UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In the 12th episode of Invent Penn State’s “Dare to Disrupt” podcast, Host Ryan Newman interviews Rob Schutz, co-founder of Ro, a direct-to-patient healthcare company providing high-quality, affordable healthcare without the need for insurance. He graduated from Penn State with a degree in Management Information Systems.
As the chief growth officer, Schutz guided Ro’s growth, marketing and communications functions to tell Ro’s story of helping to put patients in control of their health. He applied his extensive experience in consumer marketing to ensure Ro is resonating with patients by directly addressing their healthcare concerns. Under Rob’s leadership, these functions have helped propel Ro into one of the fastest growing companies in the country, achieving unicorn status in 2020, which means it is valued at over $1 billion.
In this episode, Schutz talks about how his experience growing Ro alongside two seasoned co-founders differed from his first entrepreneurial endeavor, as well as about how Ro had a part in setting the standard business model for vertically integrated online healthcare.
Listen to this interview to learn more about Rob Schutz’s journey.
At the end of each Dare to Disrupt episode, a current Penn State student is given the opportunity to speak with the successful Penn State alum and ask questions specific to the student’s startup and career goals. In Episode 12, Emily Snow, a 4th year honors student studying biomedical engineering on the premedical track, joins the conversation. Through Penn State’s Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) program, Snow helped develop a technological solution for literacy education in Kenya. Snow talks to Schutz about the trends and future of healthcare, as well as how the Ro platform benefits not just patients but also providers.
Students can apply or be nominated to be on the show here.
About Dare to Disrupt
Dare to Disrupt is a podcast from Invent Penn State about Penn State alumni who are innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders, and the stories behind their success. The podcast is hosted by alumnus Ryan Newman, a graduate of the Smeal College of Business and a Schreyer Scholar alumnus who is now a managing director at Goldman Sachs.
Past episodes of Dare to Disrupt include interviews with Matt Brezina, David Rusenko and Jess Weiner.
New episodes of Dare to Disrupt release monthly. Learn more at invent.psu.edu/dare-to-disrupt and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Play.
Invent Penn State is a commonwealth-wide initiative to spur economic development, job creation and student career success.