Interview
In conversation with
Frank Westermann
Frank Westermann is building 9amHealth, a virtual cardiometabolic specialty clinic for people living with prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and obesity—designed for self-insured employers across all 50 U.S. states. Think evidence-based lifestyle interventions plus prescription care, delivered through a model trusted by leading employers, PBMs, and platforms. The bet is pragmatic and scaled: pair outcomes with convenience, and make specialty care show up where people actually live and work.
Follow your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.
Westermann’s lens blends patient experience (diagnosed with T1D at 19) with two decades of operating and investing. In the U.S., digital has been standard of care for years—EHR access on phones, pharmacy apps, and virtual services with working business models—so he optimizes for execution, data-driven outcomes, and employer distribution. He’s frank about Europe’s headwinds: cultural status-quo bias, bureaucratic drag, and investor fit that often skews local; founders should raise according to stage (vision early, metrics later), pick market-relevant investors, and treat capital as sales built on trust. Inside teams, the advantage is human: curiosity, hunger, and work ethic—plus the humility to be grateful for meaningful work. Policy-wise, he argues for mindset shifts and frameworks that enable adoption rather than fear it.
Lessons from Building a Virtual Specialty Clinic:
Outcomes, Access, Discipline
What we cover
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How a virtual cardiometabolic clinic pairs lifestyle interventions with prescription medicine to deliver outcomes at scale
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Why the U.S. became the natural beachhead—employer distribution, working reimbursement, and digital as standard of care
What founders should optimize at each fundraising stage—vision early, traction and financial discipline later -
Where European adoption stalls—cultural risk aversion, bureaucracy, investor–market mismatch—and how to navigate it
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Which team traits matter most—curiosity, hunger, sustained effort, and pride in doing work that tangibly helps patients
Frank is a German-born entrepreneur and investor, now based in San Diego. Living with type 1 diabetes himself, he has spent his career building healthcare companies on both sides of the Atlantic that make life with chronic conditions easier. He co-founded mySugr, one of the leading digital diabetes platforms, which was acquired by Roche for around $100 million. Today, Frank is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of 9amHealth, a virtual cardiometabolic clinic, and Managing Partner of Whitewater Ventures, an early-stage healthcare fund focused on diabetes and cardiometabolic care.
About
Frank Westermann
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