fnGlobal Keynote & Roundtables with Twistle Co-Founder Dave Ross ($104.5M Acquisition) (June 21, 2023)

Dave Ross' foray into the startup world was inspired by his 10-year tenure in the healthcare and academic health sciences industry in upstate New York. After growing up in a physician family, he was looking for an opportunity to combine his familiarity with the healthcare space and interest in using technology for good.

An opportunity arose when Dave was ready for a change of pace in his life. He took a leap of faith and made a move from New York to Seattle to join the early startup team at Twistle.

Twistle was a healthcare technology startup company that aimed to improve patient engagement and health outcomes by facilitating communication between healthcare providers and patients. After nearly a decade of work building the platform, it was acquired by Health Catalyst in 2021.

In a global keynote for Founders Network on June 21, Dave will share how the Twistle team grew their HIPAA-compliant multi-channel communication platform to achieve the $104.5 million dollar acquisition. During the talk he will also cover:

• How to make your funding pitch the best it can be
• The importance and tricks behind operational excellence
• How to understand and sharpen your value proposition
• The ‘cartel leadership rules’ that define your path to success or failure
• The value of giving back with your time, money, and resources

Opening Remarks @ 9:30am PT

Join us for opening remarks with Dina Fattom, Member Success Manager at Founders Network, to get the latest updates from the Network and opportunities for getting involved.

Keynote Speaker @ 9:40am PT

Dave Ross joined Health Catalyst in 2021 as part of the Twistle acquisition. He was previously the Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of Twistle, leading all product development and engineering activities for over ten years prior to its acquisition.

Before starting Twistle, Dave was the Director of Information Systems at Albany Medical Center in New York. He has built and led software development initiatives across healthcare and educational technology sectors and is passionate about finding the perfect intersection between engineering excellence and delivering business value.

Dave holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems from SUNY Empire State College.

Stage-Based Roundtables @ 10:30 am PT

Community Partners:

Jeff Erickson

Jeff leads the Partnerships Team at Forecastr — a leading FP&A software company that helps startups create kick-butt financial models to impress investors, confidently raise capital, and effectively run their businesses better.

Jeff serves on the advisory boards of several startup companies and is an active angel investor. He's passionate about startups and enjoys working with founders and mentoring entrepreneurs.

Jeff is an experienced entrepreneur and was the founder and CEO of a successful consumer goods company that he rapidly grew from $1M in sales its first year to over $40M in annual revenue in its fourth year of operations and was ranked #138 on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies.

Prior to founding his own company, Jeff was a partner at Beanstalk Partners where he led the sales and business development activities. He also served as the National Sales Director for a venture-backed tech startup where he generated over $45M in client contracts and developed the company’s channel partner program.

Jeff has a degree in accounting and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Utah. After receiving his MBA in Finance from the University of Utah he served as the Vice President of Investments for Sentry Financial Corporation.

Cathy Keeler

Cathy is the Managing Partner at FullScope Growth, a global consortium of elite Fractional Executives and Business Acceleration Partners that provide the exact combination of experts that organizations require.

She has cross-functional experience in sales, management, marketing and business planning, client services, network development and operations. Delivers strong results within highly competitive markets.

Guests Are Welcome!

Please bring a guest! Every member can bring one (1) guest to each event. Each guest must be a full-time tech startup founder so they can bring new perspectives, skillsets, and experience to your chapter.

All guests must be full-time tech startup founders and you can register them directly on this function page. See How to Register a Guest here.

Confidentiality Reminder

All information shared within Founders Network is strictly confidential. We are built on a foundation of trust, and the community takes confidentiality seriously. Investors, members, and staff all share experiences and opinions off the record. In this roundtable forum, we continue to model our fnValues of Reciprocity, Humility, Authenticity and Inclusivity.