Jun 19, 2025
25,000 Thank-You Notes: Why Ron Gutman Chose Lives Over Valuations
An interview with Intrivo, Founder of Ron Gutman
Founder Focused
Over 25,000 thank-you notes. Each one saying the same thing: "Thank you for saving my life."
This is the profound reality that Ron Gutman, co-founder and CEO of Intrivo, carries with him from his previous healthcare venture. In an era where entrepreneurs chase AI and the latest tech trends, Gutman represents something different—a founder whose North Star isn't valuation or market dominance, but human impact at scale.
In this conversation, Gutman opens up about the philosophy that guided him from computer geek to healthcare innovator, why he believes doing what you love trumps chasing what's cool, and how ancient Jewish wisdom shapes his approach to building companies that don't just disrupt markets—they save lives.
Watch the full interview now on EO's YouTube channel! Below is the complete transcription of the interview. Minor edits have been made for clarity and readability.
Key Highlights:
"The most profound experience that I had in my career in healthcare and one that I consider my most important accomplishment was in my previous venture to get more than 25,000 notes from people saying thank you for saving my life."
"Always do what you love. Always do what you love, right? Like start by doing what you love. I mean, a lot of people choose to do things because they're cool, because they're gonna make a lot of money, because it's fashionable, because somebody told them to do that, because other people are doing that, right? Like a lot of reasons. Just don't like go into where your heart is, right? Like do things that you love."
"I learned in my life that it's important to have missionaries and not mercenaries, right? There are some people who are really good in what they're doing. But they're just there for the paycheck and they do what they need to do and they're done, right?"
"Always do what you love. Always do what you love, right? Like start by doing what you love. I mean, a lot of people choose to do things because they're cool, because they're gonna make a lot of money, because it's fashionable, because somebody told them to do that, because other people are doing that, right? Like a lot of reasons. Just don't like go into where your heart is, right? Like do things that you love."
"I learned in my life that it's important to have missionaries and not mercenaries, right? There are some people who are really good in what they're doing. But they're just there for the paycheck and they do what they need to do and they're done, right?"
From Computer Geek to Life-Saver
Tell us about yourself and Intrivo.
Ron Gutman: Nice to meet you. My name is Ron Gutman. I'm the co-founder and CEO of Intrivo. We really, like at the beginning of Intrivo, the vision was to bring health and care to you where you are. Now, when the pandemic started, we tried to see where we can apply this to actually help resolve the pandemic. And then we start solving the challenge of how do we bring efficient testing to you.
So initially, testing, if you remember, was a terrible user experience. We created this technology platform that enables us to manage the entire supply chain, and I really would like to be part of creating a solution like that that will change the way we manage our health and well-being in ways that were just not possible before, and I think AI has a great opportunity to be the foundation for that, and I'm looking forward to the next chapter of how humanity manages not only health and well-being, but happiness as well, because I want more people to smile a lot more often.
So initially, testing, if you remember, was a terrible user experience. We created this technology platform that enables us to manage the entire supply chain, and I really would like to be part of creating a solution like that that will change the way we manage our health and well-being in ways that were just not possible before, and I think AI has a great opportunity to be the foundation for that, and I'm looking forward to the next chapter of how humanity manages not only health and well-being, but happiness as well, because I want more people to smile a lot more often.
The Philosophy of Fixing the World
What drives your mission to help others?
Ron Gutman: The whole idea of helping other people came from home. My mom raised me with the notion of tikkun olam, which is an ancient part of Jewish philosophy, and tikkun olam means in English, very simply fixing the world.
What does fixing the world mean? My mum used to explain that fixing the world is something that is important for me to engage in just because the world needs fixing. It doesn't need to give me anything, it doesn't need to have a reason for it, but because things are not the way they should be and I have the ability to make a positive influence for them, I should do it.
And think about it. If everybody thought this way and paid forward without even needing to get anything. Our world will look such a better place. Every single day I do things that help other people improve their lives, improve their health and well-being.
