Co-Founder & CEO at Advocate
Andrew Baran
I'm a 2x founder raised by a mom working as a care coordinator. Co-Founded Leilo.com (leading CPG brand in category, profitable, growing). Led software DD and AI workstreams at McKinsey. Software growth equity investor at Radian Capital (healthcare + vertical SaaS). Class President & Oxbridge scholar @ Columbia University; studied Economics, Political Science, Statistics + worked part-time at Citadel during school to help pay the bills. I love distance running, playing ice hockey, and repairing wristwatches.
Questions & Answers
What inspired you to start your business?
Watching my mom handle care coordination tasks. She left he job working in eldercare due to the demands of paperwork/care admin. It was taking up ~50% of her time, and that was time she wasn't getting paid for. We're going to solve this crisis.
What's a memorable 'aha' moment you've had while building your startup?
After demoing a prototype to our first design partner, she made me stay on the line while she forwarded the zoom link to her friend (who owned other managed care facilities). She said "he needs this too" & I knew we were solving a mission-critical problem.
