Overcoming Adversity: Autumn Kyoko-Cushman’s Journey to Building Shiftrx

The Uprising Show

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Join Vivek and Autumn Kyoko-Cushman (Co-Founder and CEO of Shiftrx) in this episode of TopHealth as they discuss the journey of Shiftrx and its impact on the healthcare industry. Learn how they’re addressing staffing challenges and hear Autumn’s inspiring personal story.

• Shiftrx's unique business model and future plans.
• Autumn's background in the US Navy and nursing.
• The importance of finding the right co-founder and investors.
• Challenges and strategies in user acquisition.
• Autumn’s early entrepreneurial spirit and personal experiences.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

1. Bootstrapping to Success: Discover how Autumn and her team started Shiftrx with nothing but determination, and the initial challenges they faced, like the pushback on charging for background checks. Talk about overcoming hurdles!

2. The Power of Background Checks: Understand why Shiftrx decided to charge providers for a background check upon picking up shifts and their future plans to make this process even smoother.

3. AI Healthcare Administrator Vision: Get a sneak peek into Shiftrx’s ambitious long-term goal of building an AI healthcare administrator to tackle staffing challenges and reduce provider burnout.

4. Finding the Right Investors: Autumn shares her wisdom on educating potential investors about their value proposition and ensuring they’re the right fit for Shiftrx’s vision. As Autumn puts it, it’s all about aligning values!

5. Organic Growth Hacks: From cold calling to TikTok, learn about the strategies that have worked for Shiftrx in acquiring users and how they’re planning to scale sustainably.

Timestamps:
00:00 Unplanned military service due to financial crisis.
05:42 Family lost everything, lived with relatives, rebuilt.
09:37 Military provided stability and sense of belonging.
13:26 Challenging upbringing, but family is now stronger.
14:50 Shiftrx founders relate to healthcare provider struggles.
18:02 Close friends bonded, aspire for success.
21:33 Finding a co-founder is difficult, wish luck.
25:06 Enterprise sales have longer cycles, independents quicker.
29:13 Authentic dialogues and unscalable but real content.
34:16 Seeking investors who grasp vision, growth potential.
37:48 Platform has 2000+ pharmacists, expanding to more states.
40:44 Creating healthcare solutions to prevent burnout.
44:25 Struggles to find something in

The Uprising Show Website: https://theuprisingshow.com/
Vivek Nanda's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/viveknanda1/
Vivek Nanda's Twitter: https://x.com/vickks
TopHealth Media Website: https://tophealth.care/