[Music by C. Ezra Lange]

David Burda: Hello everyone. This is Dave Burda, news editor at 4sight Health. Welcome to 4sight Health's, how Healthcare Revolutionaries Think Podcast, where we get inside the heads of people trying to change the current healthcare system. Our guest on today's show is Marcus Whitney. Whitney is the founder and managing partner of Jumpstart Nova. Jumpstart. Nova is a Nashville-based venture capital fund that invests in Black-founded and owned healthcare startup companies. I interviewed Whitney as part of our How Healthcare Revolutionaries Think series, and we talked about why taking a job in the service industry as a young adult may be the best training for a future healthcare entrepreneur. 

Hey, Marcus.
Marcus Whitney:
Hey, how's it going, David?
David Burda:
Good, good. Nice to see you in person.
Marcus Whitney:
Good to see you as well.
David Burda:
Thanks for making time for me today.
Now, we've all had different jobs. And I read that you were a waiter. My first job, I was a caddy when I was 12, and that particular job taught me so much about people and general... It was at a private country club, and the members were, well, pretty wealthy, and if they hit a golf ball into a pond or a creek, I would've to take off my shoes and socks and go get it. And at that time, a golf ball was worth about 25 cents. And it was just such an interesting lesson on so many levels. I'm just curious, you were a waiter. Is there anything that you learned there that you apply now in your work or influenced how you think about healthcare or any other jobs non-healthcare related that you made a connection?
Marcus Whitney:
Absolutely. The importance of communicating to people and making sure that they feel heard and seen and paid attention to. And just the importance of being personable. I mean, that has been so incredibly valuable throughout my career. And that's something that was fundamental to waiting tables. It's just being personable to new people that you meet. You've never met this person before. You walk up with a smile and you ask them how they're doing, how their day is, and just basic things that really, really go a long way. The importance of a great first impression.
And then the importance of delivering. Delivering value, and guaranteeing that they have a great association with the restaurant, and ultimately that's going to be a byproduct of the way that they feel based on how you serve them and how good the food is. And then inevitably, when something goes wrong, because something will go wrong, how you address it. How do you take care of things when they don't go well, because they're not going to go well every time. That's just how it is. And so that sort of set of fundamental, foundational lessons. And what I love about waiting tables is that the response of everything is immediate. It's going to be left on the table when they leave.
David Burda:
Right. Right. Right.
Marcus Whitney:
And even there, there's a little lesson, which is you can do everything and sometimes not going to make much.
David Burda:
Right. That's right.
Marcus Whitney:
And you've got to pick yourself up and still go do it again for the next table. You cannot take that out on the next table.
David Burda:
Right. Right. That's interesting.
Marcus Whitney:
There's a lot of great fundamental lessons in life. And my youngest son, I could just tell he was missing some of these lessons, and I made him wait tables, not this summer we're in now, but last summer I watched him grow. I watched him grow a lot. I think people should work in the service industry. I think it's important.
David Burda:
No. No, that's really true. Do you think you were a good waiter? Were you the best waiter at your restaurant?
Marcus Whitney:
I was very, very good. I was very, very good. Now, I'm removed enough from the hospitality industry today that I can't claim to understand how it works today. When I was working in it, there were people who were career servers and they made a living and bought homes and did all that kind of stuff from serving at the same... They were an institution at whatever sort of restaurant they were at.
And so they kind of set the bar. And they also... Here's the deal. They wanted you to do well because you would reflect on the restaurant, which would impact them, so they would kind of keep you in line. I remember that being a big thing. And nowadays, I think there's so many spots opening and closing, that that institutional nature is harder to come by. A lot of teams can be fresh, and there's not necessarily the old guard that's there to sort of hold the line and keep people. I don't think any place that I worked, I was the best, but I was among the best everywhere that I worked. I was always among the best.
David Burda:
Yeah. Well, that's a great point in terms of learning the skills that really translate well into business. I mean, we all have those experiences. In fact, we had a rental van moving one of my kids back and forth to school, and there was a little problem with the reservation, and this one person, she had to be 22, 23, she was all over it. Just all over, "Yes, Mr. Berta, come to this location. We will get you this van from this location. It'll be there waiting for you. It'll be..." I even sent her a note afterwards saying, "It's kind of corny being an old guy, but it's so refreshing to see a young person embrace what most people would hate for a job." And you could tell, and she's like, "Wow, thank you very much." But it really is true in those translates so well into what... And do you pick that up with, when you're thinking about companies to invest in, do you see that... I guess I'm asking, can you tell people who work as a waiter and people who didn't work as a waiter?
Marcus Whitney:
I really can't. I mean, I would imagine maybe that's something I should consider adding into my diligence just because it matters so much to me. But really what I find is it takes working with someone to really get to know them. You can do as much diligence as you want, but people are in those limited interactions where you're not really faced with the fire of the real world. It's hard to really, really tell. It's hard to really, really tell.

Marcus, this has been great, so I really appreciate your time.

Thank you, David. It's been a really fun conversation. Great questions, really fun conversation.

Thanks, Marcus. Take care now.
Marcus Whitney:
Have a great rest of the day.
David Burda:
You too. Bye-bye.
Marcus Whitney:
Bye-bye.

If you'd like to learn more about how Marcus Whitney thinks, please read our Q&A with him on 4sight health.com. Thanks for listening. I'm Dave Burda for 4sight Health. 


[Music by C. Ezra Lange]