Post to dkogan blog
Jul 14th 2009, 11:32
Esther Dyson is getting a lot of publicity, many news stories, blogs, and interviews. It seems to be an extension for a woman who in the course of her life has worn the hats of a journalist, author, investor, cosmonaut in training, entrepreneur, philanthropist and commentator. She had experienced being on the boards of several companies, even founding ICANN and selling Flickr and del.icio.us to Yahoo.
Most articles, news stories and interviews start with the same phrase “Esther Dyson does not need an introduction...” I’m sure people who know Esther Dyson closely are all affected by her wisdom, humility and vision. If the term “butterfly effect” describes an effect of small local changes on the overall global scale, I would think that Esther’s way of living should be coined as "Splash-of-an-Elephant-falling-from-the-sky effect."
For full disclosure, Esther is an Advisor to HealthWorldWeb, the company I started a few years ago to help people find doctors, dentists, and other medical resources and information based on experience of people who have been in similar situations and suffered from a similar diseases. Being both consumer opinion leader and an investor, Esther has always been one of the best possible resources for a young startup: sharing her experience, wisdom and broad knowledge of the markets and consumers needs.
Surprisingly, to get her attention, one does not need to jump through hoops. She is one of the easiest people to talk to. Humble and quiet, she listens carefully to each person and every pitch.
Most of the people at conferences and business gatherings have no more than 2-3 minutes for an introduction and therefore, go straight to their own sales pitch. Unlike many, who can’t hide the grimace of “not again”, Esther listens and tries to help as much as she can, promising to get back with more information, if possible. Something I had not seen a lot of in our 2.0 world.
Dyson believes that while health remains to be the top priority in healthcare, information technology used by individuals can be a key catalyst to making sure that the delivery of health services would be greatly facilitated. And guess what, it is not the government that will bring about this adoption. It is us. The millions of users and patients will have to start the change by themselves, only then will it reach the ears of hundreds of companies. The innovations spawned by the smaller and more agile startups that listen to their consumers will slowly and virally propose new practices and simplify the old ones. Soon, people will start to demand more and only then will the government listen.
What it all boils down to is that we will have to start it. Individuals should take it upon themselves to change the current system. Consumers and patients will need to manage their own medical-related information. More than anything, patients should be able to track symptoms, treatments, doctor visits, lab results and everything else in their medical history. Personalized information about health providers and trusted sources of information needs to be readily available and easily accessible. Experience and stories should be shared among people looking for similar things.
A wealth of information will lend itself to data aggregation, which will facilitate the evaluation of health care approaches, prevention methods and overall care. The aggregated data can also be used for further studies. That in itself will be enough reason to collect the data: overall health and healthcare systems will be improved.
Indeed in her recent speech delivered at the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Princeton Marriott Hotel on July 9, she reiterated that healthcare does not begin in hospitals but at home.
It will not be without hitches, Dyson predicts that such a shift in the way we handle information will "shake up the medical priesthood," impacting the way healthcare providers and insurance companies do business. It will take a lot of politics and will bring the changes that will empower people to change and influence the institutions, not the other way around.
Esther Dyson believes in all of these. This amazing woman, who had been called an Internet visionary and a futurist, who is widely respected for having a prescient nose for the emerging trends, not only believes in all this, but puts her money where her mouth is. Dyson is widely recognized for investing in many companies, usually startups, which she believes in. And the fact that she has substantial investments in Health 2.0 start-ups is a quiet testament to that commitment. That she goes around the world spreading the message of Health 2.0 is yet another.
At HealthWorldWeb, we are humbled by the opportunities we have had to learn from her. Personally, she is a mentor and an inspiration. It is her words, her commitment and her efforts that keep the MyHealthExperience.com site as vibrant and dynamic as it is today, constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of individuals.
<strong>And oh, happy birthday Esther!</strong>
Esther Dyson's speech at Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Princeton Marriott Hotel on July 9
Part 1
Part 2
Q&A Session Part 1
Q&A Session Part 2
Most articles, news stories and interviews start with the same phrase “Esther Dyson does not need an introduction...” I’m sure people who know Esther Dyson closely are all affected by her wisdom, humility and vision. If the term “butterfly effect” describes an effect of small local changes on the overall global scale, I would think that Esther’s way of living should be coined as "Splash-of-an-Elephant-falling-from-the-sky effect."
For full disclosure, Esther is an Advisor to HealthWorldWeb, the company I started a few years ago to help people find doctors, dentists, and other medical resources and information based on experience of people who have been in similar situations and suffered from a similar diseases. Being both consumer opinion leader and an investor, Esther has always been one of the best possible resources for a young startup: sharing her experience, wisdom and broad knowledge of the markets and consumers needs.
Surprisingly, to get her attention, one does not need to jump through hoops. She is one of the easiest people to talk to. Humble and quiet, she listens carefully to each person and every pitch.
Most of the people at conferences and business gatherings have no more than 2-3 minutes for an introduction and therefore, go straight to their own sales pitch. Unlike many, who can’t hide the grimace of “not again”, Esther listens and tries to help as much as she can, promising to get back with more information, if possible. Something I had not seen a lot of in our 2.0 world.
Dyson believes that while health remains to be the top priority in healthcare, information technology used by individuals can be a key catalyst to making sure that the delivery of health services would be greatly facilitated. And guess what, it is not the government that will bring about this adoption. It is us. The millions of users and patients will have to start the change by themselves, only then will it reach the ears of hundreds of companies. The innovations spawned by the smaller and more agile startups that listen to their consumers will slowly and virally propose new practices and simplify the old ones. Soon, people will start to demand more and only then will the government listen.
What it all boils down to is that we will have to start it. Individuals should take it upon themselves to change the current system. Consumers and patients will need to manage their own medical-related information. More than anything, patients should be able to track symptoms, treatments, doctor visits, lab results and everything else in their medical history. Personalized information about health providers and trusted sources of information needs to be readily available and easily accessible. Experience and stories should be shared among people looking for similar things.
A wealth of information will lend itself to data aggregation, which will facilitate the evaluation of health care approaches, prevention methods and overall care. The aggregated data can also be used for further studies. That in itself will be enough reason to collect the data: overall health and healthcare systems will be improved.
Indeed in her recent speech delivered at the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Princeton Marriott Hotel on July 9, she reiterated that healthcare does not begin in hospitals but at home.
It will not be without hitches, Dyson predicts that such a shift in the way we handle information will "shake up the medical priesthood," impacting the way healthcare providers and insurance companies do business. It will take a lot of politics and will bring the changes that will empower people to change and influence the institutions, not the other way around.
Esther Dyson believes in all of these. This amazing woman, who had been called an Internet visionary and a futurist, who is widely respected for having a prescient nose for the emerging trends, not only believes in all this, but puts her money where her mouth is. Dyson is widely recognized for investing in many companies, usually startups, which she believes in. And the fact that she has substantial investments in Health 2.0 start-ups is a quiet testament to that commitment. That she goes around the world spreading the message of Health 2.0 is yet another.
At HealthWorldWeb, we are humbled by the opportunities we have had to learn from her. Personally, she is a mentor and an inspiration. It is her words, her commitment and her efforts that keep the MyHealthExperience.com site as vibrant and dynamic as it is today, constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of individuals.
<strong>And oh, happy birthday Esther!</strong>
Esther Dyson's speech at Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Princeton Marriott Hotel on July 9
Part 1
Part 2
Q&A Session Part 1
Q&A Session Part 2
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