Foxo – Connecting Healthcare Against All Odds

We talked to Luke Fletcher, CEO and Co-founder of Foxo about powerful communication for healthcare and here is what he said about it.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? 

Luke Fletcher: Working from home has become the norm. Hosting meetings from the home office with kids ramming through the door is no longer a newsworthy topic. I’ve seen a lasting change adopted across the industry and can’t imagine us setting up a permanent office any time soon. 

The myth has been busted – commuting to an office is done, remote work is sustainable, video meetings are the norm, email is dead, and real-time messaging is the optimal medium for team communication and collaboration.

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded Foxo.

 Luke Fletcher: I come from a family of doctors – my parents, my uncles, my cousins, my brother-in-law. If they weren’t doctors they were in the industry some way, shape, or form. Then… there was me – a creative, left-handed, black sheep who enjoyed tinkering with computers. However, the allure of medicine was always present.

Almost 10 years before Foxo was founded, my brother-in-law and his close friend (both doctors) met to discuss a solution to an entrenched communication issue across global healthcare. Even as good friends, they couldn’t share clinical files or send messages without relying on WhatsApp or SMS – they knew there was a gap. In 2018, mobile phones and browsers had advanced and technology adoption had matured. I moved over from a cloud-networking company to kick start the business and build a product designed to change the way healthcare connects, communicates, and collaborates.

How does Foxo innovate? 

Luke Fletcher: We have an ultra-modern tech-stack and an all-star team which has resulted in a dynamic platform that rivals today’s greatest communication tools. We’ve managed to prototype, test, build, and refine faster than others, we work closely with our customers to gain insights into the complex workflows necessary for clinical communication and collaboration. 

We’re building something that hasn’t been built before so we take human-centered design seriously and we dogfood often (the practice of an organization using its own product). It’s these important methodologies that ensure we’re engineering something that adds true value to individuals and organizations.

How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your business?

Luke Fletcher: We have been extremely fortunate. We’ve managed to close our pre-seed capital raise, recruit quality talent, and grow our user base. However, our commercial team have encountered various challenges with procurement as public and private hospitals and clinics have been a little distracted. 

With an established commercial team and enterprise-ready product, I am confident 2021 will be a stellar year for Foxo.

Did you have to make difficult choices regarding human resources and what are the lessons learned?

Luke Fletcher: We had to shift one of our new roles from the Engineering team to the commercial team to focus on sales and customer success. As a relatively small team, this is a big hit to product development. However, the success of our sales team and customers will result in us back-filling the position soon.

How did your customer relationship management evolve? Do you use any specific tools to be efficient?

Luke Fletcher: We have relied heavily on video conferencing to continue sales development and customer relationships. We’ve procured various video platforms to ensure we cover all bases for the convenience of our customers.

Did you benefit from any government grants and did that help keep your business afloat?

Luke Fletcher: We were lucky enough to qualify for the Job Keeper program, an Australian government scheme to help businesses during COVID-19. This has been essential to keeping my staff on fulltime and continuing our recruitment plan to support growth.

Your final thoughts?

Luke Fletcher: It’s been testing times for all startups trying to find their place in the midst of a pandemic. If we can get through this, anything is possible. I wish the very best to all the great businesses innovating and pushing the envelope right now. 

Your website?

http://Foxo.com