Rising StarRising Star: Matt Holland of Knkt’d takes Healthcare Out of the Doctor’s Office
When was the last time you talked to your doctor?
Aside from the annual physical, most people in the U.S. only communicate with their doctors when something is wrong. During these conversations, cursory questions are asked, a recommendation is made, and, if you’re lucky, you might find yourself on the receiving end of a follow-up call.
But what if you could keep the conversation going all year long? What if there was a way for your care providers to track your health on not an annual, but on a daily, basis? Matt Holland, founder of KnKt’d, believes he has found a way. Here’s more from Matt:
What was the spark that inspired the birth of your concept?
Having worked in a broken system for many years, navigating the loopholes to provide care for my clients, I knew that there must be a better way to provide more consistent care. Not just on a monthly basis, but on a daily basis, to help people be more connected to themselves and their providers. One morning after a dream-filled night, I woke up with the idea of KnKt’d.
What problem does it solve?
The Knkt’d platform is designed to be used by providers with their clients to better engage, focus, and curtail treatment. That includes transitional times between appointments and from inpatient to outpatient care. Effectively, we take treatment out of the office, in-between appointments and into people’s daily lives. With only a little over a half million providers and 75 plus million people needing care in the U.S. alone, we can’t effectively handle the disparities. Providers are over-worked and stressed out, and clients are having trouble accessing and affording quality care. It’s time to think way out of the box.
How did you come up with the name?
Many years ago, I had a Native American friend who was a great musician. At one point, his significant other said, “You two get along like long lost friends” (or something to that extent). Dez looked at me and then at her and said, “That’s because we KNKT.” Those 4 letters have stuck with me for decades. So has the fact that people need to connect on a better level with themselves and those around them.
How are you better/different than your competition?
I think there are three major differences between us and our competitors: First, we are in this to truly bring change to people’s lives and the national system. Second, our team consists of amazing people who have a passion to see this happen; experience in some way to shape or form in the system; an amazing set of morals, ethics, and values; and are rock stars at what they do. Lastly, but most importantly, we built the system based on feedback from all levels of the target market the product is designed to serve. They continue to be our guiding light and will always.
How do you make money?
We don’t advertise on the system to keep it clean and pure. We make money on either a per-client basis or on blanket fees for bigger clients. We keep the price point far lower than our competitors and only bring on investors and strategic supports/partners that are in line with our core values.
Providers in turn can bill the service as case management if the interaction with the system and client meets that criteria. They can also boost revenue by knowing when to bring in someone early for an appointment justifying it to insurance companies or the federal government via the system analytics.
What’s the best thing about being an entrepreneur?
For me, it is being part of changing a system as a whole and being able to learn something new every day.
What has been the biggest surprise in your entrepreneurial experience to date?
What’s surprised me is the personal burden we all carry for what we are birthing and how much of a strain it can be on our psyches. No matter how strong your support network, or how many awesome people you have around you, there are times when the weight of your world rests solely on your shoulders.
Your biggest success?
Getting to where we are today, with little to no outside money. Having the ability to truly dig deep into who we want to align with and to share part of our company.
Do you have a failure story to share? What did you learn from this failure?
Every day as an entrepreneur can be both a failure and success. You could be on cloud nine one moment only to be dropped on your face the next. You’ve gotta learn how to quickly re-center, pivot, have good self-care and support systems around you.
As an entrepreneur, what keeps you up at night?
The better question is, as an entrepreneur what doesn’t keep you up at night? Pretty much it can be anything/everything and you have to learn how to disconnect and be zentered (Zen fully centered). Otherwise, you’ll never sleep and hit that all important REM moment.
What is the best entrepreneurial advice you have received (and from whom)?
I have received so much great advice from so many amazing people and am grateful to them all. To summarize some of the best: don’t let the naysayers affect you; know when to pivot if you need to; always have self-care in place; don’t compromise your or your company’s values, ethics and morals; and always remain humble.
What is your #1 piece of advice for a budding entrepreneur?
Never give up, and remember to talk to those who might use your system before starting to develop it. Make sure they are people you both know and don’t know.
What is the #1 book you would recommend for a budding entrepreneur?
I have read so many books and would give the same advice to all entrepreneurs to keep learning and critically think about all that you read. You need to get into the practice of questioning everything, but you also need to find a resolution to your questions. If I were to name one, it would be “Zero to One” by Peter Thiel.
What song best describes your entrepreneurial journey?
At some points, it may have been “Highway to Hell,” but these days (since my kiddos have watched it a zillion times) “Try Everything” rings true every day.
Imagine your venture becomes wildly successful. What does that look like?
Millions of users getting the help they need on a daily basis, while hundreds of thousand providers are saving time, money, and lives.
What’s your favorite local business and why?
I love Oregon, particularly the vibe of the culture and people. I could never just choose one business, because they are all amazing and unique!
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
To be able to support myself and my family, and to be happy.
Do you think Oregon is a good place to start a business? How has it helped you, and what challenges has it posed?
Oregon is an amazing place to start a company.There are so many places to unwind and get back to nature. The infrastructure for supporting entrepreneurs is amazing, including OEN, TAO and all the rest. Keep up the great work supporting the dreamers!
The Oregon investment market has a long way to go in understanding and supporting health technology. If Oregon’s healthcare startups can’t raise money in Oregon, but can in bigger technology markets, there is a clear disconnect. Some of those companies are moving because of that, which will impact the growth of the health technology sector in Oregon, in turn resulting in lost chances at tax revenues and returns on investments, not to mention loss of potential jobs.
Any other tidbits or fun facts to share?
Much love for Oregon and all its amazing people. I couldn’t have hoped for better external supports from anywhere else, other than the equally amazing community I am currently immersed in as part of the Health Wildcatters accelerator in Dallas. Health Wildcatters is an amazing group of doctors, mentors, and supports.
