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It's a neat story but for those that don't read: 1. He's a doctor with a Harvard degree. 2. The nursing home he stayed in was close to his parents... "When he

It's a neat story but for those that don't read: 1. He's a doctor with a Harvard degree. 2. The nursing home he stayed in was close to his parents... "When he needed a shower, Peck — who was 35 at the time — would drive to his parents' home, which happened to be nearby." I'm not knocking the significance of things- it's a cool read and a reminder how painful it is to work in and around healthcare with all the bureaucracy and how sad it is he contacted 2000 institutions and only three got back to him. Worth the read- just a tiny bit sensationalized IMO. Edit: added quote

tomcam 9y ago
1. The Harvard part of the degree is completely irrelevant 2. His parents’ home happen to be nearby, but note that was a semi-lucky coincidence. He was living in Silicon Valley when he cold-called all of those institutions. One of the few that actually answered was near his parents’ house. Here is the relevant passage: “So he cold-emailed and called more than 2,000 facilities across the country.“ This guy will succeed because he was willing to cold call 2,000 places despite having a Harvard degree. He was willing to live in a conference room despite having a Harvard degree. He will succeed at whatever he does and it wouldn’t matter if he went to Cal State Fullerton. In my opinion this story is intrinsically sensational because he is such a stud. A guy willing to go this far is a guy YC is lucky to have.
- leetrout 9y ago
  So I will never know the answer to this question- but I would love to know if his parents knew the admin staff or two degrees away (or if he, himself, did). I don't find is coincidental that it ended up being close to his folks. I would imagine a backstory something along the lines of "I've got this solid idea for fixing a big problem, let me reach out and find some partners" and of course he tells his parents. As things progress on (and perhaps tend to fizzle) he or his parents push a little harder on "coming back home" and working local. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong, bad, etc etc here, I just bet something like this is how we got here. As for sleeping in the conference room... well he's building tech to be used onsite- and I would expect a not insignificant amount of the types of medical issues he's working on providing this service for happen through the midnight hours and whether he chose to be on-site it shows real dedication to what he's trying to do, for sure. As for the degree- you're not entirely wrong- it's pure conjecture without knowing more- but I don't think we can assume having a top name education doesn't help with funding, YC or not. Edit: fixed complete miswording on my intention
- j7ake 9y ago
  You’re saying nobody has ever cold called 2000 institutions and failed to succeed ? What evidence do you have for this ?
  - tomcam 9y ago
    What evidence do you have that I made any such assertion?
- mlevental 9y ago
  At 100 calls a week (super doable) that's only 20 weeks. This is not some Herculean task
  - chaoky 9y ago
    That sort of misses the point. It is pretty soul destroying to cold call that many people.
    - IntronExon 9y ago
      ...And yet articles about call center grunts probably don’t garner front page interest in the same way that “founder” does.
      - tomcam 9y ago
        Most call center grunts aren’t also tireless, gutsy, visionary, MD/businesspeople. Also they get a guaranteed salary; he didn’t. Source: am former call center grunt.
        MisterBastahrd 9y ago
        There are plenty of people who have inside sales jobs that are commission only. Most sales reps at recruiting firms with split desks would laugh at the notion that 100 calls a week is soul crushing. Most of them are placing 120+ cold calls a day.
  - JetSpiegel 9y ago
    5 months of your life calling nursing homes? Not Herculean, Sisyphean.
    - tomcooks 9y ago
      But this worked, Sisyphus never won.
- cup 9y ago
  >1. The Harvard part of the degree is completely irrelevant Except It's a pretty good indicator of his socioeconomic background and the numerous opportunities that were made available to him in his life that others didn't have. Apart from that yeah.. Oh and also the copious networking opportunities it gave him and access to circles that others don't have. yeah.....
  - appleiigs 9y ago
    Instead of past opportunities, his Harvard degree gives him future opportunities. As in, something to fall back on when the startup fails. That gives him the advantage (risk tolerance) that other people don’t have (eg. single mom). So, agreeing with you but for different reasons. Harvard degree matters. Not knocking his persistence and really like that his company helps people instead of doing facial recognition emojis.
  - manigandham 9y ago
    Anyone can apply to Harvard, and they all have to be good enough to create the opportunity to be accepted in the first place.
    - cm2012 9y ago
      Except realistically, 80% of harvard grads come from high income households.
      - manigandham 9y ago
        So at least 20% don't? Given the high standard of qualifications which are obviously easier to meet when you have more resources, that's pretty good. We're talking about the #1 school here, which is also free for any low-income families.
        cm2012 9y ago
        Yeah, 20% come from families under 65k family income.
- justonepost 9y ago
  Yeah, well, exactly 0 would probably have contacted him if he didn't have the degree. He's not that much of a stud, most founders would die for an opportunity like that. Also, mass emailing a list of 2000 isn't exactly cold calling. Odds are good he actually called this one and did the full press because his parents DID live nearby. That all being said, the moral of the story is still very sound.
- bojackstorkman 9y ago
  How is it only "semi lucky" that he was able to establish support for considerably lower or near zero cost for otherwise troublesome and expensive, possibly unattainable facilities? Also if Harvard doesn't matter, why bring it up twice when discussing his value? Does it matter in your estimation, or not?
- kriro 9y ago
  I think the Harvard part matters at least a tiny bit. A Harvard medical degree means your opportunity cost to do the startup thing is (marginally imo) higher than if you had a Cal State Fullerton medical degree. And obviously the storyline "ZOMG he has an elite degree and still does thus" is more interesting for the random reader.
- heedlessly2 9y ago
  >The Harvard part of the degree is completely irrelevant When Venture capitalists and angel investors decide to invest, brand name helps decide who they invest in. Is not everything, but its not nothing either.
ggg9990 9y ago
The Harvard doctor part actually makes it much more impressive because it means that he had in his back pocket the option to just go be a doctor and make $300k+. I would have quit a lot earlier.

