Ben Osterholtz

🤔 Sounds like Pearl IO paid these guys...We didn't, but it doesn't hurt that they highlight how and why we exist and how we approach supporting PE partners succeed. Check out this recent Alvarez & Marsal webcast. Quick summary / takeaways: Generative AI is reshaping PE by accelerating deal execution, enhancing problem identification speed, and deepening analysis. Neat to see dialogue within PE continue regarding opportunities to enhance methods and outcomes. #PE #PrivateEquity #AI #Innovation #DataAnalytics #duediligence #diligence #portfoliomonitoring #valuecreation https://lnkd.in/dD3wznWS

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Excited to finally share my and Natalie Dillon's latest labor of love - Maveron's investment thesis on GLP-1s, the miracle weight loss drugs! We’ve seen over $1B of venture capital pour into dedicated GLP-1 solutions since the beginning of 2023. The majority of these companies focus on drug access through online and compounding pharmacies. We’ve also seen multiple incumbent digital health platforms pivot to GLP-1s, including Noom, Omada Health, Ro and HIMS. Where we see less attention and focus is the consumer experience when patients stop taking GLP-1s. There is a high risk of regaining weight, but studies show that 68% of GLP-1 users stop taking the medicines after just one year due to high costs (which can sometimes hit over $1,000 per month), pending surgeries, adverse side effects, pregnancy and more. We decided to get under the hood by talking to a myriad of experts ranging from physicians to payers, and identified 3 key learnings: 1. Patients can successfully deprescribe if they’re paying attention to more than just fitness and nutrition, as there are multiple different signals that indicate successful weight maintenance, including mental health and sleep. 2. Existing businesses focused on weight loss, whether new entrant or incumbent, aren’t well-equipped to manage deprescription, as their business models are either primarily focused on providing GLP-1 prescriptions or are too hands-off to accurately track their patients’ health 3. There are medical reasons for deprescription related to potential pregnancy and fertility, as well as disordered eating. These largely go under-recognized by companies building in the space. At Maveron, we’re actively looking to meet with teams that are helping consumers safely and effectively manage their side effects and deprescribe from GLP-1s. We’re particularly interested in platforms that are taking a more personalized approach to care coordination by looking outside of just weight-loss-driven fitness and nutrition, and into broader lifestyle and wellness. We believe these platforms have the potential to demonstrate strong unit economics, as consumers will need to adhere to care and lifestyle modifications post-deprescription in order to maintain their weight loss. You can read more about our POV (including our full investment thesis deck) at the link below. If you are building in this space, we'd love to hear from you! https://lnkd.in/eFnU3Gfv

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We’ve made remarkable progress in health care, evolving from sequencing individual genomes to decoding entire populations. This has significantly expanded our biological data and enhanced our understanding of human biology. I am proud to share that BCG is collaborating with Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, to harness the power of AI to potentially enable the discovery and assessment of novel drug targets for chronic and degenerative diseases. BCG X will work closely with Merck to develop AI algorithms that mine robust omics data, aiming to deepen our understanding of the causal relationships between biomarkers and disease biology, helping facilitate drug target discovery. Learn more from my colleague Mike Brochu, Sylvain Duranton, Global Leader at BCG X, and Iya Khalil, Head of Data, AI & Genome Sciences at Merck about our collaboration: https://on.bcg.com/4em9EHB

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With inflation and the U.S. election on the horizon, this holiday season is expected to bring shifts in consumer spending. @‌WWD highlights BCG's 2024 Holiday Outlook, predicting steady spending but increased competition for retailers. Learn how brands are preparing for the challenges ahead. https://lnkd.in/euJjpmbd

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TL;DR - 1) Mario & team at Oscar are testing (and writing about) LLMs in real-world healthcare applications and their blog is a good read for the AI-curious. 2) o1, even in preview format, is a must-try to address complex problems where 4o might not have delivered consistent results. Hopefully folks are starting to set up AI-sandboxes with test data and tinkering!

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