If you had to start your own business what would it be?

[PICK3]

^^^ correct.

Obamacare has billions of side-pork set aside for programs like this.

I ran across a guy the other day going after a grant in our own state. We have to decide if we're going to setup our own high-risk pool run by the state or let the feds take over. Well the obvious answer is for the state to run it (no one wants the feds moving in even more). Well this guy wants a grant, but not one to study the question. He's going after pork set aside to study the decision process the state uses to make its decision. Now that's pork at its finest.

And yes JG, those pork programs won't have to work. Getting those grants are far more about your political contributions history and far less about actually improving outcomes.

My startup would bypass the government pork machine all together and work directly with the insurance carriers.

I can provide you a list if you need sausage lover references.



just sayin'

 

[75th]

Starting a real company would require millions in VC. Not much you can do with 100k -- that's just a bank loan for most people.

You could easily start a technology licensing company. Millions of patents sitting at universities waiting to be sold.

 

[gotmilk]

We have a decent amount of those here. some have really fuckin good beer too. Int'l award winning ones.

Squatters Pub is one of my favorites. But, while the beer is good, the food side kind of sucks.

 

[KillahBee]

Starting a real company would require millions in VC. Not much you can do with 100k -- that's just a bank loan for most people.

You're amazingly off on this one, my man. There are countless brands (some biggies, too) who started on shoestring budgets w/ no VC help. Completely depends on the type of product/service, overhead involved, etc. A LOT of things can be done with $100k or less.

 

[Smurfy]

It would take more than 100k and it would take some connections, but I'd start a clinical consulting company. I'd contract with insurance carriers to identify their worst 2%-5% of high-cost patients and develop custom plans to reduce their costs. I'd focus on obesity-related diseases for sure -- maybe exclusively.

Once I got my model right in a single market, I'd cookie-cutter the model to other cities.

What kind of plan would you use to reduce their costs?

 

[calveless wonder]

Starting a real company would require millions in VC. Not much you can do with 100k -- that's just a bank loan for most people.

Starting a biopharma company would be interesting but not within the hypo. Same with a hedge fund, but again, 100k is trivial. You can't even buy a McDonald's franchise with several times that.

Other than small scale, high-risk ventures or partnerships where you're the minority holder, I can't think of anything you can really do with that.

ok mr i suddenly know everything about business because i started reading company press releases and the wall street journal 2 years ago....

you know what percentage of fortune 500 companies were started with less than $5,000? about 70-75%. Even if you factor in inflation, it's not a ton of money. Most successful companies were started through very limited personal savings or through resources acquired from friends and family.

Most "small scale" companies if successful can easily turn into much bigger entities. That's the general idea of entrepreneurship. To build something from scratch, mold it to your vision, and expand it.

The idea that you need millions in VC to create a successful company is hilarious, and clearly a statement made by someone who's never run their own business.

 

[75th]

Most "small scale" companies if successful can easily turn into much bigger entities. That's the general idea of entrepreneurship. To build something from scratch, mold it to your vision, and expand it.

This. One of my clients partnered with a buddy and started a company back in '03 with $5k. They were on INC's 50 list by 2006 and had an exit in 2007 to WebMD for $260 million.

 

[calveless wonder]

You're amazingly off on this one, my man. There are countless brands (some biggies, too) who started on shoestring budgets w/ no VC help. Completely depends on the type of product/service, overhead involved, etc. A LOT of things can be done with $100k or less.

Samoth is suddenly mr know it all when it comes to business, yet he's completely devoid of the creative element when it comes to entrepreneurial skills. I laugh everytime he uses his little acronyms that most business people (who don't hang out in MBA forums or whatever) in the real world would have no idea what they mean, and assume the rest of us do. That doesn't mean you know about business, it just means you're a pompous presumptive jackass that clearly doesn't know his audience (another crucial element of business).

linear minded people should stick to their what they're good at...math/statistics and science.

 

[mrplunkey]

What kind of plan would you use to reduce their costs?

Let's say for example that we're working in obesity -- that's my favorite.

We'd hire (on a part-time consulting basis) nurse managers, nutrionalists, physical therapists, nurse practitioners, etc. etc.

Since you're dealing with such a small (relatively) number of patients, the nurse manager (primary point of contact) could work on semi-customized plans. It may be something simple like putting them on a meal plan (buy them something like nutrisystem if need be) or an exercise plan (buy them a membership at the Y if need be). There would be some up-front investment, but I'd contract with a local gym and meal plan service and get a volume discount.

We'd also look at hormones. Guys would be easier because I'd find the 40-50 year olds. If a guy committed to a modest eating and exercise plan, I'd qualify them for a low-does testosterone cream or HCG. This sounds very mercenary of me, but small amounts of drugs to restore their flagging hormone levels would be the carrot I would use to encourage them to make progress.

You could do something similar with diabetes. A lot of people on injections could move to pills with weight loss and exercise. Others can move from orals to nothing with weight loss and exercise. I'd put a full-blown reward for shifting downward. So if they no longer need blood glucose meters, testing strips and insulin, I'd take the money I get from the insurance company and split it with them.

So there would be no master plan, but rather a portfolio of 6-12 tools I'd mix-and-match to get their weights back into a manageable range. I'm sure it would completely fail a good 20%-40% of the time, but that's where qualifying patients would come into play. I wouldn't take high-risk patients that weren't motivated (or at least seemed motivated).

 

[samoth]

ok mr i suddenly know everything about business because i started reading company press releases and the wall street journal 2 years ago....

you know what percentage of fortune 500 companies were started with less than $5,000? about 70-75%. Even if you factor in inflation, it's not a ton of money. Most successful companies were started through very limited personal savings or through resources acquired from friends and family.

Most "small scale" companies if successful can easily turn into much bigger entities. That's the general idea of entrepreneurship. To build something from scratch, mold it to your vision, and expand it.

The idea that you need millions in VC to create a successful company is hilarious, and clearly a statement made by someone who's never run their own business.

Ah, the same logical fallacy as the anti-college people who constantly reference Bill Gates. I expected something moar coherent from you.

I listed conditionals which you conveniently omitted, but perhaps I should have added the (seemingly obvious) "successful" and "sustainable" qualifiers.

Yes, anyone can start a business, whether with $10 or $10M. Unfortunetly, things are moar complicated than your boilerplate 1) start business 2) ??? 3) profit! argument.

BTW, all of the F500 companies have received billions in VC and investment capital from private and public offerings, so I'm not sure what you're trying to argue there.