What does fixing the world mean? My mum used to explain that fixing the world is something that is important for me to engage in just because the world needs fixing. It doesn't need to give me anything, it doesn't need to have a reason for it, but because things are not the way they should be and I have the ability to make a positive influence for them, I should do it.
And think about it. If everybody thought this way and paid forward without even needing to get anything. Our world will look such a better place. Every single day I do things that help other people improve their lives, improve their health and well-being.
Lessons from the Road and Early Silicon Valley
What were some of the most important lessons that shaped you as an entrepreneur?
Ron Gutman: Some of these really important lessons that I've learned, first and foremost was traveling, traveling around the world. So I love travel. I love meeting people all over the world. I made it a point to meet people where they are and go ahead. Stay where they stay, eat where they eat, travel how they travel, volunteer as much as I could.
And when I did that, I learned a lot from them, and that helped shape me as an entrepreneur because when you build solutions that are global solutions, you need to understand the world and understanding the world is not enough to just do internet research. I believe you need to meet the people. I need to see where they are, understand all people are people. And all humans are very much similar, but they have nuances. And if you understand these nuances and you understand different approaches to solving problems, it creates for you a toolkit that is a lot richer when you tackle some of these challenges.
Being in the valley in a time that was, you know, post the dot-com crash actually, when most people left here and just a handful of people remained that were very, very passionate about building businesses and some of these people that were very, very early in their career back then. Are some of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time today, but the people who really stayed here stayed because they were passionate about building things that actually make a difference and change the world.
And when I did that, I learned a lot from them, and that helped shape me as an entrepreneur because when you build solutions that are global solutions, you need to understand the world and understanding the world is not enough to just do internet research. I believe you need to meet the people. I need to see where they are, understand all people are people. And all humans are very much similar, but they have nuances. And if you understand these nuances and you understand different approaches to solving problems, it creates for you a toolkit that is a lot richer when you tackle some of these challenges.
Being in the valley in a time that was, you know, post the dot-com crash actually, when most people left here and just a handful of people remained that were very, very passionate about building businesses and some of these people that were very, very early in their career back then. Are some of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time today, but the people who really stayed here stayed because they were passionate about building things that actually make a difference and change the world.
Can you tell us more about those early Silicon Valley days?
Ron Gutman: Having long conversations with them, you know, early, early in their career about how they think about building companies, how they think about building teams very early in the TED community, for example, the TED conference, before there was even TEDx, before there were like a million conferences, before there was even a website. I used to go to Monterey.
It was like we used to go a bunch of people from Silicon Valley to Monterey every year, and it was a small handful of people that got together. It was all the people that started the most successful companies that you know in the world right now. It was back then. And, you know, we would go and hear some talks, and then at night we'd spend until 2 or 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning just hanging out, chatting, talking about our challenges, you know, figuring out what to do.
And I think that was amazingly, amazingly important in shaping how all of us thought about doing certain things, just interacting with one another, working with some of them that were more accomplished and already had some success. Some of them, it was their first time of doing this, but it doesn't matter. The sharing was very important.
It was like we used to go a bunch of people from Silicon Valley to Monterey every year, and it was a small handful of people that got together. It was all the people that started the most successful companies that you know in the world right now. It was back then. And, you know, we would go and hear some talks, and then at night we'd spend until 2 or 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning just hanging out, chatting, talking about our challenges, you know, figuring out what to do.
And I think that was amazingly, amazingly important in shaping how all of us thought about doing certain things, just interacting with one another, working with some of them that were more accomplished and already had some success. Some of them, it was their first time of doing this, but it doesn't matter. The sharing was very important.
Missionaries, Not Mercenaries
What's your philosophy on building teams?
Ron Gutman: Entrepreneurship is all about the people. It's all about you are going to be only as successful as the people around you, and it's very important to choose the people that you don't only think they're the best in doing what they need to do, and that's very important as a foundation.
