Daniel Kivatinos - Why This Founder Ignored Everyone and Built DrChrono Anyway cover art

Daniel Kivatinos - Why This Founder Ignored Everyone and Built DrChrono Anyway

Daniel Kivatinos - Why This Founder Ignored Everyone and Built DrChrono Anyway

Listen for free

View show details

About this listen

 What does it actually take to build a healthcare company from scratch? In this episode of #TheShot, Eugene Borukhovich and Jim Joyce sit down with Daniel Kivatinos, co-founder of DrChrono, to unpack a real founder journey — from growing up in Queens with blue-collar parents to bootstrapping a healthcare startup through the 2008 crash, betting early on the iPad, and building DrChrono over 13+ years before selling in 2021. This is not a “how to get rich quick” story. It’s about persistence, timing, relentless shipping, and ignoring most advice. We talked about: 🧱 Start painfully small - One doctor who loves your product beats 1,000 lukewarm users 🔁 Release fast, fix faster - Daily shipping built trust doctors didn’t get from incumbents 🕰️ Timing is earned, not predicted - Years of grinding made the iPad moment possible 💸 Bootstrapping builds discipline - Scarcity forced focus 🚫 Ignore most advice - Especially from people who aren’t where you want to be 🏃‍♂️ Just do it - Overthinking kills more startups than bad ideas If you’re building in healthcare, fintech, or any regulated industry — this one’s for you. 👍 Like 📩 Subscribe 💬 Drop a comment — what resonated most? 00:00 – Intro & JP Morgan recap01:30 – Why Eugene can’t do the show without Jim02:10 – Meeting Daniel at Health 2.0 in NYC03:10 – Growing up in Queens05:00 – Blue-collar parents & elevator mechanic stories07:00 – Stony Brook, choosing computer science, brutal CS class09:30 – Art, music, and coding11:00 – Early startups that failed12:30 – The 2007–2008 reality check14:00 – Why Daniel didn’t chase “safe” jobs16:00 – Watching friends raise money & choosing a harder path18:30 – Saving $50k and deciding to start a company20:00 – Why healthcare21:00 – Founding DrChrono22:00 – What DrChrono originally solved (scheduling)23:30 – Printing flyers & knocking on doctor doors25:30 – One doctor who truly loved the product27:30 – “10 users who love you beats 1,000 who don’t”28:30 – Expanding into EHR, billing, and practice management29:30 – Hearing about the iPad30:30 – Building the first iPad-based EHR31:45 – Overnight growth after the App Store launch33:00 – Releasing faster than Epic and Cerner35:00 – Why speed mattered more than strategy36:00 – Cold-emailing Y Combinator37:00 – Alexis Ohanian visits NYC38:30 – Startup School & mindset shift39:30 – The YC interview experience40:30 – Getting the first real check41:30 – Life inside Y Combinator43:30 – Growing DrChrono over 13+ years44:30 – Selling to EverCommerce in 202145:30 – Why the buyer mattered more than the price46:30 – What Daniel is building now (JustPaid)48:00 – Why starting SMB beats selling enterprise first49:30 – Final question: advice to younger self52:00 – “Just do it. Don’t stop.”
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.