Steven Zinsli, 27, is the founder of start-up HealthNow, a fintech company aimed at removing barriers to health care affordability by creating a ‘seamless and stress free’ buy now pay later platform. Their mission is to ‘increase the acquisition of health services and encourage users and communities to make better and proactive health choices’.
Steven joined Purposely recently to share his founder story, his vision for the future of his business and how he is focused on making profit alongside delivering purpose and positive social impact globally.
Steven describes the process his team have gone through in the early months of the building the company
‘We went about the process of building a wireframe that reflected our initial ideas, at the same time we also got data that supported our assumptions around how people are using similar products within the retail space. We then moved forward with funding from early investors to produce a market entry product that was going to prove or disprove our assumptions’
He has thrown himself into the tech start-up world which he describes as challenging ... 'dog eat dog'! Balanced by the fact that he has a ‘wonderful investor and a committed and passionate team’.
Steven is focused and competitive and he is using these traits to play active role in scaling and growing the business and delivering on his mission to ‘create a world where healthcare is more accessible, more equitable’ and using tech to facilitate this change.’
Steven points to his own experience growing up, when his parents struggled to afford doctor’s bills, as a motivator to launching HealthNow. His mother was only able to access the treatment the family needed by ‘paying later’ (thanks to their the doctor) and ensuring the family continued to visit the doctor despite a lack of cash.
Steven himself grew up wanting to be a doctor, however, his grades were not good enough to get him into medical school
‘I went through school and to be frank, I probably didn't try too hard and did just enough to scrape through. I applied for medical school but I didn't make the cut. It was that experience, realising that I had closed a door on myself and not put in the effort to get the grades I needed, which really changed my perspective on things. I was quite young, only 18 at the time, but I just completely flipped a switch in my brain and ever since then I've approached life in a really different way.’
Steven is determined to take every opportunity that comes his way living a disciplined life and sacrificing access to vices and treats which are normal for most twenty somethings to live another type of existence with early starts, long days in the office and hours spent in the gym 'focused on his own health' to help his meet his goals and dreams.
Steven started his journey in healthcare in 2016 as the first musculoskeletal podiatrist in what was a small rehabilitation company, Physio Connect. He joined as a partner and over the next 5 years, Steven and a business partner grew the company to hundred plus employees and fourteen clinics seeing four thousand plus patients per week. This tangible experience provided Steven with an array of opportunities to... 'learn, gain scar tissue and meet some amazing people. It also gave me significant insight into customer challenges in the healthcare sector.'
Learn more here: https://healthnow.co.nz/ and listen to Episode #59 Purposely Podcast