SILICON
FOREST
HUFFINGTON
11.10.13
“When you leave corporate America and leave a steady
paycheck and health benefits, it’s just a little unsettling, and
it’s good to be around other people in the same situation.”
health care adviser to consumers,”
Vahle says. “We essentially want
to take business away from the
collection agents.”
Vahle did not lack for resources when she applied for the
startup contest. With an M.B.A.
from Wharton and a background
in biotechnology and health-care
management, she speaks with
the polished confidence of someone well-versed in her subject
— not arrogant, but fully accustomed to being the authority.
Vahle and her co-founder began
CoPatient in Boston, where both
had worked in the corporate
ranks of health-care management. They moved to Portland a
year ago, when a local insurance
company extended investment
and offered office space.
But cubicle culture did not suit
them. They felt isolated amid a
sea of people with clearly delineated roles helping a large i nsurance company run its business.
The startup challenge offered a
way in to a different experience.
“This was a great way to be
around other startups,” Vahle says.
She values the monthly roundtables with her counterparts,
where they discuss how to get
their websites higher in Google
searches, which technologies are
useful in building their products,
and how to tap into new markets.
No more than 20 feet from her
desk, the Walker Tracker team has
been selling their product to corporate wellness programs, a channel Vahle is pursuing as well.
“It’s the knowing you’re not
alone,” Vahle says. “When you
leave corporate America and leave
a steady paycheck and health benefits, it’s just a little unsettling,
and it’s good to be around other
people in the same situation. It
reminds you that you need to be
scrappy, that you need to
push the boundaries.”
Peter S. Goodman is the executive
business and global news editor of
The Huffington Post.