Eric Hinman echoes this sentiment, sharing his own experiences of how chasing revenue and external capital can lead to increased stress and a loss of freedom. This section emphasizes the value of maintaining control, dictating one's own schedule, and preserving the core vision of the company, even when faced with tempting offers.
AI and the Human Touch in Healthcare
The conversation pivots to the role of artificial intelligence in healthcare. While many companies are heavily investing in AI to automate and scale, Josh articulates a nuanced philosophy:
AI with a human touch. Blokes embraces AI for operational efficiencies, automation, and increased throughput, but critically, it never replaces the clinician. This approach ensures that while technology enhances capabilities, the essential human element of patient care remains paramount. This is a key differentiator in a crowded market where some competitors are raising hundreds of millions to fuel purely AI-driven healthcare models.
Building a Resilient Team
Josh sheds light on the team structure at Blokes, which is divided into clinicians (MDs, DOs, nurse practitioners) and administrative/marketing/operations staff, including health coaches. A significant insight shared is the emphasis on intangible skill sets, loyalty, good conversation, and active listening, over purely teachable skills, except for highly specialized roles. Key hires have included a medical director to establish protocols and crucial clinicians. The discussion also touches upon the complexities of licensing in the healthcare industry, highlighting the need for each clinician to be licensed in every state they operate in. Looking ahead, Blokes is making a significant CTO hire, acknowledging a past oversight in not leaning into technology more aggressively from the outset. This strategic move aims to regain control of their technological destiny while preserving the one-on-one patient interaction that defines their brand. Josh also credits his wife and co-founder, Katie, for her complementary strengths in numbers and community building, balancing his innovation and drive.
Product Lineup and Future Vision
Blokes offers a comprehensive product lineup, with diagnostics making up approximately 20% of their business, featuring extensive biomarker analysis and clinician consultations. Hormone therapy for both men and women constitutes 35-40% of their revenue, including testosterone and estrogen/progesterone treatments, as well as innovative solutions like enclomophene for boosting testosterone without affecting fertility. The longevity category includes peptides like simorin and essential enzymes such as NAD, glutathione, and B12. A significant upcoming development is the soft launch of their "smart supplements," which are designed to be revolutionary. These supplements are driven by AI dynamics, clinician consultations, symptomatic behavior goals, and up to 110 biomarkers, delivered in a single sachet. They also offer a symptomatic quiz and a "build your own pack" option, making personalized health more accessible. A major differentiator for Blokes is their in-house pharmacy, which allows for vertical integration, ensuring efficiency, quick turnaround times, and scalability. Eric Hinman emphasizes that this vertical integration—from compounding pharmacy to customer prescribing and monthly customized treatments based on biomarker tracking—will be Blokes ultimate competitive advantage. The ability to track monthly biomarker changes and adjust personalized supplement, peptide, and hormone stacks accordingly is seen as the future of individualized healthcare.
Conclusion
The conversation between Eric Hinman and Josh Whalen provides a rich tapestry of entrepreneurial wisdom. From the courage to bootstrap and decline significant investment to the strategic integration of AI with a human-centric approach, Blokes exemplifies a modern healthcare company built on authenticity, innovation, and a deep commitment to patient well-being. Their journey underscores the importance of solving real problems, building strong teams, and maintaining control over one's vision in the pursuit of lasting success. This deep dive into their operations offers invaluable insights for any founder navigating the complexities of building a purpose-driven business.
Website: https://joiandblokes.com/
Code: ERIC
Offer: 50% off all diagnostic lab panels + 15% off products + 50% off first month of smart supplements.
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