I know the comparison is a little ludicrous but bear with me. The underlying issues that hurt Quibi were similar to the issues that Haven Healthcare faced. And it shows that even with the most expert backing possible, your pet project still has to face the ultimate rival, the consumer and the industry.
Haven started 3 years ago (jesus christ it’s already 2021), with the backing of some of the biggest names in Business including Amazon, JPMorgan, and Berkshire Hathaway. The plan was to disrupt the health-care industry and set a new precedence among businesses and how they help with their employee’s healthcare. This announcement rocked the fucking boat in the healthcare industry, and stocks followed. A lot of healthcare names, panicked, and rightfully so. I mean what industry can’t Amazon touch? It seemed like there could be nothing to get in the way of this behemoth on the horizon. That behemoth never came though.
See, even with the massive scale of all 3 of the companies listed, even with the kind of leadership that gives start-up founders wet dreams, even with basically an infinite amount of money, they still could not crack the code of the American Healthcare system. There just wasn’t enough scalability, and there was too much red tape. Haven wanted to go all the way up, and change laws, but the numbers did not suffice for a change. What Haven was seeking, just seemed to far out of reach. Jesus it feels like I’m writing my own eulogy.
The simple point is, the focus should be less on the lack of impact Haven had, and more of a focus on how fucking horrifyingly complex our health industry is. How insurers, and hospitals, and lawmakers can LITERALLY fuck over anyone. Even a giant company backed by some of the most powerful people on the planet, even that falls to the labyrinth that is US healthcare. This was not the first attempt at controlling employers and employee fate when it comes to healthcare cost and it surely won’t be the last. There needs to be a disruption and the fall of Haven makes that more apparent than ever.
A lot came to light because of Haven’s downfall, and similar to Quibi, we can see that even some of the most creative and impressive minds fail at times. Some industries are just too hard to crack, and need more time and attention to really break through. There is a lot to say about the current state of the healthcare system here in America, and I’m sure you’ve heard all of it before, so I won’t waste your time by harping on the shittyness. We know one thing for certain, something’s gotta give. We need something to change, and to disrupt. Hopefully Haven will be a martyr in the push forward for a new system.
Anyway, that’s my take on it. Until next time. -GS
Comments