Ryan Grant, MD, MBA, RES ’17, FEL ’18, a former complex spine neurosurgeon who trained at Yale School of Medicine (YSM), thrives on continuous learning, has a healthy disrespect for the status quo, and follows his heart. These traits spurred him to diverge onto a second career path and become a serial entrepreneur. He currently leads the nationwide, virtual-first musculoskeletal medical practice Vori Health, which he co-founded in 2020.
Entrepreneurial DNA and Mindset
Like medicine, entrepreneurship is in Grant’s DNA and part of his mindset. Encouraged by his father, a small business owner, and his mother, Grant latched onto business very early on. At age four, he accompanied his father to the office and began to learn accounting. By middle school, he was redlining and negotiating contracts. He recalls, “One customer hung up on me because my voice sounded like a kid’s.”
Grant started his first company when he was in high school. In 2015, during his residency, he co-founded Nomad Health, a health care staffing company, and in 2020, he co-founded his latest startup, Vori Health.
Vori Health is revolutionizing musculoskeletal care. By blending telehealth with in-person treatment and prioritizing whole-person, nonoperative approaches over surgery, this musculoskeletal orthopedic practice breaks free from traditional models. Vori Health is functioning as a nonoperative center of excellence for musculoskeletal care delivery.
Role of the Yale Community
The Yale community has played an important role in Grant’s career. Beyond training Grant, YSM opened the door to some key contacts. While a resident at YSM, Grant met four of his co-founders: Nomad Health co-founders, Maxwell Laurans, ’98, MD ’03, RES ’09, Alexi Nazem, ’04, MD ’12, and Kevin Ryan, ’85, as well as Vori Health co-founder, Mary O’Connor, ’79, MD, the then-director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Care at YSM and Yale New Haven Hospital.
In addition, Yale has offered Grant invaluable, informal opportunities to learn from seasoned entrepreneurs. After meeting Laurans, Grant began attending entrepreneurship-related evening lectures at Yale School of Management. One featured guest speaker was Kevin Ryan, founder of several successful companies, including MongoDB, Gilt Groupe, and Business Insider.
Grant notes, “I remember waiting in line for him after his lecture and giving him a bit of a pitch on this health care concept [for Nomad]. He was intrigued. That led to meeting after meeting with him … and to him wanting to fund our idea.” Because Laurans and Grant wished to continue practicing medicine, Ryan also helped them by securing a founding CEO, Nazem, and joining Nomad as a co-founder. Through his venture capital firm AlleyCorp, Ryan later invested in Vori Health.
Grant met several other investors, as well as patent experts, through the Yale community.
Importance of Lessons Learned and Ongoing Improvement
Grant has honed his business skills by absorbing lessons learned. He is a strong believer in learning from “people who have achieved what you would like to achieve.” Mentors have played a vital role in his growth, as have informal conversations with startup CEOs. Books have always been instrumental.
Grant says, “I read endless numbers of books by entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs. The authors shed light on what they would have done differently. Their stories often distill 30 years of lessons learned. That’s a lot of wisdom and is priceless.” In addition, Grant finds utilizing an executive coach valuable. “It’s like having a personal trainer. They help you improve. Everyone always does better with a coach,” he says.
Making a Difference at Scale
What motivates Grant is making a difference in people’s lives. As a neurosurgeon, Grant was able to help many individuals, but he realized he could help people on a much larger scale as an entrepreneur. While the decision to launch Vori Health was a big one, he says, “I knew I would never regret trying to make this startup work.” His goal is not only to pull humanity forward but also to minimize regrets in life.
Grant performed his last surgery in 2021 at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Penn., and has been leading Vori Health full-time ever since. Day to day, he concentrates on growing the company, delivering world-class care to patients, and ensuring that his team is aligned with the mission. In meetings, team members share patient stories every day. He says, “These are stories of real people in whose lives we’ve made a difference.”
Grant highlights facts that support Vori Health’s approach. He says that physical examinations today can be done virtually for most conditions, including muscle and joint problems, taking the hassle out of musculoskeletal treatment by bringing clinical care directly to patients. He also mentions that at least half of spine surgeries are inappropriate or non-evidence based, meaning the patients could or should have gotten better pursuing nonoperative care—the type that Vori Health explores and encourages as a first step. He acknowledges, “Surgery has its place but needs to be used responsibly.”
Vori Health’s approach has been resonating with patients, providers, and health plans alike, as evidenced by the practice’s growth rate of more than 400 percent year over year. The practice serves patients across all 50 states and the District of Columbia and continues to grow. Vori Health just raised another round of funding that will be announced soon.
Future: Wisdom in Motion
Committed to leveraging wisdom, challenging the norm, and forging improvements, Grant says, “We continue to look at how we can take care to the next level—enhancing the patient experience and patient outcomes, making the physician visit more exciting, delighting people.”
With an eye to the next chapter, he says, “I’m sure I’ll start another company in the future. I love solving hard problems and making a difference in people’s lives. Moreover, I hope to give back by serving as a mentor to other entrepreneurs and help accelerate their learning and progress because building a company is very hard. But it is so worth it, because making the world a better place is a wonderful feeling.”
Special Note: Grant is a member of Founders Pledge at Yale School of Medicine and Yale School of Public Health, a community of startup founders who wish to support the missions of YSM and YSPH through philanthropy. To learn more, please contact founderspledge@yale.edu.