Choose people who have the right skill and right kind of level of experience to do what they need to do, but also make sure that they have the kind of energy, right, and the stamina and the kind of resilience that is required in order to solve entrepreneurial challenges.
Sometimes, you know, I chose people who actually were great and smart and capable and had great resumes, but you know, they did not have this kind of dynamic or this kind of character that would take them through a lot of ups and downs, which entrepreneurship has inevitable a huge amount of these things.
Choose people who have the right skill and right kind of level of experience to do what they need to do, but also make sure that they have the kind of energy, right, and the stamina and the kind of resilience that is required in order to solve entrepreneurial challenges.
Sometimes, you know, I chose people who actually were great and smart and capable and had great resumes, but you know, they did not have this kind of dynamic or this kind of character that would take them through a lot of ups and downs, which entrepreneurship has inevitable a huge amount of these things.
How do you identify people who truly believe in the mission?
Ron Gutman: I learned in my life that it's important to have missionaries and not mercenaries, right? There are some people who are really good in what they're doing. But they're just there for the paycheck and they do what they need to do and they're done, right?
I think that the best way to identify if somebody truly buys into a mission is to have a deep conversation with them that is situational. Don't just ask them to talk in generalities about the mission itself. Everybody can say, oh yeah, yeah, I really want to help millions or billions of people live a healthier life. I mean, that's a very easy sentence to practice at home in a job interview and then cite it back.
The best way to tackle this is to ask them how they practiced this, this kind of vision, this kind of living, this kind of philosophy in their own life in the past, right? So to give you examples of why they actually resonate with that mission or how they resonate with that mission, but things that they did, not just things that they're thinking about, right? So look for the doers, not just the thinkers.
I think that the best way to identify if somebody truly buys into a mission is to have a deep conversation with them that is situational. Don't just ask them to talk in generalities about the mission itself. Everybody can say, oh yeah, yeah, I really want to help millions or billions of people live a healthier life. I mean, that's a very easy sentence to practice at home in a job interview and then cite it back.
The best way to tackle this is to ask them how they practiced this, this kind of vision, this kind of living, this kind of philosophy in their own life in the past, right? So to give you examples of why they actually resonate with that mission or how they resonate with that mission, but things that they did, not just things that they're thinking about, right? So look for the doers, not just the thinkers.
Embracing the Beauty of Challenge
How do you handle the inevitable ups and downs of entrepreneurship?
Ron Gutman: Everything that's worth doing is challenging in my mind, right? I think that there is a point in life in which you just embrace challenge, right? And one thing that I learned over the years and I practice right now is, you know, I don't get too worked up when things are challenging, and I don't get too excited when things are great, right?
I try to just accept the fact that there's beauty in what we define as good and pleasurable and nice and fulfilling, but there's also beauty in things that are challenging actually sometimes make people sad. I know that sounds a little bit controversial, but when you understand that life is the circular approach and the whole approach of everything that's happening to us, good and bad, and when you stop judging them.
And you stop trying to just go to only figure out how to make things good and try to avoid the bad because the bad, what we consider as bad or less favorable, will happen. Not strive to make it happen, but accept it. They say, you know, it's going to be there. It's fine, and it's something that is part of life and we celebrate it. We celebrate the good, we celebrate the not so good. It makes us stronger, and I think that the advice that I give everybody is to try to get to that place at least once a day.
I try to just accept the fact that there's beauty in what we define as good and pleasurable and nice and fulfilling, but there's also beauty in things that are challenging actually sometimes make people sad. I know that sounds a little bit controversial, but when you understand that life is the circular approach and the whole approach of everything that's happening to us, good and bad, and when you stop judging them.
And you stop trying to just go to only figure out how to make things good and try to avoid the bad because the bad, what we consider as bad or less favorable, will happen. Not strive to make it happen, but accept it. They say, you know, it's going to be there. It's fine, and it's something that is part of life and we celebrate it. We celebrate the good, we celebrate the not so good. It makes us stronger, and I think that the advice that I give everybody is to try to get to that place at least once a day.
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