James Currier

We actually measured it. Like how much venture capital did those six companies take? How much did we spend? So they would spend 6 million each. We'd spend 600K, one 10th. And they would take four years to go through it. We would take four months. It was literally a one to 10 ratio in terms of figuring stuff out inside the incubator. The problem was,

We actually measured it. Like how much venture capital did those six companies take? How much did we spend? So they would spend 6 million each. We'd spend 600K, one 10th. And they would take four years to go through it. We would take four months. It was literally a one to 10 ratio in terms of figuring stuff out inside the incubator. The problem was,

Once you get a hit and something's working, the only person capable of running that business is you because you're the one who came up with it. You can't install a CEO or co-do it with someone, which is why incubator models don't work. There's a soul. Now, it can work a little bit with spreadsheet businesses like HIMSS and Rocket Internet, I think has Alonda.

Once you get a hit and something's working, the only person capable of running that business is you because you're the one who came up with it. You can't install a CEO or co-do it with someone, which is why incubator models don't work. There's a soul. Now, it can work a little bit with spreadsheet businesses like HIMSS and Rocket Internet, I think has Alonda.

But in general, these incubators do not work unless they're spreadsheet businesses where anybody can run it. Somebody from BCG can just buy traffic, sell traffic, that sort of thing. But if the business has any amount of soul in it, incubators don't work. And so we tried it for three years. And during that time, we built 24 different products.

But in general, these incubators do not work unless they're spreadsheet businesses where anybody can run it. Somebody from BCG can just buy traffic, sell traffic, that sort of thing. But if the business has any amount of soul in it, incubators don't work. And so we tried it for three years. And during that time, we built 24 different products.

We ended up venture backing three businesses, but I ended up being CEO of each one in turn. So it wasn't really an incubator. It was just a way of finding the next business that I was going to run. And so that's what we did next. And the first business that came out of that was a gaming company called Wonderhill, which it started as something different. And then it pivoted into gaming.

We ended up venture backing three businesses, but I ended up being CEO of each one in turn. So it wasn't really an incubator. It was just a way of finding the next business that I was going to run. And so that's what we did next. And the first business that came out of that was a gaming company called Wonderhill, which it started as something different. And then it pivoted into gaming.

And then we merged that with Kabam, another gaming company. And then we took the growth analytics engine from that and spun it into a company called Iron Pearl. And then PayPal bought that. And then we started an enterprise HR software company for benefits called GIF.

And then we merged that with Kabam, another gaming company. And then we took the growth analytics engine from that and spun it into a company called Iron Pearl. And then PayPal bought that. And then we started an enterprise HR software company for benefits called GIF.

And this was the biggest mistake of my career because I was really good at consumer stuff and I wanted to sort of cure American healthcare with basically bringing Facebook platform, but making it for health and then letting all the apps sit on top of it. That was the idea. It's still a good idea and still hasn't been done.

And this was the biggest mistake of my career because I was really good at consumer stuff and I wanted to sort of cure American healthcare with basically bringing Facebook platform, but making it for health and then letting all the apps sit on top of it. That was the idea. It's still a good idea and still hasn't been done.

Because healthcare does not want to be cured. The American healthcare system is so frozen. So broken. It's so locked in bad behavior. Everyone in the system is behaving badly. The doctors are behaving badly. They don't really care about patient health. They care about revenue. The patients are behaving badly.

Because healthcare does not want to be cured. The American healthcare system is so frozen. So broken. It's so locked in bad behavior. Everyone in the system is behaving badly. The doctors are behaving badly. They don't really care about patient health. They care about revenue. The patients are behaving badly.

They just over-consume healthcare all the time, particularly as we age in the United States, like entertainment. The insurance companies, they just increase their prices all the time. They're just rapacious. They're not actually trying to lower costs or improve. They say they are, but they're not. They don't behave that way. The pharma companies are just

They just over-consume healthcare all the time, particularly as we age in the United States, like entertainment. The insurance companies, they just increase their prices all the time. They're just rapacious. They're not actually trying to lower costs or improve. They say they are, but they're not. They don't behave that way. The pharma companies are just

The people at the pharma companies work from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. They just use their IP and just milk money out of the system. They're unbelievably profitable. Nobody is behaving well, and it's hard to get anybody to try to behave well. And the only way you can help is make someone more money, not save costs, not improve care. The only thing that the system responds to is making more money.

The people at the pharma companies work from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. They just use their IP and just milk money out of the system. They're unbelievably profitable. Nobody is behaving well, and it's hard to get anybody to try to behave well. And the only way you can help is make someone more money, not save costs, not improve care. The only thing that the system responds to is making more money.

And we were trying to improve care and reduce costs, and the system does not want that.

And we were trying to improve care and reduce costs, and the system does not want that.