Sam Corcos: Solving the Metabolic Health Crisis with Wearable Tech
How a nomadic, minimalist CEO is building one of the fastest-growing companies in the digital health space.
If you know me, you know that I frequently ask people older and wiser than me for advice. Last December, I spent a lot of time thinking about my college major and was having a hard time triangulating between interests in economics, computer science, and human biology.
I’ve also tracked my fitness data since 7th grade and try to read everything I can about the digital health space. I happened to come across a podcast about Levels, a company on a mission to solve the metabolic health crisis. They use continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) to quantify the effects of dietary choices and generate personalized, data-driven recommendations. Creating this real-time feedback loop helps empower people to take ownership of their health and lifestyle choices.
Levels’ mission struck a chord with me, so I looked up the CEO. I immediately realized that he would have an interesting perspective on my question about what to study in college — Sam majored in economics, spent most of his career as a freelance software developer, and is now leading a category-defining health tech company.
I decided to shoot him an email, and he posed the idea of chatting about it on their company podcast. As an avid listener of the Levels podcast, I was incredibly excited to come on as a guest. Here are a few of the things that I learned from Sam:
1. Aspiring entrepreneurs should learn to write
When I asked Sam what type of coursework lends itself well to entrepreneurship, I was surprised to hear him mention creative writing. He talked about how people underestimate the importance of writing as a means of consolidating and clarifying one’s thoughts. There is no real difference between learning to write and learning to think; writing is simply the organization of ideas in syntax.
Entrepreneurs must drive alignment towards a shared vision and clearly outline the path towards its realization. This requires sharp communication skills, many of which are developed through writing. For example, explaining complex ideas to lay audiences, framing concepts in creative ways, making compelling arguments, and telling captivating stories are all critical parts of creating excitement around your company and product.
Written communication is foundational to the culture at Levels. Their use of memos and thorough documentation has allowed them to avoid the alignment issues that plague many startups and create an environment in which all employees know how their role fits in the context of larger company goals.
2. College is about relationships, not your major
Sam encourages college students interested in entrepreneurship to spend more time meeting interesting people than heads-down in coursework. There is no doubt that college presents an incredible opportunity to take a deep dive into the field of your choice, but Sam points out that almost everything you learn in college could be learned from a book. World-changing companies are not the result of the classes the founder took in college; they are typically the result of the founder’s ability to assemble an incredible team.
Therefore, when thinking about majors and classes, don’t just ask yourself what kind of skills or knowledge you want to leave college with; ask yourself what kind of people you want to surround yourself with. Sam believes that 90% of the value of college comes from people you meet along the way.
3. Consume high-quality content and cut out the noise
Sam is a voracious reader. Ten years ago, he decided to stop watching the news and using social media after reading Ryan Holiday’s Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator. Sam challenged himself to replace that time with reading, and he hasn’t looked back since. In contrast with news and social media — often sensationalized, relatively inconsequential content — books are the product of experts spending years synthesizing a compelling idea. If you check out his Goodreads profile, you’ll see that this CEO doesn’t limit his reading to entrepreneurship, leadership, and metabolic health; Sam is well-versed in public policy, the classics, history, and even religion.
Sam explains that as a CEO, his skill set is that of a generalist. He must synthesize information from across the organization and use his unique vantage point to determine the best path forward. This type of strategic, creative thinking is bolstered by frequent exposure to innovative ideas, especially those in other disciplines.
I believe that Sam’s practice of cutting out the noise is an equally important part of his success. In addition to forgoing news and social media, Sam goes without most material possessions and travels with everything he owns in a backpack (Levels is a remote company). While this extreme minimalism isn’t for everyone, the general practice of being mindful of what you include (high-quality books) and exclude (excessive material possessions, sensationalized news) in your life leads to a much higher degree of creativity and focus.
4. Intentionality and reflection are the keys to a fulfilling career
The inflection points in our careers and lives are often the product of circumstance: maybe a 7th-grade biology teacher piques your interest in medicine, you look into law school because your parents are lawyers, or you end up in the same industry your first internship. There is nothing wrong with this, but I often wonder if the reason why a sizeable share of the population is unhappy with their chosen field is the lack of reflection and pause within the US education system and 21st century America.
After his previous venture (Cardash, YC ’17), Sam took a year off to reflect on which problems he cared about solving and came to the conclusion that healthcare, specifically metabolic health, provided an incredible opportunity for impact. He didn’t rush into the first opportunity that came his way — Sam recognized that entrepreneurs who are not intentional about choosing a problem to solve will not have the stamina to bring the idea to fruition.
Sam continues to incorporate reflection and takes a “think week” every quarter, which involves going to an off-the-grid location free of distractions. CEOs can miss the forest for the trees in the day-to-day of leading a growing company, so he dedicates this time to holistic, big-picture thinking. This practice has produced some of Sam’s best ideas, pertaining to both company strategy and his personal life.
College students, including myself, are hesitant to spend their limited amount of free time doing things —such as reflective writing — that do not have an immediate, quantifiable impact. However, Sam’s success is a testament to the long-term benefits of making it a consistent, non-negotiable practice.
To hear the entire conversation—including Sam’s thoughts on the future of biowearable technology, the role of nutrition in health, and computer science degrees — follow the link to the episode. If you have any thoughts or feedback about this podcast or blog, please reach out to emcasey@stanford.edu — I’d love to hear from you!
