Stanley Vashovsky is an established presence in the New York entrepreneurial community who cofounded DocGo in 2016 and led the company as CEO until 2023. Combining his understanding of healthcare technology with his experience as a volunteer paramedic, he built a company that deployed a fleet of technology-enabled eco-friendly ambulances, launched a mobile healthcare service offering, and went public on Nasdaq with the ticker symbol DCGO. His company was responsible for training thousands of medical professionals, and it grew to provide services in 26 US states and in the United Kingdom.
The company Stanley “Stan” Vashovsky founded now combines proprietary technology and skilled clinicians to deliver cost-effective population health programs to government agencies, efficient medical transportation solutions for hospitals, and mobile health care for their insurance payer partners. The result is seamless care at locations where patients live, underpinned by a real-time delivery model that emphasizes transparency and security.
Stan Vashovsky is a healthtech pioneer who launched his first company – Medcare – in 1992. Geared toward regulatory compliance, his enterprise created transformative solutions for medical equipment servicing and software development. After Philips Healthcare acquired his company in 2001, he became Philips’ youngest ever vice president, where he continued to drive innovation in healthcare technology.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
I wake up early, exercise, read the news, and try to head out to the office between 7:30-8 am. In my younger years, putting in a 12-hour day was the norm. These days, I average 10 hours per day during the week and few hours on the weekends.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I focus on the practical instead of the theoretical. Instead of concepts, I prefer tangible ideas that solve a real problem. An issue I have encountered or observed in my own life – something I can improve that will benefit me and others. I’m less interested in daydreaming or brainstorming concepts to fix an abstract problem that might not be an issue in the first place.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Automation has always excited me, and AI opens up a new world of ideas and possibilities for machines to learn instead of just operate. I think autonomous vehicles – both for personal use and medical for medical use – represent a tremendous area of growth.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Trying to filter out noise and focus on what is truly important. I’ve observed that many CEOs spend a good portion of their day dealing with items that don’t help grow the business. My attitude has always been to surround myself with talented managers and let them deal with the day-to-day items so that I can focus on high-leverage, strategic functions that truly drive a business forward.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Work longer hours, work harder, and look to work directly under older, smarter professionals who I can learn from. I started my first business at 19 years old, and I wound up learning from making mistakes as I grew that business. I think it’s important to have the maturity to realize that older folks have the wisdom of experience and there is a lot to be learned from working for them.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
I’m a huge believer in that you have to pay your dues. To me, this means putting in the time to do the work – regardless of how old you are or how much experience you have. For example, if a competitor of mine is visiting with 10 different customers, I need to visit 20 customers. I’ve heard it said that it’s important to work smarter than it is to work harder. That’s not true – you need to do both to be successful – work harder AND work smarter.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Work hard, at the office, with others. Get out of your comfort zone, take chances, and get comfortable with taking risks. There’s nothing wrong with failure – what’s worse is never trying.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
The best thing I’ve found is to fight through it. Every day brings new challenges that have the potential to feel overwhelming. When faced with many tasks, I make a list and work through it one item at a time. There is no magic pill or trick here. The answer is hard work and renewed focus – applying myself beyond a point where many others would give up.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
I have always looked to hire people who are smarter than me. I surround myself with really smart people, establish trust with them, and then don’t micromanage them in their tasks. This allows them to work at the top of their abilities and frees me up to focus on things that truly propel a business forward.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
This is a hard question for me to answer because I don’t think in terms of failure. One thing that I’ve learned from general business observation is the mindset of borrowing money and incurring debt to grow a business without making a profit – with the hope of figuring this out at some future point – is a terrible idea. I have always focused on running companies debt-free and making a profit as soon as possible.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
I think the industry is poised for a step change around adoption of autonomous vehicles for a wide range of uses – from consumers to businesses and in the medical field as well. I think it is a matter of time before legislators approve this – you’re already seeing autonomous vehicle pilots in certain parts of the country. I believe that the use of AI within this sector will help turbocharge the transformation and adoption of this technology.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
My iPhone has become indispensable. I can stay connected to everything that is important to me 24/7. Additionally, it places 95% of what I need in the palm of my hand – to the point that I rarely use a computer these days. Smartphones have been a game changer for me.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
I love reading biographies. Recent reads include Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk. Reading about successful people gives me additional insight into my own life’s journey – I can empathize with the struggles they faced on their paths.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
Yellowstone. I love the series, the depictions of nature, the old-world way of living life in a simpler time. It’s so much different than my experience growing up in a city. I really enjoyed it.
Key learnings
- Waking early and having a daily regimen of exercise is an important way to start the day.
- Success is born of hard work and focusing on items that truly matter.
- Surround yourself with people that are smarter than you are, build trust, and empower them to lead.
- Working from the office, collaborating with others in real-time, is the real way to build a company culture and create success.
- Be the first person at the office and the last one to leave – work with people who are as passionate as you are and be of service to them.