0:02

Welcome to Who would

0:02

have thought, a digital health

0:05

innovation podcast 20 years ago,

0:05

who would have thought that so

0:09

many people would have

0:09

smartphones 20 years from now?

0:12

What will the new who would have

0:12

thoughts become that will

0:15

significantly improve the

0:15

quality of life for everyone?

0:19

Take a deep dive into the rapid

0:19

innovation happening around

0:22

healthcare. Explore the

0:22

perspectives of the industry

0:24

leaders today and inquire into

0:24

the digital technologies of

0:28

tomorrow. This is a conversation

0:28

to discover the future of

0:32

digital health and it starts

0:32

now.

0:36

Welcome to Who

0:36

would have thought my name is

0:38

Sacha Heppell, Chief Marketing

0:38

Officer of SmartTab. I'd like to

0:42

introduce our hosts today Robert

0:42

Niicel our founder and CEO whose

0:46

background is in leadership and

0:46

management of pharmaceutical

0:49

research and development. He

0:49

founded SmartTab in 2016, to

0:53

drive the development of novel

0:53

drug delivery systems at our lab

0:57

in Denver, Colorado, at the

0:57

Catalyst Health Tech Innovation

1:01

center. Today, Robert will speak

1:01

with a very special guest and

1:04

well respected business leader,

1:04

we will dive into a conversation

1:08

about Colorado Thrives and

1:08

what's possible when corporate

1:12

citizens become civically

1:12

engaged and come together

1:16

committed to transform the well

1:16

being of their community and the

1:19

ripple effect that has on the

1:19

world. We'll hear his take on

1:22

innovative early stage companies

1:22

in Colorado and how they can

1:26

make the greatest impact in the

1:26

years to come. With that. I'll

1:30

pass it over to you Robert to

1:30

introduce our honorable guests

1:33

today Kent Thiry, otherwise

1:33

known as KT.

1:37

Thank you,

1:37

Sacha. It's my pleasure to

1:39

welcome KT, an extraordinary

1:39

leader who served as chairman

1:42

and CEO DaVita for two decades,

1:42

and has played an instrumental

1:46

role in the growth of Colorado.

1:46

In 2018. He founded a CEO group

1:52

called Colorado thrives focused

1:52

on advancing the quality of life

1:56

for all Coloradans. KT is

1:56

committed to bringing a village

1:59

of leaders together to drive

1:59

innovation, and improve the well

2:03

being of everyone in Colorado

2:03

and beyond. Welcome to the show,

2:08

KT, and thank you so much for

2:08

taking the time to be with us

2:11

today. We would like to start

2:11

with studying the stage, perhaps

2:14

by your successful time into

2:14

DaVita. If you could please talk

2:18

briefly about your time at DaVita.

2:20

Well, I was very

2:20

lucky, young man. I was there

2:24

for 20 years. We grew a lot,

2:24

both domestically and

2:28

internationally. We were a

2:28

clinical innovator, and a high

2:31

clinical performer. And we built

2:31

a healthy culture. And I was

2:35

very lucky to be a part of all that.

2:37

Yeah, that's a

2:37

you know, exciting times. And

2:40

it's nice to see the growth and

2:40

certainly see how you are, you

2:44

know, expanding more into the

2:44

community. So then, from davita,

2:48

clearly not slowing down at all.

2:48

You started the Colorado thrives

2:52

program designed to advance

2:52

Colorado as an inspiring and

2:57

inclusive community known

2:57

globally for innovation,

3:00

collaboration, and overall well

3:00

being. Could you describe why

3:04

Colorado thrives now exists, and

3:04

maybe shine some light on what

3:07

the major goals of this

3:07

organization are?

3:11

Colorado thrives was

3:11

started because I noticed that

3:15

there were no collective groups

3:15

of big business leaders. And so

3:21

I made 14 invitations, and got

3:21

14 acceptances. Pretty much

3:27

everybody is current or former

3:27

CEO of a large company. And the

3:32

idea was not to focus on the

3:32

business environment, but to

3:36

focus on the Colorado

3:36

environment generally, and how

3:39

to ensure well being for all

3:39

Coloradans, all people in all

3:44

places, that was the idea. And

3:44

it was pretty amazing that 100%

3:49

of the leaders I reached out to

3:49

were interested in creating just

3:53

that.

3:54

Yeah, that's

3:54

exciting. Then with economic

3:56

mobility, being at the forefront

3:56

of Colorado thrives really

3:59

curious to hear more about the

3:59

partnership with tech stars,

4:02

Arizona lab strat Education

4:02

Network, and then the creation

4:06

of the workforce development

4:06

accelerator.