tomcam 9y ago

1. The Harvard part of the degree is completely irrelevant 2. His parents’ home happen to be nearby, but note that was a semi-lucky coincidence. He was living in Silicon Valley when he cold-called all of those institutions. One of the few that actually answered was near his parents’ house. Here is the relevant passage: “So he cold-emailed and called more than 2,000 facilities across the country.“ This guy will succeed because he was willing to cold call 2,000 places despite having a Harvard degree. He was willing to live in a conference room despite having a Harvard degree. He will succeed at whatever he does and it wouldn’t matter if he went to Cal State Fullerton. In my opinion this story is intrinsically sensational because he is such a stud. A guy willing to go this far is a guy YC is lucky to have.

leetrout 9y ago
So I will never know the answer to this question- but I would love to know if his parents knew the admin staff or two degrees away (or if he, himself, did). I don't find is coincidental that it ended up being close to his folks. I would imagine a backstory something along the lines of "I've got this solid idea for fixing a big problem, let me reach out and find some partners" and of course he tells his parents. As things progress on (and perhaps tend to fizzle) he or his parents push a little harder on "coming back home" and working local. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong, bad, etc etc here, I just bet something like this is how we got here. As for sleeping in the conference room... well he's building tech to be used onsite- and I would expect a not insignificant amount of the types of medical issues he's working on providing this service for happen through the midnight hours and whether he chose to be on-site it shows real dedication to what he's trying to do, for sure. As for the degree- you're not entirely wrong- it's pure conjecture without knowing more- but I don't think we can assume having a top name education doesn't help with funding, YC or not. Edit: fixed complete miswording on my intention
j7ake 9y ago
You’re saying nobody has ever cold called 2000 institutions and failed to succeed ? What evidence do you have for this ?
- tomcam 9y ago
  What evidence do you have that I made any such assertion?
mlevental 9y ago
At 100 calls a week (super doable) that's only 20 weeks. This is not some Herculean task
- chaoky 9y ago
  That sort of misses the point. It is pretty soul destroying to cold call that many people.
  - IntronExon 9y ago
    ...And yet articles about call center grunts probably don’t garner front page interest in the same way that “founder” does.
    - tomcam 9y ago
      Most call center grunts aren’t also tireless, gutsy, visionary, MD/businesspeople. Also they get a guaranteed salary; he didn’t. Source: am former call center grunt.
      - MisterBastahrd 9y ago
        There are plenty of people who have inside sales jobs that are commission only. Most sales reps at recruiting firms with split desks would laugh at the notion that 100 calls a week is soul crushing. Most of them are placing 120+ cold calls a day.
- JetSpiegel 9y ago
  5 months of your life calling nursing homes? Not Herculean, Sisyphean.
  - tomcooks 9y ago
    But this worked, Sisyphus never won.
cup 9y ago
>1. The Harvard part of the degree is completely irrelevant Except It's a pretty good indicator of his socioeconomic background and the numerous opportunities that were made available to him in his life that others didn't have. Apart from that yeah.. Oh and also the copious networking opportunities it gave him and access to circles that others don't have. yeah.....
- appleiigs 9y ago
  Instead of past opportunities, his Harvard degree gives him future opportunities. As in, something to fall back on when the startup fails. That gives him the advantage (risk tolerance) that other people don’t have (eg. single mom). So, agreeing with you but for different reasons. Harvard degree matters. Not knocking his persistence and really like that his company helps people instead of doing facial recognition emojis.
- manigandham 9y ago
  Anyone can apply to Harvard, and they all have to be good enough to create the opportunity to be accepted in the first place.
  - cm2012 9y ago
    Except realistically, 80% of harvard grads come from high income households.
    - manigandham 9y ago
      So at least 20% don't? Given the high standard of qualifications which are obviously easier to meet when you have more resources, that's pretty good. We're talking about the #1 school here, which is also free for any low-income families.
      - cm2012 9y ago
        Yeah, 20% come from families under 65k family income.
justonepost 9y ago
Yeah, well, exactly 0 would probably have contacted him if he didn't have the degree. He's not that much of a stud, most founders would die for an opportunity like that. Also, mass emailing a list of 2000 isn't exactly cold calling. Odds are good he actually called this one and did the full press because his parents DID live nearby. That all being said, the moral of the story is still very sound.
bojackstorkman 9y ago
How is it only "semi lucky" that he was able to establish support for considerably lower or near zero cost for otherwise troublesome and expensive, possibly unattainable facilities? Also if Harvard doesn't matter, why bring it up twice when discussing his value? Does it matter in your estimation, or not?
kriro 9y ago
I think the Harvard part matters at least a tiny bit. A Harvard medical degree means your opportunity cost to do the startup thing is (marginally imo) higher than if you had a Cal State Fullerton medical degree. And obviously the storyline "ZOMG he has an elite degree and still does thus" is more interesting for the random reader.
heedlessly2 9y ago
>The Harvard part of the degree is completely irrelevant When Venture capitalists and angel investors decide to invest, brand name helps decide who they invest in. Is not everything, but its not nothing either.

ggg9990 9y ago

The Harvard doctor part actually makes it much more impressive because it means that he had in his back pocket the option to just go be a doctor and make $300k+. I would have quit a lot earlier.