#280 - How biosensors offer greater accessibility for our mission to reverse the metabolic health crisis | Dom D’Agostino, PhD, and Ben Grynol

In the fall of 2019, the Levels team continued building the infrastructure needed to move the company into Beta. One of the requirements of being able to distribute CGMs to people was having a network of physicians and a distribution network of cloud-based pharmacies. With enough grit, the team was finally able to get a meeting with Truepill, and this ended up being a catalyst for getting the first orders shipped. Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: https://levels.link/wnl Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health. Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health. (04:07) - Building a foundation of content (05:40) - Bringing Casey on full-time (08:22) - An impromptu pitch in San Francisco (09:38) - Landing Truepill (12:35) - Fulfilling the first orders (13:56) - A very manual onboarding process (15:19) - Tackling the problem of CGM sensors (19:41) - Giving the Levels CGM a futuristic look (21:49) - Magic moments with the first devices (23:18) - Starting to build the product Transcripts & Show Notes

17 Touko 202125min

In the summer of 2019, things started moving forward for Josh & Sam, as the two of them got traction with Levels. The company was no longer called Frontier Biometric, and both investors and friends alike were keeping an eye on what they were working on. It didn't take long before things started moving with velocity. Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: https://levels.link/wnl Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health. Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health. (05:04) - The Levels team finds another founder (10:02) - The surreal feeling of gaining momentum (13:50) - Organizing the greatest minds they knew (16:14) - Digging into the data (17:31) - A weekend full of potential (19:42) - Putting the cart before the horse (22:26) - The pieces fall into place (25:43) - Selling an idea (26:29) - Now we had deliverables (29:51) - A medical professional to challenge the status quo (30:26) - The fifth founder: Dr. Casey Means Transcripts & Show Notes

10 Touko 202133min

In April of 2019, Josh turned 30 and was about to move on from Frontier Biometric. At that point, he had been working on the project for more than a year and had exhausted all channels to get traction. Shortly after his birthday, he got a call from Sam Corcos and they started catching up – the conversation ended up being a catalyst in moving the company forward. Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: https://levels.link/wnl Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health. Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health. (06:07) - Honing the Levels pitch (10:00) - The importance of asking all the right questions (12:47) - Diving into the research (19:42) - The juice cart story (20:38) - Josh’s unexpected blood sugar spike (21:44) - A real-life example of CGM in action (23:00) - Investing in Sam Corcos (25:43) - Forward work (26:21) - Creating a partnership (31:57) - The benefit of complementary areas of expertise (35:23) - How Levels got its name Transcripts & Show Notes

3 Touko 202142min

By mid-2018, Josh was all in on Maple Biometrics. But, he started to feel disenfranchised by the rejection he faced in bringing Continuous Glucose Monitoring to the mass market. It wasn't until there was a serendipitous encounter on a road trip from Los Angeles to Philadelphia that ended up changing the course of the company. Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: https://levels.link/wnl Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health. Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health. (03:04) - How do you sell to someone who doesn’t know they have a problem? (03:52) - The need for a clear value-add and maximized distribution (05:58) - The decision to focus on non-invasive hardware (09:50) - The road trip that crossed paths with Sam Corcos (13:06) - Trying to partner with a physician organization (14:38) - An eventful 30th birthday Transcripts & Show Notes

26 Huhti 202115min

After graduating from college, Josh Clemente, Founder of Levels, found himself selling used cars while he held out for his dream job – an opportunity to work at Tesla. Although Tesla didn't work out, someone suggested that Josh apply to SpaceX and this changed the course of his career. Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: https://levels.link/wnl Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health. Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health. (06:12) - How Josh’s father provided a career role model (09:05) -  Catching attention with a killer capstone project (21:16) - The journey to SpaceX (25:13) - What happens when you take work to the limit (27:04) - Leaving SpaceX to explore new ideas (34:14) - The scientific paper that inspired Josh’s obsession with metabolism (40:34) - Feeling frustration when denied access to a CGM (44:15) - How a CGM provided a lightbulb moment (47:53) - Building out the original business plan Transcripts & Show Notes

13 Huhti 202149min

Welcome to Levels. Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: https://levels.link/wnl Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health. Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health. (00:33) - An MVP approach to making a podcast (01:45) - A rotating cast of characters and experts (02:32) - Topics A Whole New Level will cover Transcripts & Show Notes Become a Levels Member – https://levels.link/wnl⁠ Learn about Metabolic Health – levelshealth.com/blog Follow Levels on Social – @Levels on Instagram and Twitter

13 Huhti 20213min