EP430: Advice for Digital Health Vendors Selling to Employers, With Barbara Wachsman

Why do so many digital health entrepreneurs set their sights on selling to employers? Per Barbara Wachsman, former director of strategy and engagement for enterprise benefits at Disney and now senior advisor at Frazier Healthcare Partners, the answer is the same one Willie Sutton gave when asked why he robbed banks: because that's where the money is. Stacey Richter and Barbara dig into what it actually takes for a digital health vendor or point solution to successfully sell to employers — and, in the process, give employers themselves a rare look at what's happening on the other side of the sales table.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

✅ Why the market for a digital health solution only exists if the problem it solves is big enough that employers feel the fallout — and why plenty of smart entrepreneurs build something valuable for patients or clinicians that nobody will actually pay for

✅ Why Barbara Wachsman says HR purchasing decisions shouldn't really be driven by improving health and well-being for its own sake — the real driver is optimizing human capital to produce a productive employee and better business outcomes

✅ Why true differentiation matters as much as market need, and what Barbara considers the compelling "secret sauces" among today's standout digital health companies

✅ Why navigating an employer's internal politics and finding a genuine internal champion is essential Selling 101 — and why the sales cycle at jumbo employers can take far longer than most entrepreneurs expect

✅ Why vendors need to manage their investors' expectations on sale timelines just as carefully as they manage prospective clients, and what the Livongo story teaches about that balance

WHY THIS MATTERS

Selling to employers isn't just a go-to-market strategy; it's a bet that a vendor has correctly identified a problem employers feel acutely enough to pay to solve, packaged into something genuinely differentiated, sold through a real internal champion, on a timeline investors will tolerate. Get any one of those wrong, and the vendor joins the long list of entrepreneurs who built something valuable that nobody would fund. For employers, understanding this dynamic offers a useful gut check: a vendor's pitch reveals as much about what they think employers actually care about as it does about the product itself.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

EP331 with Al Lewis: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Other Apps

EP427 with Rik Renard: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Other Apps

Encore! EP372 with Cora Opsahl: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Other Apps

=== LINKS ===

🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: Episode Page

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00:00 Introduction.

06:55 Why have people cottoned on to selling to employers, and is it a good direction to focus?

07:28 What are the three ways healthcare gets paid for in America?

07:46 Where is the profit in the healthcare system?

08:32 What does an entrepreneur really need to understand in order to sell to employers?

13:05 "It really is about producing a productive employee."

17:49 Why it's not enough to understand the market but you must also differentiate.

21:01 What's the biggest misunderstanding entrepreneurs have about per member per month?

24:10 What companies are standing out right now as differentiators?

28:02 Why is it important to also show that you are improving quality?

28:51 EP331 with Al Lewis.

28:55 EP427 with Rik Renard.

29:33 EP372 with Cora Opsahl.

30:07 Why is it important to find a strong champion who will advocate for you as a partner?

35:05 Why is it important to manage your investors and set appropriate expectations around the timeline of a sale?

36:21 What's the lesson to be learned behind Livongo?