His First Company Went Public For $3.5 Billion, Now He’s Reversing Type 2 Diabetes For 100 Million

In this first episode of The Eric Ries Show, I sit down with serial entrepreneur and intrepid explorer, Sami Inkinen. Sami has co-founded two companies: Trulia and Virta Health. After Trulia was acquired by Zillow for $3.5 billion, he rowed from California to Hawaii with his wife, unassisted. What can’t this guy do? Now, he’s on a mission to reverse type 2 diabetes in 100 million people with his latest venture, Virta Health. In this episode, we discuss:

In the interview, we cover:

• How Sami got started as an entrepreneur coming over to America with no experience

• What it was like to IPO during his time at Trulia 

• What he’s learned raising money after a market crash and a zero-interest environment

• The best way he found to get great talent

• Why Virta is a mission-based company disguised as a for-profit company

• What he learned rowing unassisted to Hawaii from California

• Why he says you should create a mission that is both simple and ambitious  

• And so much more

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Where to find Sami Inkinen:

• X: https://twitter.com/samiinkinen 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samiinkinen/ 

• Website: ​​https://www.samiinkinen.com/ 

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Where to find Eric:

• Newsletter: https://ericries.carrd.co/ 

• Podcast: https://ericriesshow.com/ 

• X: https://twitter.com/ericries 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/ 

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow 

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In This Episode We Cover:

(00:00) Welcome to the first episode of the Eric Ries Show

(00:35) Meet our guest Sami Inkinen

(05:20) Sami reflects on Trulia’s IPO

(08:20) How Sami started in entrepreneurship

(11:10) Sami’s founding story for Trulia (acquired by Zillow for $2.5 billion)

(16:40) Why most people never end up starting a business

(18:57) How to find better talent as a founder

(23:15) Sami shares how much money he raised for Zillow and Virta

(25:20) Sami’s lessons on how to get momentum for your startup

(30:30) What changed when Sami took his company public

(38:00) Why Sami decided to start Virta and take on type 2 diabetes 

(41:55) How type 2 diabetes can affect anyone, even a high-performing endurance athlete

(47:36) Sami shares what he tells each founder when they ask for his investment 

(53:20) The importance of defining your mission that is both simple and ambitious 

(57:30) Trust leads to success 

(1:03:07) A mission-based company disguised as a for-profit company  

(1:08:10) How Sami built an economic model built on helping his customers

(1:14:00) More details on how Sami set up Virta’s company structure 

(1:17:08) What is a GLP-1 drug and how Virta is a GLP-1 off-ramp 

(1:24:32) Sami’s approach to leadership 

(1:26:02) Why Finland maximizes human capital better than most

(1:28:00) What are Sami’s thoughts on AI 

(1:30:15) How to become one with your pain

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Referenced: 

• Virta Health: https://www.virtahealth.com/ 

• Virta Health YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VirtaHealth 

• Trulia Acquired By Zillow: https://zillow.mediaroom.com/2014-07-28-Zillow-Announces-Acquisition-of-Trulia-for-3-5-Billion-in-Stock 

• Type 2 Diabetes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_2_diabetes 

• GLP-1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLP-1_receptor_agonist 

• Ozempic: https://www.ozempic.com/ 

• Buddhist Parables Of The Arrow: https://grandrapidstherapygroup.com/second-arrow-of-suffering/ 

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Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.