4:09

This was really fun

4:09

stuff. We spent a year with the

4:13

pro bono help from the Boston

4:13

Consulting Group staring at all

4:17

the different areas where we

4:17

might be able to make a

4:20

difference for Colorado, all

4:20

people in all places. And after

4:24

a year, we held a vote. And by

4:24

far the leading category was

4:28

economic mobility slash

4:28

workforce readiness. And so we

4:33

then launched nationwide search

4:33

for who, what were some of the

4:36

best ideas, the best new

4:36

practices, the best

4:39

organizations, the best policies

4:39

and dealing with that, and as we

4:43

got going, we realized that this

4:43

was an area that really needed

4:47

to turbocharge innovation. And

4:47

we started talking to tech

4:50

stars, the wonderful incubating

4:50

group that's here based in

4:55

Colorado, even though it

4:55

operates globally and said,

4:58

let's put the power of the

4:58

talent within Colorado Thrives

5:02

together with the existing

5:02

technology of the TechStars

5:07

incubators, and create an

5:07

accelerator, probably unique in

5:11

the world at this point, totally

5:11

focused on attracting a cohort

5:16

of 12 very innovative startup

5:16

companies that were going to be

5:20

active in this space. And that's

5:20

what we did with TechStars. And

5:24

our other partners there.

5:26

Yeah, that's really great how you combine the technology with Colorado

5:28

landscape, and then, you know,

5:31

really moving on to tie into

5:31

that are a lot of early stage

5:34

companies, digital technology,

5:34

healthcare startups working on

5:39

these innovative solutions in

5:39

Colorado. And then, you know,

5:42

many of these local companies

5:42

are looking to tackle big global

5:46

problems. interested to hear

5:46

your thoughts on how you see

5:49

these small, innovative

5:49

companies expanding and taking

5:53

on a much larger footprint in

5:53

Colorado as they grow in the

5:56

next 5 to 10 years?

5:57

Well, the story of

5:57

America is clear that small

6:01

companies, startup companies

6:01

drive a huge part of America's

6:06

lifelong fascination with

6:06

innovation, and so important

6:10

that America maintain its

6:10

competitive edge in this realm.

6:13

And it's so important to

6:13

Colorado, that we create an

6:16

environment where those kind of

6:16

small and cool companies can

6:20

flourish, and succeed enough to

6:20

stay here and stay independent,

6:25

as opposed to just being sold to

6:25

some other company for some

6:27

other state. And the progress

6:27

that has been made in Denver

6:31

over the last 10 years,

6:31

particularly in medtech and

6:35

related areas, has been quite

6:35

striking, and could make a big

6:39

difference for Colorado, the

6:39

employment opportunities we have

6:43

in the in the healthy economy we

6:43

have and the brand that we have,

6:46

but also contribute to the rest

6:46

of the country.

6:48

Yeah. And then

6:48

expanding on that, what would be

6:51

your advice? Or what do you

6:51

believe, you know, the steps

6:54

would be that these smaller

6:54

companies can take to ensure

6:57

that they grow and they're

6:57

successful, and then how they

6:59

integrate into the landscape of

6:59

Denver, as its newly founded

7:04

tech and medical hub.

7:05

I think for the small companies that are launching this adventure, so

7:07

important to think about your

7:12

capitalization, that you need to

7:12

have enough capital, but I

7:16

always tell people is if you are

7:16

confident, you have the ability

7:19

to build a great plane that will

7:19

grow, that will fly further and

7:22

faster than any other plane, the

7:22

worst place to try to save money

7:27

is on the runway. Because if

7:27

you're not build a long enough

7:29

runway, no one will ever get to

7:29

see how great your plane was

7:32

going to be. And so first to

7:32

make sure you're sufficiently

7:35

capitalized, which also then

7:35

helps you retain independence.

7:39

And second is to attract a great

7:39

board so that they can give you

7:42

the right counsel, the right

7:42

objectivity, the right network

7:45

of relationships, those are two

7:45

of the fundamentals for these

7:48

cool companies to get right early on.

7:50

Yeah. And then,

7:50

you know, as we grow, and as we

7:53

grow into basically our title as

7:53

a medical and tech hub, how do

7:57

you recommend we leverage all

7:57

the talents of bright young

8:00

minds that are in Colorado? And

8:00

you know, and then how does that

8:04

fit into accomplishing the goals

8:04

of your organization of Colorado

8:07

thrives?

8:08

I think the more

8:08

that we can help our

8:11

universities develop vibrant

8:11

curriculum in these areas, not

8:16

20 year old, out of date,

8:16

academic stuff, but more cutting

8:20

edge contemporary stuff, the

8:20

more we can have our

8:22

universities work with the

8:22

private sector directly,

8:26

including even having private

8:26

sector facilities on the

8:29

campuses, I think the more that

8:29

the community can create an

8:32

exchange sort of a marketplace.

8:32

So people get to know each other

8:36

with events like Denver Startup

8:36

Week, which is so great for

8:39

people getting to know each

8:39

other and then being able to

8:41

network for the rest of the

8:41

year. These are three or four of

8:44

the things that if we do them,

8:44

right, continue to do them.

