Bilt215
Dr Mike Daley has a big personality to go along with his big company exit. But his seeming overnight success was years in the making. He spent decades assembling advanced degrees and making money for Big Pharma before deciding at the ripe age of 62 to become an entrepreneur and launch his company Orthogenrx. Dr Daley literally liquidated his retirement plans, raised a few million from investors and bet the farm on importing an injection for knee pain already used widely overseas. Seizing the opportunity to exploit a rarely used FDA process loophole he was able to fast track the approvals and...
info_outline Dan Dimitri - Founder/CEO of PharmaForceBilt215
After spending 20+ years as a project manager for giants Kaiser Permanente and McKesson he paused to find a problem that he could solve with a new business. He took a deep dive into interviewing clients to find aches and pains that he could capitalize on. After much research and a chance encounter with an investor-backer he launched PharmaForce with the mission to deliver flexible technology solutions for pharmacies, providers and patients demanding greater transparency and lower costs. After a mere 7 years he recently had a very successful exit to a PE firm. Tune in to hear Dan’s story on...
info_outline Sylvester Mobley — Founder and CEO of Coded by KidsBilt215
Sylvester Mobley is the Founder and CEO of the youth tech education non-profit, Coded by Kids. Through his organization he works to increase access to tech education opportunities for those who are underrepresented in tech, especially children of color. Under his leadership, Coded by Kids has grown from serving fewer than 15 children in a rec center to serving more than 500 students per week. Tech has a lot of great benefits but there are still groups of people being locked out of it.
info_outline Felicite Moorman — CEO of STRATIS IoTBilt215
Felicite Moorman is the CEO and co-Founder of STRATIS IoT, the only Sidewalk to Sofa® Intelligent Building Solution built for Multifamily and Student Housing. STRATIS helps create smart apartments and intelligent buildings built for the complexities of split multi-family and student housing. Serving over 325,000 apartments in the US, and over 18,000 internationally, STRATIS is poised for more growth in the future.
info_outline Mahe Bayireddi — Co-Founder and CEO of Phenom PeopleBilt215
Mahe Bayireddi is the Co-Founder and CEO of Phenom People, a global HR technology company with a mission to help 1 billion people find the right job. With over 200 million people using the product in 140 countries, including 50 of the Fortune 500 companies, Mahe is well on his way to achieving his goal of revolutionizing the talent life cycle through technologies, specifically AI.
info_outline Nader Elm — Co-Founder and CEO of Exyn TechnologiesBilt215
Nader Elm is the Co-Founder and CEO of Exyn Technologies, a commercialization of the technology spun out of GRASP Labs (General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania). Since its founding in 2014, Exyn has become the world leader in autonomous data acquisition using drone technology.
info_outline Bill Yoh — Co-Owner of Day and Zimmermann, Author, Chairman of Yoh GroupBilt215
Bill Yoh is the youngest of five children born to Spike Yoh. Bill's grandfather, Harold, helped build the Philadelphia-based business that is now in its 5th generation, Day & Zimmermann. Founded in 1901 as a fledgling staffing company for engineers, it has grown into a massive organization of 45,000 employees globally and nearly $3 billion in revenue, making it one of the biggest privately held companies in the US and the world.
info_outline Mike Hagan — Founder, Operator, Investor and CEO of Hawk CapitalBilt215
Mike Hagan is a founder, operator and wildly successful investor in a variety of companies. He has repeatedly proven his ability to create or invest in a company, scale it and successfully exit. His venture was the B2B procurement WebHost VerticalNet, which hit a market capital peak of $11 billion. Unfortunately, Vertical Net ended in flames like many other dot.com companies at the turn of the millennium.
info_outline Bob Moore — Serial Entrepreneur and CEO of CrossbeamBilt215
Bob Moore is a serial entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience, who started his first business venture when he was at Princeton. In the early 2000s, as online poker was becoming popular, Bob jumped on an observation he made to create the Mooraculator to computerize what his peers were calculating in their heads to level the playing field for others who wanted to make money playing poker.
info_outline Dean Miller — President and CEO of PACTBilt215
Dean Miller has been a venture capitalist for over 20 years, with particular interest in the healthcare technology and innovations space. Brought up in upstate New York, his early experiences shaped him for independence and entrepreneurship. Dean served as Managing Director at Novitas Capital, where he focused on venture capital investments across healthcare and technology.
info_outlineBill Daggett, Jr. is the Chairman of Kistler Tiffany Benefits, a private employee benefits firm with revenues of $60+mil. The company operates out of six offices throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey and has more than 140 employees. Bill began his career with Kistler Tiffany in 1962 in a part-time role, but eventually founded and served as CEO of Kistler Tiffany (KT) Companies for 17 years, and subsequently held the position of Managing Partner and Co-Owner. Currently, he's on the board of several for-profit companies, is actively involved in Ursinus Collrgr,his alma mater, and also gives back to the community through Kistler Tiffany Foundation. On this illuminating interview, Bill shares more about the changes in the insurance industry over his 50 years at KT, as well as the challenges and opportunities he has seen in his career. Bill offers up advice from his years of experience on leadership, entrepreneurship and success, as well as his thoughts on why business owners should be giving back to their communities. Tune in to find out more.
Key Takeaways:
[1:19] Kevin introduces his guest for this episode — Bill Daggett, Jr.
[4:47] Kevin celebrates the fact that Bill has worked for the same company for over 50 years, and has been married to his wife for over 50 years.
[6:15] What has happened in the insurance industry over the years? Bill summarizes some of the major characteristics of the past 4-5 decades.
[10:02] What was Bill's process for getting clients in the early days before email, texting, and fax?
[12:06] The key to Bill's success has been doing one thing, and doing it well.
[12:55] In the 90s, what were some changes in the industry from the healthcare or legislative standpoint that presented major opportunities or hurdles?
[15:08] Kevin and Bill discuss the changes in IBX.
[16:20] What the difference between the different carriers?
[17:47] Bill shares more about the different roles the 140 employees play at his company.
[18:49] How different is the magnitude of complexity over the past 50 years?
[20:58] Bill shares more about the call centers that he owns.
[22:37] How did Bill decide to employ seniors to work in the call centers?
[25:21] What was Bill's first sale?
[27:26] At some point, Bill lifted out of the KT umbrella. What happened there?
[28:46] What are the greatest opportunities and threats in the benefits business today, and in the next 10 years?
[32:56] If a single payer system doesn't become a reality, what are the opportunities?
[35:22] What is C2? Bill shares more about its history and how it has evolved.
[40:10] What is his leadership style?
[42:38] How did Bill groom Shawn Orenstein and Joe Dowd to become CEO and President of the company?
[44:35] Who were some big influences over the course of Bill's career?
[45:44] Bill has retained many of his employees over decades. What were some of the key influencing factors in that?
[50:56] What are Bill's thoughts on whether entrepreneurs are born or made?
[52:29] When Bill has faced losses, what was the main reason?
[55:15] Kevin and Bill discuss his involvement and investment in different deals and opportunities over the years.
[57:42] Bill elaborates more on his experience with Kirk Wycoff and the banks.
[1:00:17] Apart from Kistler Tiffany Foundation, what are some things Bill is involved in that are part of his legacy?
[1:02:07] Bill believes that it is a “necessary responsibility” for a business owner to give back to the community.
[1:02:49] What advice does Bill have for young people starting their career today?
[1:07:21] What are Bill's thoughts around the Philadelphia region as a place to do business?
Links:
BILT215 Episode 001: Tony Nichols — Chairman Emeritus of Brandywine Realty Trust
Shawn Orenstein, CEO of Kistler Tiffany