Event in NYC TONIGHT 6-9:30 PM
The ART of emPOWERment
Hello Healthcare Innovation Enthusiasts, Activists, Creators, Innovators, Adopters, Investors, and Friends,
We hope all is well and would love to see you tonight in NYC or at Cinderblocks
In our second investor-focused event in two weeks, tonight we will be having an event at an Art Gallery on little west 12th in Meatpacking. This is in the run-up to our first closing of our third fund, scheduled for our mother's birthday on the 16th. So you will see more events, more websites, more contests coming soon. Stay tuned!
As you know, our industry is abuzz with the MFN status on drug pricing, just the latest in many controversial moves in healthcare governance. The good news is that Pharma stocks went up yesterday and are doing ok today, which just goes to show, public markets are kinda unpredictable. We have found this is less the case for startups, because if the crowd likes a newco, their probability of growth over the next 15 months is much higher - this is the basis of our fund model and performance and unlike the guys from a16z, we do think early-stage can be derisked well after seeing the likes of Medable, UniteUs and even Amy Gleason's Caresync get found and funded at our events, on our websites and in our contests. That is because YOU, my dear reader, are part of a massive crowd that cares about healthcare innovation, over 250,000 people globally that are somehow involved in our events, contests, websites and more. So thank you, your support, attention and input is valued and has helped many companies move forward faster. Everything feeds our predictive algorithms that seem to work.*
We have two events we are involved with in the next seven days.
TONIGHT, 5/13, Tuesday, NYC
6-10 PM, NYC
$30, discounts available for friends of MedStartr, Free for Investors, Patient Activists, and Mental Health Innovators
This new format is somewhere between a cocktail party and TED talks, with inspirational Art, Poetry, Film, Mental Health Activism, great food, great people, good music, and interesting beverages from our sponsors. Here is the write up from the site. Get tickets here.
Join us for the seminal event of the Art of emPOWERment six event series. We will have a gathering where art, healthcare, media, government, tech, finance, and community come together to spark new ideas, elevate voices and explore the future of care, technology, and art with the goal of empowering all through Connection, Collaboration, Creation and Inspiration.
Since 2009 our community has supported artists like Regina Holliday (#TheWalkingGallery) because in art, there is the power to move people, to change the way they think and to imagine a better way - and that's what this community is all about.
Limited spots are available here as the main registration page, and most attendees are members of the new POWER Women Community, which we helped found this year with Sarah Pustilnik, who conceived of this idea and event series. This is the first one they are doing, and we are helping them get launched, as we have with so many other communities, companies, non-profits, and accelerators.
The agenda for the evening includes three POWER talks, a new inspiration in a 3-minute format, a film preview, Espresso Martinis and more!. The rest of the time is to Connect, Collaborate, and emPOWER all.
Start | End | Description
| ---- | ---- | -------------------------------- |
| 6:00 | 6:30 | Meet Greet and Tweet #POWERtalks |
| 6:30 | 6:50 | Welcome and Introductions by Hosts Melody Angeles, Sarah Pustilnik, and two Alexes (Smetsky and Fair) |
| 6:50 | 6:55 | emPOWERment Talk: Truth to Power by Alex Fair, MedStartr Capital @alexbfair, @MedStartr |
| 6:55 | 7:25 | Connect: Eat, Drink, Meet, Chat and connect to your emPOWERED peers |
| 7:25 | 7:30 | emPOWERment Talk: Art Expanded by Melody Angeles, We Art NY |
| 7:30 | 7:40 | A short film by Emmy Award winners Ferris Wheel Jay & Santana @FerrisWheelJay |
| 8:00 | 8:05 | Collaborate: More time to meet, discuss and plan emPOWER plays |
| 8:30 | 8:35 | emPOWERment Talk: POWER Women by Sarah Pustilnik, Power Women Collective @SarahPustilnik |
| 8:35 | 8:55 | Create the Future: Make your POWER plan together |
| 8:55 | 9:00 | Wrap Up, Thank yous and the CTA |
This is an upscale event at an art gallery, much higher-end than we usually do. Includes great food and beverages (alternative and open bar) from our sponsors, please visit their sites:
Gallery 23, Venue, Bartending, open bar!
