Health IQ's Failure

From potential HealthTech unicorn to bankruptcy.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Failory's logo]( October 12, 2023 | [Read Online]()​ ​ Hey — It's Nico. Health IQ, as 90% of startups, failed. Every Thursday, I'll help you prevent your startup from shutting down. Here's what I got today: - 🔗 Weekly Picks - 💀 Failed Startup: Health IQ - 📊 Growth Strategy: Versus Pages - 📈 Trend: Games for Pets This is brought to you by [PartnerHero](), which helps startups scale with highly-trained, on-brand CX teams. [.]( ​ --------------------------------------------------------------- ​ 🔗 Weekly Picks Solo founder shares how he grew his startup to $74K MRR ([Link](=)). Greylock raises $1B for 17th fund and launches early-stage founders program ([Link](=)). A new funding category: Shared Success Agreements ([Link](). A guide to pricing for startups ([Link](). Sequoia talks about the current state of the AI market + where it’s headed ([Link](). ​ --------------------------------------------------------------- ​ Brought to you by PartnerHero 📈 [CX Powers Your Growth]()​ [PartnerHero]()​ Successful brands invest in customer experience and smart founders use PartnerHero to up-level their CX without breaking the bank. PartnerHero is a customer operations outsourcing company built for the needs of startups, from seed to scale. Let us help your brand build financial resilience and extend your operational runway without sacrificing quality with flexible, affordable, high-quality outsourced customer ops. ​[Book a free consultation call →​](​ ​ --------------------------------------------------------------- ​ 💀 Failed Startup: Health IQ ​[Link to News →](=)​ A month ago, Health IQ, a health-tech startup once valued at $450M, filed for bankruptcy. This downfall, marked by [massive layoffs](=), suspicious payouts, and mounting debts, has been attributed to financial mismanagement. The company's downfall took everyone by surprise. Until 2019, they had [raised $139.5M](=) in 5 funding rounds. The pivotal moment came in 2019 when Health IQ began to offer Medicare Advantage plans with the aim of securing substantial commissions. However, this move strained cash flow, leading to vendor lawsuits claiming unpaid invoices. The company laid off hundreds of employees and contractors amid the financial struggles. Meanwhile, co-founders Munjal Shah and Gaurav Suri received “vacation accrual” payouts of $42,000 each just days after the layoffs were announced. Health IQ filed for bankruptcy in August, revealing debts of $256.7M and only $1.3M in assets. In the wake of the bankruptcy, creditors' lawsuits surfaced, alleging contract breaches and fraudulent practices. Health IQ's demise highlights the underestimated challenges of innovating in highly regulated sectors like healthcare insurance. The company lacked a sustainable business strategy and failed to prioritize financial prudence and compliance. Andreessen Horowitz, which led Health IQ’s Series C funding round, is [now investing](=) in Shah’s new startup, Hippocratic AI. ​ --------------------------------------------------------------- ​ 📊 Growth Strategy: Versus Pages ​[Link to Tweet →]()​ If you have a SaaS, you have to build “alternative” pages comparing your product to all of your competitors’ ones. These pages can rank on Google and bring you bottom-of-the-funnel users to your site. Here’s how you can do it: 1) Create a structure for the pages with the features you want to compare. 2) Research competitors. Note down all their features and pricing. 3) Create alternative pages (“[Competitor] alternative”). 4) Create compare pages for your competitors ( “[Competitor 1] vs. [Competitor 2]”). Make sure to compare yourself to them as well. If you have 15 competitors, that’s 15 alternative pages, and 210 compare pages you can create. Create them programmatically by completing specific fields with the corresponding information. [Here’s an article I wrote on Programmatic SEO](. Pally has got 300+ signups with these pages. [Pally alternative pages] ​ ​ ​ --------------------------------------------------------------- ​ 📈 Trend: Games for Pets ​[Link to Source →]()​ [Games for Pets] ​ This week, Jolly Dog, an app for dogs, cracked the App Store's top 100 charts. The app is getting 70k downloads per day. The game is simple: your dog has to land a paw on the characters appearing on the screen. The game’s color and noises have been designed to appeal to pets. While it’s free to download and play, it has a paid version, which costs $1.99, and unlocks more characters and play environments. Apps for baby entertainment were a thing. Apps for pet entertainment might be the next. ​ --------------------------------------------------------------- ​ 👂 How Was Today's Newsletter? - 🔥 [Great](=)​ - 😒 [Meh](=)​ - 👎 [Not interesting](=)​ ​ --------------------------------------------------------------- ​ ❓ Looking For More? 📞 Looking for help with your startup? [Book a one-hour-long consultancy call with me](). 💡 Struggling to validate your startup idea? [I've created a course]() on how to use pre-sales to validate it. 📈 Struggling to achieve PMF? [I've written an eBook]( about the exact strategies used by Slack, Intercom, and Airbnb to achieve it. 💰 Struggling to raise funding? I've curated lists of [2,100 accelerators and incubators](=) and [1,000 VC firms](=). 📊 Looking to get in front of +40k startup founders? [Sponsor Failory's newsletter]().​ ​ --------------------------------------------------------------- ​ That's all of this week. Cheers, Nico 1309 Coffeen Avenue, Ste 1200, Sheridan, Wyoming 82801 Not getting what you need? [Unsubscribe](