8:48

Right. And in particular,

8:48

working with a lot of the local

8:50

incubators, we can have a very

8:50

distinctively successful in

8:56

general startup environment, not

8:56

just medtech.

9:00

Yeah. And then

9:00

expanding on that, you know, we

9:02

talked about the Colorado

9:02

thrives and then you know,

9:04

really looking to the future.

9:04

You have this great group of

9:07

executives you brought together

9:07

and then where do you see the

9:10

organization five years down the

9:10

road,

9:13

Colorado thrives is

9:13

off to a good start, we got the

9:16

TechStars accelerator joint

9:16

venture, we're working with

9:20

another very powerful innovative

9:20

company called Braven, which

9:23

helps young adults get necessary

9:23

job training, sort of a boot

9:28

camp. We're working with E for

9:28

all a group that helps local

9:32

businesses get started, not

9:32

businesses that are going to

9:35

scale nationally, but businesses

9:35

that are going to be local like

9:38

bakeries and restaurants and

9:38

things like that, and helping a

9:41

lot of people start those kind

9:41

of new operations. So many

9:46

people have that passion, but

9:46

don't have the capital or

9:48

expertise to get that going. So

9:48

those are all the things that

9:51

Colorado thrives is doing

9:51

already. We're also working with

9:54

endeavor, an international

9:54

nonprofit venture capital

9:58

network, and we've already

9:58

helped Several companies joined

10:01

in the endeavor global network.

10:01

So these are other things that

10:04

thrives is already done, in

10:04

addition to helping working with

10:07

Denver on the COVID problem. But

10:07

as I stare at the next five

10:10

years, per your question, I

10:10

think we're going to do is we'll

10:13

be active in more areas, not

10:13

just economic mobility, and

10:17

workforce readiness, for

10:17

example, we're looking at

10:20

homeless issues right now, and

10:20

particularly mental health

10:22

issues within the homeless

10:22

population. We're also looking

10:26

at transportation, these are

10:26

other areas that we might very

10:29

well get into. In addition, I

10:29

think we will slightly expand

10:32

the size of Colorado thrives as

10:32

we find other business leaders

10:37

who believe in leaning into

10:37

civic engagement.

10:41

Yeah, those are

10:41

some major future initiatives,

10:44

certainly the transportation as

10:44

well as the homeless, and then

10:48

kind of tying into that your

10:48

firm, your organization had a

10:52

pretty big role in the COVID-19

10:52

responses. And, you know, it's

10:55

interesting how you know, the

10:55

community needs feeding the

10:58

front line supporting small

10:58

businesses, perhaps you could

11:01

just expand a little bit on how

11:01

you took those initiatives to

11:05

help with the covid 19 pandemic?

11:07

Well, first of all,

11:07

each thrives company did its own

11:11

brand of remarkable work in

11:11

dealing with COVID, setting up

11:14

remote capabilities, helping

11:14

people retain their jobs,

11:18

helping their supply chains

11:18

retain their jobs, helping their

11:22

customers access their products

11:22

and services. So individually,

11:26

each company really did some

11:26

remarkable things. And we shared

11:30

a lot of our ideas and best

11:30

practices. And so each of us was

11:33

helping others, which was

11:33

enabling all of us to help other

11:37

people generally. So that was

11:37

very cool by itself. But then in

11:40

addition, we did some

11:40

interesting work with the city

11:43

of Denver, helping them think

11:43

through all the different facets

11:47

of the challenge, and what steps

11:47

could be taken to facilitate

11:51

business recovery, which of

11:51

course, is vital, because that

11:54

means people will have

11:54

employment. And that means they

11:57

can help stimulate local

11:57

communities as well as the

11:59

broader economy.

12:00

Yeah, that makes

12:00

sense. That makes sense. That's

12:02

a large undertaking. So I

12:02

believe with that, we can kind

12:06

of wrap it up here. So I'll say,

12:06

Katie, thank you for doing what

12:09

you're doing with Colorado

12:09

thrives and you know, bringing

12:12

economic mobility and stability

12:12

to the state of Colorado. Thank

12:15

you so much for your time today. And we're looking forward to seeing all the impact of

12:17

Colorado thrives has on the

12:20

state and the city of Denver,

12:20

and we look to you know,

12:24

anything we can do to support

12:24

and partner with these companies

12:27

in the future. That would be

12:27

great. So with that, we'll wrap

12:30

it up. Say thank you, and good luck. All right. Thank you very much.

12:32

And thank you for everything you

12:34

guys are doing to foster a

12:34

sustainable, dynamic

12:38

entrepreneurial environment here

12:38

in Colorado. So keep it up. We

12:41

appreciate your time, KT.

12:43

thanks, guys.

12:45

If you're interested in becoming more involved, and like to learn more

12:47

about Colorado thrives, go to

12:52

www. coloradothrives.org