EASE Applications went from a research study to an acquisition by a NYSE listed company, without a single outside investor.
The idea
Two pediatric cardiac surgeons ran a research study. They sent families texts, photos, and videos during their child’s surgery to see whether families wanted that kind of communication. The answer was clear: they did.
The physicians had a strong idea and the data to back it up, but no way to turn it into a product or a company. They asked me to help build it.
Building the company
EASE was bootstrapped from idea to exit and never took on outside investors. Every hire, feature, and certification had to pay for itself. At the time of the acquisition, the company had 16 employees.
Hospitals will not buy patient communication software unless they trust its security. EASE was HIPAA compliant, and the operations team earned HITRUST certification, a standard that is difficult to achieve for a company of any size. For an organization of 16, it was a significant accomplishment, and it opened the door to every hospital deal that followed.
Selling to hospitals
Selling a disruptive product to hospitals is one of the hardest sales there is. Every deal meant multiple stakeholders, boardroom presentations to executive teams, and building consensus across the organization. Hospitals knew they had a communication problem, but most believed they were already solving it. Winning those deals required showing them that their current approach was outdated.
Revenue nearly doubled every year through the exit. The EASE app passed one million downloads, and the company earned the University of Florida’s Gator 100 Award for the fastest growing UF alumni led companies.
The exit and Vocera
In 2020, Vocera Communications (NYSE: VCRA) acquired EASE. Following the acquisition, I served as SVP and GM of Vocera Ease and later as SVP of Innovation and Patient Solutions.
Within Vocera, the number of hospitals using EASE more than doubled, the footprint expanded across the country, and the team continued to land large, complex health systems. I remained on the executive leadership team through Vocera’s $3.09 billion acquisition by Stryker (NYSE: SYK) in 2022.
The results
“For parents with a child in the NICU like me it is literally life changing.”
“Ease is a great app that helps me feel connected overnight when I can’t be close to my baby.”
When I left Vocera, four of the nation’s top ten children’s hospitals used EASE, including Texas Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and Children’s National Hospital
EASE is a clear example of a proven approach: take a strong idea, build a product customers trust, sell it into a complex market, and create a company a buyer wants to own.
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