From Fortune 500 to Early Stage Startup

Background

Adam Kever is PredictionHealth’s dynamic COO. He’s a spreadsheet-loving, metrics maniac with a great leadership style and a way of making work fun. His journey in business has taken him around the world and back home again.

Kate: Adam, diving right in, what’s the single most important lesson you’ve ever learned about running a business?

Adam: I am not sure there is one single lesson that I can point to as the most important. One board member of a company I used to work with would say that one of the most important focuses for folks across an organization is to “have the voice of the customer.” I think about that often, especially at our stage. Even as we work to grow quickly, we need to make sure we are continually listening to our customers and serving them well. We not only work to make sure our clinicians have a great experience on the platform but we also learn so much from their feedback on ways we can improve. We would not be where we are without the great clinicians on our platform. The other lesson repeated by various sources is that it is all about the team. There are a lot of great ideas but it takes a team that can execute to build a successful company.  

K: You’ve had a ton of experiences that have led you to where you are today with PredictionHealth. What are two of the most impactful jobs you’ve had in your career?

A: I have learned a lot from each of my prior roles. My first job after college was with Tyson Foods. With Tyson, I had the opportunity to work for a few years in China. When I arrived I spoke very little mandarin, had limited knowledge of Chinese culture, and being my first job, little experience in the professional world. I lived in two cities and held three different roles in the nearly three years I was there. I learned a ton, but I think the most important thing I learned was adaptability and the ability to feel comfortable with ambiguity. This lesson has served me well in all my roles since.

Prior to PredictionHealth, I had a role with a venture capital investor / incubator called Powered Health. In my role at Powered Health, I worked with a portfolio of dynamic healthcare technology startups and growth stage companies. I was fortunate to see some incredibly talented healthcare entrepreneurs and operators navigate a variety of challenges. I try to apply those learnings on a daily basis at PredictionHealth. 

K: And now you’re back in Nashville, the city where we both grew up. What brought you back here and what do you love about Nashville?

A: I moved back to Nashville in 2018 to take the role with Powered Health. It had been 10 years since I had lived in Nashville. Parts of the city had become pretty unrecognizable over that decade, but it is great to see growth. 

Nashville is a great place to be in healthcare technology. There is such a strong healthcare ecosystem here. I was also excited to be close to family. My parents are here as well as my siblings and 5 (almost 6) nieces and nephews.  

K: And, let’s talk about the startup world. What’s your favorite book you’ve read about startups or a business book that really applies to startups? 

A: There are so many great ones! I really like the book Loonshots by Safi Bahcall. The book discusses how to harness innovation and nurture big ideas. For people who are starting a business or just starting to establish a repeatable sales process, especially in SaaS, Founding Sales by Peter Kazanjy is a great resource. 

K: What do you think is the best startup success story? 

A: It is tough to narrow it down to one single success story. There are fun stories like Airbnb selling politically themed cereal to fund their business early on, but more generally, I appreciate startup stories of companies that use technology to disrupt antiquated processes. We are working to do just that at PredictionHealth. Whether it is the burden of clinical documentation or insights that we can generate through our AI models, we are working to leverage AI to eliminate tedious, manual processes that can drive value for our clients and enable them to improve care for their patients. 

K: What’s your best advice for any leaders just getting started?

A: I think it is important to remember that we all don’t know what we don’t know. In order for anyone to be successful I think we have to continue to learn. Especially in a startup when we have to be nimble and adaptive.

K: If you weren’t the COO of PredictionHealth what other career path could you see yourself taking?

A: I really like working with early stage companies, so I imagine if I had not had the opportunity to join the team at PredictionHealth, I would hopefully still be working with a company at a similar stage. I also love to travel and loved working abroad. It was a lot of fun working on diverse teams from many different cultural backgrounds. If I were not on my current path, I could see myself working internationally again.