Three years working for Google helped serial entrepreneur Adrian Aoun change his thinking and approach to problems. Forward, the medical clinic startup he founded in 2016, partly reflects this.
A few years ago, when healthcare was considered outdated, complicated, and expensive to invest in, Silicon Valley technology companies had already recognized it as fertile ground for startups.
Bloomberg said that the startup trend at the time was to develop technology applications addressing shortcomings in healthcare, from managing medical records and helping patients find doctors to facilitating access to medication. However, no startup had built an actual clinic operated by an artificial intelligence system and equipped with numerous self-developed diagnostic tools to reduce cumbersome procedures during medical consultations and examinations, as Forward had.
The clinic model of the future
Startup Forward brings together talent formerly at Google, Facebook, and Uber, including Ilya Abyzov, who helped develop UberX. Adrian and his engineering team focus on mobile apps and infrared diagnostic tools, aiming to streamline medical examinations and make healthcare more convenient and accessible.
Patients entering the clinic automatically check in using an iPad at reception. They then undergo a general scan using a body scanner developed by Forward. Biometric data, including height, weight, body temperature, and heart rate, are immediately sent to the patient's phone through an app, while the doctor accesses them simultaneously from the consultation room.
Inside the clinic is a large touchscreen mounted on the wall. This device listens to the conversation between patient and doctor, gathers relevant information for notes, and displays it on the screen during the examination. This allows the doctor to focus entirely on the patient rather than looking at a computer screen.
The device also displays medical history and previously measured sensor data, offering provisional diagnoses and treatment plans based on its knowledge of the patient.
Foward’s first clinic opened on 17/1 in San Fransisco’s Financial District. It quickly attracted attention through its “ahead-of-its-time” healthcare model and professional working style. Founder Adrian said Forward would eventually have more tools to perform “sensitive” tasks instead of humans, such as carrying urine samples back to the clinic. Engineers there have already designed an area where patients can place samples for automatic delivery to the required location.
Forward’s lowest membership fee is currently USD 149 per month.
Think “from big to small”
Although they share the goal of reducing complexity in healthcare, Adrian's approach is clearly more comprehensive than those of other technology startups choosing a “niche market” direction.
Adrian shared that his time at Google helped change his thinking and approach to problems. Faced with difficulties, he tries to see the big picture rather than solve each small step individually. In computer engineering terms, he does not “patch” each software bug to make it fit the system, but examines errors systematically to find the most resource-efficient solution.
Before working for Google, Adrian was a project manager at Microsoft, then struck out on his own to found Wavii, a news-reading app capable of “browsing the web, finding and aggregating news with links citing sources,” according to New York Times. In 2013, just 3 years after its founding, the startup was acquired by search giant Google for 300 million USD. Adrian was invited to stay with the technology company.
Initially, he worked in artificial intelligence and special projects. A year later, he moved to Sidewalk Labs, an urban planning company established by Alphabet (Google's parent company) that focuses on urban technologies such as transportation and energy to address residents' living costs. There, Adrian had the opportunity to work directly with Larry Page, Google's co-founder and Alphabet's CEO.
In 2016, he left Google and opened the futuristic clinic Forward. This was his 3rd startup after Wavii and the consultancy Aoun Consulting (1992-2006).
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