Dr. Yusuf Sherwani on scaling Pelago, raising $150M, and the future of AI therapy

Long-time StartUp Health community member Yusuf Sherwani, MD, didn't set out to build an AI mental health specialist. Nine years ago, he co-founded Pelago as a virtual clinic for substance use disorder – called Quit Genius – well before telehealth was widely trusted. Today, Pelago works with employers and health plans across the country and has cut the cost of addiction treatment by 10x.

In this episode, Dr. Sherwani talks with Logan Plaster about the failed experiments that came before Pelago found its model, what it means to "refound" a scaled company, and why he built Sona – an AI-powered first line of behavioral health support designed to know when to bring in a human clinician. He also makes the case for why founders in this space need to stay close to clinical literature and outcomes data, not just engagement metrics.

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