Sean Duffy is co-founder and CEO of Omada Health. He just marked a big milestone in his entrepreneurial journey with the company’s successful IPO. For us, this accomplishment marks the culmination of a 14-year journey. As a winner, Duffy has received priceless education around the healthcare landscape and immediate needs of patients dealing with chronic illness.
Duffy’s journey to founding Omada Health faced some major hurdles. Unfortunately, he has gone through many such soul-crushing moments as a founder, each making him more resolved to win. The trip hasn’t been easy – it all started in 2011 when Duffy made the radical choice to leave Harvard Medical School. He recognized a critical gap in the healthcare system: chronic illness patients required more continuous support than traditional models provided. That epiphany propelled him to found a company that he was 100% certain the market truly needed.
The idea that launched Omada Health was to provide ongoing treatment and support for people living with chronic conditions. Duffy’s approach is unprecedented in building a bridge from the patient side to the healthcare system. This helps make sure that the most vulnerable receive the reliable and impactful help they need.
Reflecting on his own entrepreneurial Duffy’s startup, Duffy remarked at how merciless the world of building a startup can be.
“As a young business, something tries to kill you every month,” – Sean Duffy
Her description perfectly captures the exhilarating, chaotic and sometimes even violent ride that is the path to starting a company. Over time as Omada Health continued to grow, Duffy said the nature of the challenges began to change.
“And then as the business grows, it turns into like every quarter or six months, year, two years,” – Sean Duffy
That triumphant IPO is a testimony to Duffy’s dream becoming a reality. It represents a much needed, brighter market environment for disruptive and innovative healthcare startups that have been under fire in recent years. The IPO is especially remarkable because many soon-to-be public companies haven’t been able to hold onto their valuations after their public debut.
Marina Temkin, a venture capital and startups reporter at TechCrunch, has been keeping a close watch on the implications of this development. Temkin’s background as a financial analyst gives him strong qualifications to hold the CFA charter. More importantly, he thinks the IPO can provide confidence for investors looking for opportunities in the healthcare sector.