Dr. Louis Harrison: The Accidental Founder Fixing the Cancer Consultation

Dr. Louis Harrison spent decades as a radiation oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Beth Israel. Since childhood, he'd known he was a visual learner working in a profession built on words. As cancer care grew more complex, he watched patients leave consultations frightened, overwhelmed, and unable to explain their own diagnosis to their families. So at 65, instead of retiring, he founded MyCareGorithm.

In this episode of No Operating Manual, Lou equates how no one gives a business presentation without slides, while doctors still deliver life-altering news with nothing but conversation. He walks through what a consultation looks like with the tool: anatomical graphics showing where the tumor sits, side-by-side treatment comparisons, resource libraries, and a full visual record sent home with the patient. He shares results from ten pilots across six major cancer centers, including a Moffitt pilot where every patient said the tool influenced their decision to stay for care, and 75% said it influenced them greatly.

Lou also talks about being a prostate cancer patient himself, and having to go home and explain his own options to his wife and kids. That experience made the product better.

 Lou shares the biggest lesson he's learned in health tech: the patient benefits, the doctor uses it, but the institution writes the check, and being clearly good for patients is not enough to close a sale. He shares his advice to founders, the plan to expand into pediatric sports medicine, and why there's a long distance to travel between a good idea and a good business.