Arival's Departure - How To Avoid a Ramen Noodle Diet

#longevity #disruptiveinnovation #startups #wellness #healthspan

In 2016, the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, renowned for groundbreaking research, launched Arivale, a wellness company promising a revolutionary approach to health. Spearheaded by scientists who had just completed a landmark study, Arivale aimed to pioneer "P4 Medicine" – predictive, preventative, personalized, and participatory. Armed with cutting-edge technology, Arivale offered customers a comprehensive health analysis for a yearly fee of $2,000, positioning itself as a leader in personalized healthcare.

Initially, the prospects seemed bright. Riding the wave of the burgeoning genomics industry, with millions already engaging in genetic testing, Arivale appeared poised for success. Backed by the credibility of its founders, including Lee Hood, a luminary in genomics, the company garnered attention and investment. However, despite its scientific prowess and innovative approach, Arivale faced unexpected challenges.

Fostering a sense of community and offering personalized health insights, Arivale struggled to justify its premium pricing to a broader audience. While the anecdotes of transformative health and longevity discoveries captivated some, many potential customers remained unconvinced, unwilling to commit to the substantial financial investment.

Moreover, regulatory hurdles stifled Arivale's ability to leverage its discoveries. Despite uncovering promising biomarkers, the company faced stringent regulations that hampered its ability to deliver actionable insights to customers. This limitation underscored the gap between scientific discovery and practical application.

Furthermore, Arivale's business model raised questions about accessibility and affordability. As healthcare costs continue to escalate, consumers demand more value from their investments. Arivale's high price point and the perception of overlapping services with traditional healthcare providers have led many to question its relevance in an already crowded market.

Ultimately, Arivale's demise is a cautionary tale, highlighting the complexities of translating scientific innovation and academic-centric approaches into commercial success in the healthcare and longevity industry.??Amazon's Halo followed a similar path. Well-funded, with a talented and respected team and sexy technology.? ?

If you are an entrepreneur teetering on whether to enter the healthcare or longevity space, realize you cannot be successful with both. Sick-care and wellness/longevity are conflicted in the U.S.. Each has different value propositions and target markets.

Having spent decades in each area, I have found sharing and implementing the technology and services framework I developed, coupled with AI, to helps others avoid chronic illness and extend healthspans the most exciting opportunity available.?

Helping people avoid or reverse chronic illness, have more energy, feel better, sleep soundly, reduce stress, look younger, and increase the probability of adding 10-20 disease-free years to their lives is something that is hard to beat. It is not without its challenges, however.

The harsh truth is the masses spend more money maintaining their house and cars than their health. Human nature and psychology hold that we struggle with the anxiety of thinking about the future and lean towards the comfort of not knowing.?

Arivale validated and discovered the power of prevention and a scientific approach to longevity.? Four years later — I see many of the same mistakes by healthcare and wellness companies — big and small — established and new.

Perception Versus Perspective

AI will teach us to ask better questions. Ninety percent of people are locked into perception (emotion) and unaware of perspective (data-driven logic). Asking better questions and removing gut feelings and emotions can help to avoid the indigestion. The founders of Arivale admitted their emotions overpowered business logic.

Here are some things to consider if you are stuck or ramping up your longevity and wellness company.? If you start to address the following, you may be able to architect a successful path, avoid a ramen noodle diet, and becoming another cautionary tale:

• Have you validated the problem you are solving and the degree of customer pain (i.e., a must-have or nice-to-have)? Can you articulate it quickly and concisely?
• Are you following the crowd or focused on being non-consensus right about a non-evident problem that unlocks latent demand?

• Do you plan to market first, prototype, and get customer feedback before spending money developing an MVP?

• Have you found the right customers (i.e., aligned ideology, profitable growth model and lifetime value)?

• Does your solution incrementally build trust along the customer journey? Does it emotionally reward customers during the experience? Does it address the ideal customer's ego (ICE)?

• Does your offering tie customer intention with emotion?

• If you stopped offering your solution, would 80% of your customers call you screaming?

• Is the solution highly academic, scientific, complex, labor-intensive, inconvenient, and requires rapid behavior change?

• Is your company strategy, messaging, and positioning clear? Can every team member tell you how their work directly contributes to the company strategy, goals, value, and results?

• Is every team member passionate, excited, ideologically aligned, and authentically all-in?

• Does every member of your team think and apply AI-first methods? What a team of 20 could do two years ago, can now be accomplished with a smaller AI-adapted team.

Despite its challenges, Arivale's legacy lives on in the ongoing pursuit of wellness and longevity.

As technology advancements and AI continue to revolutionize the vision of P4 Medicine, The Age of Scientific Wellness beckons, offering a glimpse of a future where improving wellness is founded on predictive, personalized, preventive, and participatory methods — AND, most importantly, made simple for consumers.

About me:? I build, grow, transform, and lead ambitious digital health, longevity, and AI-adaptive companies to improve people's lives.

[email protected]? 303.482.7356

Illustration: DALL E

? 2024 Vince Salvo