Introducing DOC
Late last year I wrote about my transition from being work-driven to being life-driven. It hit a chord — many of you are on similar journeys, particularly those of us who are looking toward, and past, middle age. Buried a couple of thousand words into that post, in the section about what I was up to after selling The Recount, was this line: “I’m helping to stand up a new kind of gathering at the intersection of science, medicine, and longevity.” My partners and I have spent the past six months developing that gathering, and I’m very proud to announce it’s got a name, a date, and most importantly, a program with a purpose.
My co-founders Dr. Jordan Shlain and Kevin Ryan and I have christened the community we’re forming DOC. Our inaugural gathering is October 24th — 26th at The Estate Yountville in Napa, California. DOC is invitation only and close to full, but if you’re interested in learning more, you can request an invite here.
Inspired by the early days of TED (the Monterey era, when it felt like a salon) and Allen & Co (before it turned into fodder for Page Six), DOC’s purpose is to scale high-quality science in healthcare. That may sound simple, but that purpose contains multitudes — all the obstacles, opportunities, and obfuscation swirling through an “industry” that now drives nearly 20 percent of the US GDP.
Given I’ve spent most of my career thinking about the impact of the internet on society, you might be wondering why I’m wading into the world of health. The two industries are increasingly intertwined, and they share many of the same problems and possibilities. Over the past three decades I’ve observed that bad companies with great marketing often beat great companies with bad marketing, at least in the short term. This is due to two overarching trends: First, capital markets demand solutions at scale far faster than those solutions can actually be delivered. And second, we all want to believe the stories these companies are selling us. Remember Webvan, the celebrated startup that was going to deliver groceries to homes across the country? It took two decades for that promise to be met, but in a span of less than five years — 1997–2001 — Webvan raised nearly a billion dollars, went public, and filed for bankruptcy.
We’ve noticed a similar misalignment in the healthcare industry, particularly in longevity science. Our economy is increasingly driven by an aging and wealthy population that is eager to be told what it wants to hear. While the science is remarkable, if not downright miraculous — stem cell therapies, targeted cancer therapeutics, mRNA vaccines, GLP-1s — they all face significant obstacles that limit their ability to scale. In the meantime, silver-tongued charlatans sell promises spun from tantalizing headlines, absent the rigors of scientific evidence.
Instead of wringing our hands, at DOC we’re convening a tribe of scientists, technologists, and business leaders who are identifying and addressing the obstacles limiting good science from helping as many people as possible. DOC is anchored by an outstanding Faculty of top-tier researchers and clinicians who have developed some of the world’s most extraordinary advances in medicine and longevity. For three days this Fall, they’ll provide the foundation for a fast-paced, highly engaged dialog where every participant is also a conversant. Those conversants include world-renowned financiers, CEOs of global media and communications companies, tech product leaders, and founders and CEOs of high-growth healthcare, data, and AI firms. Topics we’ll be discussing include advances in neuroscience and cancer, the role of capital in healthcare, best practices in preventative health, and the information ecosystem driving our society’s understanding of longevity and medical science.
The first annual DOC will be a launchpad for an ongoing community platform that will focus on continuing and deepening our initial conversations into initiatives with real-world impact. If you’re interested in joining us, we look forward to hearing from you!
