Aiden Feng, MD, MBA - Founder of Pillo
Would you mind talking about Pillo, what the product is, and how you came up with the idea?
My cofounder came up with the idea because of his father who struggled with adhering to medications and taking care of himself at home. The optimal solution in my cofounder’s mind was to have a caretaker or someone in the home to help his father, but since that’s not always possible, he wanted to build a solution in which a technology could become that someone. From there, we took a deeper look at this problem, and we realized that the home is actually a black hole for many healthcare providers and actually all parties in the healthcare system. We don’t really know what happens in the home between clinic visits and hospitalizations. We designed a solution called Pillo. Pillo is a healthcare companion for the home that not only takes care of you and interacts with you, but it is also able to connect you with your caregivers and the health system at large.
What would you say your company’s vision would be?
We’re building Pillo to become the hub for digital health and healthcare services in the home. To that extent, we want to become the comprehensive solution in the home to manage health and wellness.
Could you talk a little bit more about the capabilities of the product and how it connects to the larger health system?
Pillo is a countertop device. It has an anthropomorphic form factor to become that someone in the home. It has eyes to “look” at you, a camera to recognize with facial recognition, and a voice interface to listen and speak to you. Beyond that, it has the capability to store and dispense medication. Through the device, we can also facilitate 1) managing medication, such as tracking dispensing and adherence; 2) pushing content and services into the home in the form of care plans; and 3) pulling data out of the home through assessments and objective data from connected devices. We currently plan to use Pillo as a hub for digital health data and services in the home.
Could you talk about the origin of the company and the trajectory it’s taken? What has your role in the company been in getting it to where it is today?
The company started towards the end of 2015. My two co-founders have diverse backgrounds: one has a background in product development and the other has a background in finance. They met in New York and wanted to find a healthcare person, and that person ended up being me. From there, the three of us built out an engineering team and began fundraising for the company.
How would you describe those fundraising rounds given the innovative nature of your product?
It’s been challenging, especially at the very beginning since we were a little bit ahead of our time. In 2015, the widespread adoption of voice-first devices hadn’t yet happened. The very early family and friends round was more about people buying into the team and vision. That round essentially brought us through the first prototype of the device. By early 2017, there was clear evidence that these voice-first devices were gaining traction in the marketplace. With a small amount of money, we were able to make quite significant progress in prototyping and building out the product. From round to round, there were clear milestones that we set out to meet, but at the same time, having a very clear vision of where we wanted to be in 2-5 years was critical as well.
Could you elaborate on the 2-5 year vision that you have currently?
With the initial rollout, our goal will be to prove the ROI of a device like Pillo and to establish partnerships with large companies in the healthcare system. As we gain that kind of traction, 5 years from now, we want Pillo to become that hub in the home such that even if you have multiple voice-capable devices, they could all integrate with and open Pillo for your healthcare needs and questions. We want Pillo to truly be the aggregator of all healthcare data in the home that will be able to provide for and cater to your healthcare needs.
In terms of differentiating Pillo from some other home devices that are currently used, we believe that the humanized social experience is critical for healthcare, and to that extent, we offer proactive end-user engagement. Furthermore, Pillo has been designed and built from the ground up specifically for healthcare.
When it comes to the supply of pills/medications in Pillo, how does that work?
The device has the capability to guide a user through the loading process, but from a user standpoint, we felt that having the ability to ship prefilled medication trays to the user would be more user-friendly. The user can receive pre-packaged sets of medication it in the mail, scan a code on the package with the camera on the front of Pillo, and then simply load the tray onto the back.
What would you say you enjoy the most about the work you’re doing?
There are 2 aspects that come to mind. The first is the ability to take ownership over certain aspects of the product and the company. It has been great to be a part of the decision making process on how to go about building and deploying a product like Pillo. The second is the fact that every day bring something brand new. I don’t know what new conversations or ideas may come up. It’s been tremendously exciting to be in a field where innovation is happening on a daily basis.
Since you pursued a combined MD/MBA program of study, what impact do you see the rise of this combined degree having on the future of landscape of healthcare?
I think to succeed in healthcare today, we all need an intimate understanding of what the incentives are in the healthcare space and what will drive decisions at an organizational level. We need that kind of understanding to impact many more lives than the one patient sitting in front of us at a time. I think the MD/MBA program is valuable in that regard by giving students a very broad perspective of the healthcare landscape. It equips them with the necessary skills to help bring ideas into reality in such a way that they fit within the business considerations in healthcare.
Can you talk about some situations in which having an MBA helped you?
Without the MBA, I wouldn’t be on the Pillo team. In a startup, you must have an understanding of the entire business and product. You can’t have tunnel vision on the clinical aspect of the product. The MBA has equipped me to think on a strategic level in terms of where a product like this would fit within the healthcare system. I need to understand not only disease processes and the treatment plans, but also how to bring a device like Pillo to market.
How do you balance the clinical side of your expertise with the business side?
You really have to think about what kind of person and learner you are. For some people, it’s better to specialize in one specific area and become the best in that area. Others enjoy taking a more diverse approach. However, one of the dangers with this second path is to be mediocre in multiple areas. Take the time to explore different opportunities and paths in order to find something you enjoy doing. I think there’s incredible value in being on the front lines of medicine. Many people are able to balance and succeed in other ventures while maintaining their clinical skillset and remaining grounded in clinical work.
Could you formally talk about your career path so far and what motivated you to pursue your MBA in addition to your MD?
My career path has pretty much been that of a professional student. I graduated from college without taking any time off, completed a 5 year MD/MBA program, and finished my intern year, which brings us up to date. I always had a dual interest in my studies. In college, I majored in Biology and Economics, and had an interest in the business of healthcare. The MD/MBA program was a logical extension of this path.