Health Tech: Bill Snyder On How Vivante Health’s Technology Can Make An Important Impact On Our Overall Wellness
Pick a big, important problem to solve — At Vivante we work every day to improve the health of people who suffer from chronic digestive conditions and their related symptoms. The spend in the US alone on digestive health is $136 Billion and we know that these conditions often leave people suffering in silence and feeling alone. We are out to support these people by reducing their symptoms and giving them their life back.
In recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bill Snyder.
Bill Snyder is the CEO of Vivante Health, an innovative digital health company reinventing the way chronic conditions are managed, gut first. He has more than 13 years of leadership experience in the healthcare industry.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?
I grew up in New Jersey and was fortunate to be a part of a loving family who placed a lot of value on hard work, kindness and education. I enjoyed playing sports, even though I wasn’t particularly good at them! I loved the camaraderie that I got from playing ice hockey growing up. I learned how powerful a team of people working towards a shared goal can be. It also taught me the importance of clear communication when working with others. In addition to sports, I always enjoyed the sense of community with my friends and family. Without them, I would not be the person I am today. My parents and my siblings were always supportive of me no matter what I was attempting to do. That support throughout my childhood and into adulthood helped give me the confidence to tackle big problems.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I started my career in healthcare, beginning with a leadership rotational program at Humana, where I learned all aspects of healthcare. I was attracted to the opportunity for technology to influence and improve healthcare. I spent weekends and evenings with a friend building a prototype for a healthcare app, which really opened my eyes to the impact that innovative technology can have on patient care. My additional experience at Virta gave me a deeper understanding of the start-up landscape. All of this helped me to see the opportunity to positively impact care for people who suffer from chronic digestive conditions. This set me up for building Vivante, which has been the most interesting and rewarding experience of my career. The fact that we have been able to introduce a new technology that is changing people’s lives is incredibly exciting.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My wife Gudrun — She is an incredible healthcare entrepreneur (and an amazing mother and my closest friend). She is the founder and owner of Moon Rabbit Acupuncture in Chicago, IL. Watching her grow her business and build her own company that also helps people every day is inspiring. Her hard work and her dedication to her patients and to her team is amazing.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“If it was easy, someone else would have already done it.”
This is something we talk about a lot at Vivante. We are building an innovative company and we are also building a category. When you combine those things, there will always be challenges, so it is important to embrace the obstacles and to recognize the hard work and perseverance needed to overcome them. At Vivante, we have a wonderful team who thrive on the fact that we do challenging work every day to improve the lives of the people we serve.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
The three top characteristics that come to mind include;
Perseverance — There will always be obstacles to overcome both personally and professionally. It’s important to recognize that the strength to keep pushing is essential for success at anything — being a strong leader, being a good parent/partner/friend.
Empathy — To work with people and to lead people, it is important to understand that everyone has things going on in their lives that you may know nothing about. Listening to team members and understanding what they are dealing with is a key part of being a successful leader.
Communication — Communicating to teams and to individuals is a key part of any business. At Vivante we believe in continual communication. We focus on transparency, collaboration and accountability to help us succeed, which is why they are part of our core values as a company.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive impact on our wellness. To begin, which particular problems are you aiming to solve?
At Vivante, we work to improve the health of individuals who suffer from chronic digestive conditions and their related symptoms. These conditions can be debilitating and isolating for people who suffer from them. Our goal is to reduce the symptoms for these individuals and get people feeling better.
How do you think your technology can address this?
At Vivante, we have created an innovative platform paired with novel biomarkers that create a personalized care protocol to improve the health of the members we serve. We give them access to a remote care team that works with them on an ongoing basis. Our studies show that our members typically experience reduced digestive health symptoms, reduced stress and anxiety, improved overall quality of life and lower medical costs associated with these conditions.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
I have family and friends who have dealt with digestive health conditions. I have seen firsthand how these issues can impact people every day of an individual’s life. Not only can these conditions cause pain and physical suffering, they can have an enormous impact on mental health and overall well-being. I know that what we have built at Vivante is positively impacting the lives of people we work with every day, and that is what remains most important to our team.
How do you think this might change the world?
Digestive health is an enormous condition both in terms of number of people impacted and in terms of medical spend. We are building the first platform that can successfully integrate data from a variety of sources to personalize the care experience and create meaningful value for the people who suffer from these conditions. Digestive health is central to every person’s overall health, and by improving digestive health, there is no health condition that we cannot meaningfully impact in the future.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
Any time you are working in the healthcare field, it is important to have proven outcomes and maintain a high level of security regarding patient data. At Vivante, we remain committed to third party review and publications. We also take patient safety and data security very seriously in order to protect the members we serve.
Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, can you please share “Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact”? (Please share a story or an example, for each.)
- Pick a big, important problem to solve — At Vivante we work every day to improve the health of people who suffer from chronic digestive conditions and their related symptoms. The spend in the US alone on digestive health is $136 Billion and we know that these conditions often leave people suffering in silence and feeling alone. We are out to support these people by reducing their symptoms and giving them their life back.
- Build a team of curious and talented people committed to a shared vision — At Vivante, our team is made up of a diverse group of people who are committed to developing and learning, while achieving the same shared vision. By putting the members we serve at the center of everything that we do, we are able to collaborate effectively and achieve milestones together, as a team.
- Understand the needs of the end user — We always think about the needs of the user first. The patient journey can be a difficult one, and we iterate on our technology. We are continually asking ourselves what will have the most positive impact on the lives of the people we serve each day.
- Build something that creates delight and eliminates friction — healthcare is complex. When introducing new technology into the healthcare ecosystem, it is important to simplify and improve the experience for people. Adding a new technology that is confusing only introduces more friction to an already complex system.
- Continually test and iterate — With any new technology, it is essential to continue to gain feedback as you evolve the technology. We conduct ongoing user feedback interviews and constantly ask ourselves if what we are doing best serves the needs of the people we are committed to helping.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
Life is short, and the world is full of interesting and important problems that need solving. Pick something that is meaningful to you. If you are building something that positively impacts society, even during the difficult times that any business encounters, you still have the mission to push you forward and inspire you.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I would really enjoy having breakfast with Michelle Obama. I love her commitment to inspiring a healthy lifestyle for children everywhere, and I know it would be fascinating to learn about her life experiences.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
We regularly post and add insight on our company blog at as well as on LinkedIn through our company profile and my own personal profile.
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.
Health Tech: Bill Snyder On How Vivante Health’s Technology Can Make An Important Impact On Our… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.