From Wall Street to Gut Health: Gary Lu on Scaling InFoods and Redefining IBS Care

What if the most effective treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) wasn’t another drug—but a simple blood test that tells you which foods to avoid?In this episode of Lightning RX, host Colette Nataf sits down with Gary Lu, CPA, Chief Financial Officer, transformative leader, and finance technologist, to explore how a 50-year-old NASDAQ-listed company is reinventing itself with InFoods, a breakthrough diagnostic and therapeutic for IBS. Instead of vague food sensitivity lists, InFoods pinpoints one or two trigger foods validated through clinical trials, offering patients a drug-free way to reduce pain, bloating, and discomfort.Gary shares his journey from finance and enterprise tech to healthcare innovation, including his experience scaling companies from 70 to 700 employees. He explains how he’s bringing startup agility into a legacy company to launch a first of its kind product that the FDA even evaluated alongside IBS drugs, and outperformed.What You’ll Learn:Why IBS drugs leave major treatment gaps, and how InFoods provides a better alternativeHow InFoods bridges diagnostics and therapy to empower patients with precision food insightsThe strategy behind launching through both physicians and direct to consumer telehealthWhy physician education and peer-reviewed data are critical for credibility in healthcareHow AI-powered patient guidance helps sustain results through recipes and lifestyle supportThe challenges of scaling a D2C healthcare product that requires education and behavior changeWhy smart storytelling, branding, and building champions are as vital as the science itselfThe importance of balancing corporate strategy, market access, and patient experience💡 Golden Nugget: “Great healthcare products don’t just mask symptoms they get to the root cause. InFoods is about giving IBS patients their lives back, one meal at a time.”Connect with Gary Lu LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/garylucpa Website: garylucpa.com Company: forgeoptima.orgConnect with the Show:LinkedInWebsiteSpotifyAmazon MusiciHeartSubscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite platform.If you enjoyed this episode, share it with someone passionate about healthcare marketing, startup growth, or innovative product launches, and don’t forget to leave us a review. New episodes drop weekly!