What does it take to leave a successful corporate career and build a healthcare startup from scratch?
In this episode of The Breakout CEO Podcast, Seth Merritt shares how a side project became Welby Health, a fast-growing healthcare technology company transforming chronic care management.
Seth explains why moving quickly—not perfectly—became his competitive advantage, how customer conversations shaped every major product decision, and why founders should stop waiting for the "perfect" business plan before taking action.
Along the way, he discusses fundraising, validating ideas, moving up-market, building an enterprise business, and the realities of leading a company through uncertainty.
Whether you're a founder, CEO, or executive leading innovation inside a larger organization, this episode offers practical lessons on building faster, learning sooner, and making better decisions.
Key Takeaways
- Why speed is a competitive advantage in healthcare.
- The importance of talking to customers before building products.
- How Welby Health evolved from a side project into a venture-backed company.
- Why founders should launch imperfect products and iterate quickly.
- Lessons learned from moving from SMB customers to enterprise healthcare systems.
- The mindset required to scale a startup while remaining customer-focused.
- Why profitable growth matters more than growth at all costs.
Chapter Markers
00:00 Why Speed Beats Perfection in Healthcare
01:17 Delivering Faster Impact for Healthcare Customers
08:06 Why Seth Schedules Weekly Tinker Time
10:47 How WellBe Health Supports Chronic Care
15:30 Validating Ideas Through Real Customer Conversations
20:25 Turning an MBA Project Into a Business
22:34 From First Customer to Full-Time Founder
26:25 Scaling WellBe Health to 75 Employees
28:09 Moving Upmarket to Enterprise Healthcare Customers
33:15 Competing Against Best-in-Class Healthcare Companies
40:12 AI, Profitability, and WellBe Health’s Future
42:59 Start Before Everything Feels Perfect
Resources Mentioned
