DOC grew out of the shared frustrations of its three founders – one a practicing MD and entrepreneur (that’d be Jordan), the second a serial entrepreneur and seasoned investor (Kevin), and the third, well, also a serial entrepreneur, but in media – that’s John, but we’ll get to him later.
Our story starts with Jordan, a peripatetic omnivore who constantly devours new sources of information. Over many years his medical practice – comprising more than 50 doctors and health care professionals, offices across the country, and thousands of sophisticated patients – had become something of a medical information processing ecosystem. But recently Jordan was noticing a glitch in the matrix. Members of his practice – some of the most demanding, intelligent, and frankly good-looking folks from around the world – were inundating his team with questions driven by advances in medicine, in particular those concerning how to live a healthy, long, and meaningful life. Post Covid, longevity began to drive the zeitgeist, bringing with it an emergent problem: A good portion of the “innovations” prompting his patients’ queries were, to not put too fine a point on it, bullshit.
At one of dozens of conferences he attended, Jordan ran into Kevin, and the two soon fell into a prolonged dialogue around his dilemma. Why was the world of medicine so fraught with noise, hollow marketing, and celebrity culture? And why weren’t any of these events addressing this obvious impediment to living a healthier life?
Kevin and Jordan continued their conversation over the course of a year or so, meeting at events in New York, London, and finally, Las Vegas. Tired of the endless panels and self-promotion on display, the two retired to a local bar. Kevin, never one to pass up an opportunity to start a new venture, asked Jordan this simple question:
If by waving a magic wand you could create an event that you’d want to attend, what would it be like?
Jordan pondered this query. He told Kevin to let him marinate on it for a few months. It’d be intimate, he thought, and rooted in testing and the scientific method. It would feature a faculty of medical experts responsible for rigorously reviewed and proven innovations that could be put into practice immediately – no hand waving about how this or that might change everything “in the future.” No self promotion, no selling, and please lord, no politics. The gathering would catalyze a new community of fellow travelers eager to drive truth into the world of medicine. And everyone who came would have the influence to create meaningful change in the world – because they were leaders in science, business, technology, finance, and communications.
Kevin liked what he was hearing. But, having helped scores of companies launch successfully, he also knew enough to lay down an additional challenge. “If you can find someone who knows how to make that happen, I’ll back it.”
Turns out, Jordan knew such a person, and upon his return to the Bay area, he called his long-time pal and collaborator John. Jordan explained the outlines of his vision, and John immediately grasped the potential of such a gathering. A few white board sessions later, the two had a plan. A three-day conclave in a private setting, a place where community and action could take root.
Kevin, who it turns out knew John from back in the day, enthusiastically signed on, and DOC was born. We hope you’ll join us as together we continue to pursue our goal of “Truth in Medicine” in Napa, California this Fall.
— Jordan Shlain, Kevin Ryan, John Battelle