Find Wunder: DITCH THE BOOZE, KEEP THE BUZZ beverages
Anti: The first beverage designed to prevent hangovers
Purity Distillery: The Martini in the Espresso Martinis!
Gelso & Grand: Amazing Food!
Have a Nice Day: The Coffee in the Espresso Martinis!
Home Office Technologies: Event Staffing, Tech Production
Distilled Science: Livestreaming and Videography
We could not do these events without all this amazing support from this community that cares, so thank you all.
This could be our most Fabulous event ever!
Join Us!
Register Here: https://www.meetup.com/health20nyc/events/307777572
Next Week
Cinderblocks 2025, May 19-20, coming to Somerset, PA
Regina Holiday's Patient Activist Conference
Cinderblocks is back! This year it will be held at the campus of Trinity Lutheran Church. There is a hiking trail, outside pavilion, and an indoor hall with a stage. We hope to see you there!
For over a decade, this event has united patients, medical professionals, people of faith, advocates, and community organizers. They gather and tell their stories to incite positive change. This meeting is also the annual gathering of the Walking Gallery. This year it is hosted on the campus of Trinity Lutheran Church. There are places to tent camp onsite. There are also motels close by. Some people will be car-pooling from Grantsville, MD and may end up staying at the Casselman Hotel.
Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cinderblocks-2025-tickets-1253959479559?aff=oddtdtcreator
Here is the program (note, I'm giving a talk at 1:30 on Day 1)
We thank Sponsor: Learning Health Community
Conference Day 1, Monday May 19, 2025
8:00 am Breakfast
9:00 am Opening remarks by Regina Holliday, conference planner and founder of the Walking Gallery of Healthcare.
9:30 am Ben Merrion: Libraries Under Attack
10:00am Josh Rubin, Program Officer for Learning Health System Initiatives at University of Michigan Medical School
10:30 am Jan Oldenburg: The benefits of challenging yourself to do something (That you can’t do perfectly)
11:00 am Nature Walk on the Trinity Hiking Trail led by Jack Illar
Noon Lunch
1:00 pm Pamela Dornburg on the healing art of massage.
1:30 pm Alex B. Fair: the Art of being annoying: Impact Capitalism in healthcare.
2:00 pm Len Shindel: The Strike That Changed Maryland’s Wilderness County
3:00 pm Art project working on Walking Gallery jackets with attendees of all ages. We will go out to the pavilion and create art in the great outdoors.
4:30 Art as Activism: a conversation in the round.
5pm Supper in Fellowship hall.
6pm Cancer and caring: A conversation in the Round.
7:30 pm Walking Gallery Picture taken
8pm Fire dancer Aaron Smith will perform.
Conference Day 2, Tuesday May 20, 2025
8:00am Breakfast
9:00 am Opening remarks are by Regina Holliday, conference planner and founder of the Walking Gallery of Healthcare.
10:00 am Shannon Shine
11:00am Rebecca Parslow on Reiki, Community Organizing and Volunteerism
Noon Lunch
1:00pm Chaplaincy in practice and action a conversation in the round.
2:00pm Panel Presentation: Autism and Special Needs in Society.
3:00-4:00 Summing things up and making plans for next year.
Looking forward to seeing everyone more, great seeing folks at our event last week and for NYC HIW!
If you have news to share, as always please send it to news@medstartr.com.
Thanks for all you do for healthcare innovation!
Warm Regards,
Alex Fair
MedStartr.nyc (Formerly Health 2.0 NYC)
MedStartr.vc - investing in rapidly-growing crowd-validated healthcare startups
You can join us on social media too: @alexbfair @MedStartr | Linkedin for Alex | Join MedStartr on Facebook here
p.s. Our first in a family of funds based on stage and risk is opening in May. Please book a time to discuss how you can be involved.
Note: This is not a solicitation to buy or sell securities. All investing bears risk and all investors should be prepared to lose their entire investment. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Investing in MedStartr Venture Funds is only for accredited investors. Please review all investment opportunities with your trusted and licensed investment adviser.