To start, tell us about yourself.
Hello, world! My name is Priyank Madria and I’m from Rolla, Missouri. Most of you have probably never heard of this place, but the gateway of the west (the arch in St. Louis) brought me to this exciting, exuberant town (jk, it’s really quiet). In all seriousness, I went to Georgia Tech, where I completed my bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and then my masters in Computer Science.
When I’m not working, I love to do many things such as travel to new states/countries, try new restaurants (big foodie), watch new movies (The Batman was amazing — especially the Riddler), play basketball to no end, and trade stocks (self-plug: I have a few thousand followers on StockTwits!).
Stonks, you say?
A class I took in college inspired this deep interest in stocks and curiosity as to how valuations and different stock-related theories and technicals work. I invest via a 50–50 split based on fundamental analysis of stocks and then technical analysis of charts. Sometimes, I do some day-trading using technical analysis when I have the time, patience, and money to lose. One question that incites my curiosity is this — if everyone is seeing the same pattern/insight, how do some people make money, but others don’t?? 🤔 I could go on and on, but let’s move to the more exciting stuff.
Why did you join Zus?
I joined Zus because it seemed like a fantastic opportunity to solve a problem that has been persisting in healthcare for a long time. A multi-purpose platform is very key to overturning the current infrastructure in healthcare in that it can help reduce the barrier of entry into the healthcare sector for startups and other institutions and ultimately de-silo the system.
I feel strongly that the new wave of platforming is coming. Different sectors are starting to utilize this concept to help the concepts of accessibility, interoperability, and ease of use for consumers and customers. We’ve seen this happen firsthand with the social media sector, (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twilio, etc.), and then the finance sector (Robinhood, Stripe, etc.). Healthcare is next — and Zus now has the opportunity to be a leading driver of this movement.
What are you looking forward to working on this year?
From being a software engineer to learning how to make product decisions to even voicing my opinions on some important company decisions — everything. A lot of unknowns and challenges are ahead, and while it’s nerve wracking, it’s also really exciting.
A few questions I want to tackle this year:
How can we utilize all the different technologies out there to improve our system for a more robust and scalable system?
How can we support multiple entities (builders) on our platform and exchange data in a secure manner?
How can we grow and build for our customers to make it as seamless as possible for them to utilize our platform?
And, most importantly:
Does what we’re building improve the lives of customers and providers?
Given the people I work alongside daily and the motivation of everyone at Zus as a whole, I feel confident that the answer to this question is “yes.”
If you could invite anyone to dinner, who would it be?
Steph Curry. I am a huge basketball fan and enjoy watching and playing the game. I’d love to talk to the guy who I (along with the rest of the world these days) try to mirror my game by. He’s also humble and inspiring. No one thought he would make it — and not only did he make it, he changed it.
Why should others join Zus?
I think people should join Zus if they’re excited to help solve a complicated problem within healthcare, and willing to go the extra distance to do so. There will be a lot of ups and downs, but looking at the bigger picture, the impact you can make at Zus is on a level that cannot be measured by any rubric or standard. It’s about changing an entire industry for the better.
Imagine upending all the fragmentation that makes healthcare so complicated. Imagine helping people access their health information securely, reliably, and conveniently. Imagine giving people total control over their healthcare history, and connecting the information from every provider visit they’ve ever had. If you join Zus, you can be the one who actually brings this healthcare vision into reality. (It’s your choice.)
