Brad Brooks of TigerConnect
An exclusive Tech Tribune Q&A with Brad Brooks, the co-founder and CEO of TigerConnect, which was honored in our:
Tell us the origin story of TigerConnect – what problem were you trying to solve and why?
Healthcare communication is broken. There are still almost 2 million pagers in use and 90% of healthcare providers still rely on faxes for some form of communication. We are focused on providing an easy to use messaging layer (think WhatsApp for healthcare) to enable care teams to communicate efficiently with each other, and now with their patients.
What was the biggest hurdle you encountered in your journey?
I underestimated the willingness of health systems to live with outdated technologies. There is tremendous inertia to change workflows, even though they are antiquated. It’s happening now, finally, in a big way, but when I co-founded TigerConnect with my physician brother 9 years ago, I thought since it was so obvious, it would happen overnight.
What does the future hold for TigerConnect?
We are really excited about the recent launch of our telemedicine product TigerTouch, which enables providers to communicate via text or video to their patients and their family members. It’s a natural extension of what we’ve been doing with internal communications for health systems and we are seeing a huge demand for the product, especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What are your thoughts on the local tech startup scene in Santa Monica?
I’ve been very bullish on tech in Santa Monica for years and I continue to be so. I think Silicon Valley has chronically underestimated the environment here, which has proven to be very dynamic and entrepreneurial. People here don’t care if you worked at Facebook or Google, only if you have a great idea.
What’s your best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Times of great flux (like right now) are actually great times to take a risk. Large companies are getting disrupted and as a result, could become more open to re-examining workflows and trying new things. If you can figure out how to navigate this kind of environment, you will be infinitely more anti-fragile for the long term.