EP155: The Connection Between Empathy and Successful Business Models with Scott Barclay, Partner at Data Collective

I talk with Scott Barclay today. Scott is a partner at Data Collective (DCVC), an early-stage fund that makes venture capital investments in data scientists and entrepreneurs working on hard big data problems. We discuss what it takes for an entrepreneur to succeed in the healthcare ecosystem today, including an essential ingredient: Empathy. Data Collective is a $1bn+ venture capital firm focused on early-stage investing in deep tech and data compute, based in Palo Alto and San Francisco but investing globally. Scott focuses on health and data and leads the firm's practice in Computational Care, envisioning and funding the future of special early-stage teams working on hugely ambitious problems in how health care is provided and applied with data and empathy. Current board or investment roles include Karius, Element. AI, Unity Medical, Enzyme, Medical Informatics, Noteworth, SafelyYou, PatientBank, BlueTalon, InnaMed and Subtle Medical. By background, Scott is a serial angel investor and adviser in health and data start-ups. Scott helped create and scale the first massive digital health platform (Surescripts) and served CVS Health as a GM and innovation leader across the company's health care and retail assets. Previous stints include the Boston Consulting Group, starting a capital markets desk in London for Banc of America Securities, and an MBA from Insead. Scott grew up in rural Virginia and worked many summers in a manufacturing plant, and graduated from the University of Virginia where he was militantly liberal arts and math and science. You can learn more at dcvc.com or by emailing [email protected].