Nate Wilson, 29
Thomas Moulia, 29
HealthTensor in Santa Monica uses artificial intelligence to automatically review patient data, diagnose the most common medical conditions and create documentation for physicians.
Employees: 5 to 10
Financials: Raised a friends/family/angel investor round to fund the company through early 2019.
What led you to to start this business?
Doctors are spending more and more time on their computers. The reason this is happening is because doctors have no software product to help them manage all their data. At HealthTensor, we’re developing software products that fix this problem so that physicians can spend more time with patients and ensure their patients receive the best treatment.
How did you fund it, and how are you funding it going forward?
Initially, the company was bootstrapped, but things changed when we were accepted into the Cedars-Sinai/Techstars accelerator. At that point, we received our first funding, and used the connections and momentum we gained from Techstars to secure additional investments from other investors and physicians.
Are there advantages/disadvantages to starting a business in your 20s, and if so, what are they?
The advantages are that generally, you don’t have any obligations to children or a family yet, and have time to get your career on track if the startup fails. The disadvantage (especially in health care) is that we look young, and it’s hard to get executives and physicians who are all middle-aged to take us seriously.
Do you have a mentor? Where do you go for advice regarding your business?
We have numerous mentors; some have been brought onboard as formal advisors to the company, and some are other founders who are actively running a startup that is a bit further along in its growth, and can provide us very relevant guidance.
Where do you go for professional services (legal help, accounting, etc.)?
For legal matters, we have Orrick as our counsel. For payroll and accounting, we use Gusto, and for health insurance, we use Zenefits.
How much time/money do you spend on social media for your business?
Because our business is B2B and focused on health care (most people in health care don’t use social media), we don’t spend too much time or money on it as of now. We do have a Twitter feed and occasionally use that to generate sales leads, but at this time it’s quite minimal.
Do you feel that your business is particularly tailored to the Los Angeles market, or do you feel you could have launched it in another location?
Our product is useful and necessary in any part of the world, however we chose Los Angeles because of the openness of hospitals in the region to working with young companies to develop groundbreaking technologies. It was due to our partnership with Cedars-Sinai that we decided to relocate the company from the Bay Area to L.A.
Do you encounter skepticism from investors because of your age, and if so, how do you handle it?
Yes, it happens occasionally, though I believe it’s a declining trend.
What do you do for fun?
Moulia enjoys spending time with his wife and dog on the weekends, and takes his mountain bike out to explore the L.A. hills. Wilson enjoys taking his road bike around many of the trails in the L.A. region and visiting hospitals all over the country.
