It’s 2 AM, and I’m staring at my computer screen, surrounded by empty coffee cups. The glow of Slack notifications never seems to stop. I’ve been here before – many times. This is the life of a founder, right? Always on, always pushing, always “amping it up.” At least, that’s what I thought when we started Innovaccer back in 2014.
Fast forward to 2024, and I’ve learned a thing or two about building a business in the chaotic world of healthcare technology. Today, I want to share some thoughts on why constantly “amping it up” isn’t the only way – or even the best way – to build a great company.
The Siren Song of Hypergrowth
In the tech world, especially in Silicon Valley, there’s an intoxicating narrative about hypergrowth. It’s all about hockey stick curves, blitzscaling, and becoming a unicorn as fast as possible. And let’s be honest, it’s seductive. Who doesn’t want to be the next big success story?
When we raised our Series A in 2016, I felt this pressure acutely. Every conversation with investors seemed to revolve around growth metrics. How fast can you scale? When will you hit $100M ARR? What’s your plan to dominate the market?
Don’t get me wrong – growth is important. We’ve grown our CARR (Contracted Annual Recurring Revenue) to ~$200M, up 47% year-over-year. That’s something I’m incredibly proud of. But here’s the thing: that growth didn’t come from constantly pushing the pedal to the metal. It came from something else entirely.
The Hidden Costs of Always Being “On”
Let me tell you a story. In 2018, we were pushing hard for a major product launch. The team was working around the clock. I was sleeping in the office more often than not. We were all running on caffeine and adrenaline.
We launched on time. The product was a success. But in the months that followed, we saw a wave of burnout hit our team. Some of our best engineers left. Our customer support quality dipped. And ironically, our overall productivity slowed.
That’s when I realized the cost of constant acceleration:
- Team Burnout: When your team is always in crisis mode, you lose the very people who make your company great.
- Short-term Thinking: When you’re always sprinting, you don’t have time to look at the horizon. We made decisions that boosted short-term metrics but created technical debt and strategic challenges down the line.
- Innovation Drought: In healthcare tech, innovation is everything. But real innovation – the kind that transforms patient care – doesn’t happen when you’re always in reactive mode.
- Personal Cost: I won’t lie – the toll on my personal life was significant. Relationships suffered. Health suffered. The joy that originally drove me to start this company was fading.
Finding a Better Way
So, how did we turn it around? How did we manage to grow to where we are today – with over 200 customers, including major health systems like Ascension – without burning out? Here’s what I’ve learned:
- Embrace the ebbs and flows
Business building is cyclical. There’s the rush of implementation seasons, the calm of planning periods, the frenzy of regulatory deadlines. Instead of fighting this rhythm, we learned to work with it.
We now plan our product releases and major initiatives around these natural cycles. It allows us to sprint when needed, but also to have periods of reflection and strategic planning.
- Celebrate the small wins (and the Big Ones)
In the early days, we only celebrated the big wins – major customer signings, and funding rounds. Now? We celebrate everything. A successful sprint, positive customer feedback, even just making it through a particularly challenging week.
Recently, we celebrated 10 years. Instead of immediately moving on to the next big thing, we took a moment to acknowledge the incredible work that went into it. We had a company-wide celebration, complete with silly hats and bad dancing (mostly mine). It matters.
- Learning is the new winning
In healthcare tech, you can’t always control outcomes. Regulations change. Pandemics happen (as we all learned in 2020). What you can control is how much you learn.
We’ve reframed our goals around learning. Every project, every customer interaction, every setback is an opportunity to gain insights. This shift has made us more resilient and, ironically, more successful in the long run.
- Build sustainability into your culture
This was a hard lesson for me personally. I used to pride myself on being the first in, last out. Now? I make a point of visibly taking time off. I encourage my team to do the same.
We’ve introduced unlimited PTO, but more importantly, we actively encourage people to use it. It’s not just about policies – it’s about creating a culture where sustainable work is valued.
- Stay connected to your “Why”
Healthcare is a uniquely challenging and rewarding field. We’re not just building software; we’re helping to improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and make the system work better for everyone.
Whenever I feel the pressure to just focus on growth at all costs, I remind myself why we started Innovaccer. I talk to our customers – the healthcare providers who are using our technology to make a real difference in patients’ lives. It grounds me and reminds me that our work has meaning beyond the metrics.
The Joy is in the Journey
Building Innovaccer has been the most challenging and rewarding experience of my life. We’ve had our share of late nights, stressful board meetings, and moments of doubt. But we’ve also had moments of pure joy – when a customer tells us we’ve helped them provide better care, when we see our technology making a real impact, when our team comes together to solve a seemingly impossible problem.
As we look to the future – with ambitious goals like reaching ~300M in CARR for 2025 and achieving profitability – I’m excited. But I’m excited not just for the destination, but for the journey.
To all the founders, leaders, and dreamers out there: remember that building a great business isn’t just about the growth charts and the funding rounds.
It’s about creating something meaningful, something that brings joy not just to you, but to your team, your customers, and the world.
So the next time you feel the pressure to constantly “amp it up,” take a breath. Remember why you started. Find the joy in the journey. Build something great, yes – but build it in a way that’s sustainable, meaningful, and true to your vision.
Because at the end of the day, that’s what really matters. That’s how you build not just a successful business, but a great one.
