Posted Under: Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Our Heroes

Today we are talking to David Fraiberg, our next guest under the “Our Heroes” series. David originally started his career as a management consultant and had also started two successful companies, Parkway 360 and Guanxi & Co. David took a bold leap in entrepreneurship when his father was diagnosed with cancer. With nobody by his dad’s side, David became his father’s voice. Shortly after, family and friends were asking for help too, and Concerto HealthPartners was born. Let us hear what David has to say…

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

DF: Prior to Founding Concerto HealthPartners, I started and led two successful companies, COO and co-founder of Parkway 360 (now Scios 360), and Guanxi & Co. (business strategy consulting).  Prior to these roles, I was a management consultant, holding positions at Pfizer, CSC-Index and Booz Allen & Hamilton.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

DF: When Dad got cancer, it was overwhelming. As a successful businessman, he was used to taking charge and being in control—used to knowing what to do. But the process of being ill proved different. Thoughts of his own mortality prevented him from taking charge. With no one by his side, Dad was scared and alone and at risk of poor care, medical error and infection, and overpaying. As his son, I became his partner in the process. His voice when he couldn’t speak. Soon, friends and family began asking for help. Concerto HealthPartners was born from personal experience with what you are facing. Bottom line – Our contacts, experience, and expertise serve our client’s interests because who and what you know makes a difference. We bring harmony to our client’s health care journey, every step of the way.

Sometimes, when you set out in the world to help yourself, you inevitably end up helping…Tutti!” – Tutti is the Italian word for everyone, & the name of the 7-year old Balinese girl that Liz helps- in EAT, PRAY, LOVE. This pretty much describes the origins of Concerto HealthPartners.  Our family set out to save Dad from Cancer and help navigate the frightening, lonely and uncertain medical process. We ended up with a company that helps Patients and Family Caregivers do the same and much more.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

DF: As a strategy management consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton one of mentors said something very wise to which I re-apply all the time; he said, “Begin from writing the deck (presentation).”  Meaning: whatever you do, begin first-thing by starting with your end product.  So, for example, if you are writing a presentation, the first step should be writing an outline of what you want to say – – begin by actually doing it.  Don’t begin by doing tons of research and thinking and then wait until the end to write.  This lesson applies to many things.  So, for example, when I began Concerto HealthPartners, I began by pitching clients right away, even before I had operationalized many of the necessities because I knew that these clients would tell me what they needed.  The first step is to actually do what you want to do.  Don’t plan, instead DO!

DD: What did you learn the hard way?

DF: Perfect is the enemy of good enough.  Whether it is your website, your contracts, or whatever – – trying to make something perfect is truly something to let go of.  Business happens too quickly.  People’s schedules don’t wait for you and their lives don’t pause according to your being ready to launch.  Much better to pilot and scale.  Much better to throw something, even if small, in the deep end of the pool and iterate often based on feedback.  The market and customers are loud voices who immediately help you course correct.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?

DF: Some of us take the lessons from our own personal travails and make a business serving a common need by helping others navigate their own learning curves. Our mistakes and failures become others people lessons learned and successes. In other words, what I learned from what went wrong or at least, not right, with Dad’s health care, acts as living breathing lessons learned for other to do things right…the first time. My wife and I were recently out at a social function with another couple who told of wanting a “do-over” for one of their parents’ recent passing. This couple is one of those uber-silicon valley kings of the universe types: high-powered, hard charging technology folks who run marathons and take the world by storm. Even with their intellectual horsepower, ready financial assets, and competence, they quietly told us “how we wish we could re-do the last 10 months of Dad’s experience”. We take solace in what we now know to do when it’s Mom’s turn. But, it would be so nice to be able to do a ‘do-over’ for Dad’s last month’s as we know so much more now….so much more.”

DD: That’s David Fraiberg, founder of Concerto HealthPartners. David was able to recognize the opportunity in-front of him, during such a catastrophic event in his life, and he proudly uses it to help those who are through the same as his Dad once did. We congratulate David on doing all the good work and wish him all the very best for future endeavors.

Success to all!