<p>Most companies optimize for profit. Devoted Health was built to serve people.</p><p>In this episode of <em>The Eric Ries Show</em>, I sit down with Todd Park, co-founder of Devoted Health and former U.S. Chief Technology Officer, to explore what it looks like to design a company for human flourishing at scale.</p><p>Todd shares how Devoted earned one of the highest trust scores in the industry and how he and his brother, Ed, built a business that treats every member like family. We talk about what it takes to operationalize love inside a system as complex as healthcare and how Devoted never saw any problem as outside its mission. </p><p>In our conversation today, we talk about: </p><p>• What it means to have love as an operational framework </p><p>• How Devoted’s unambiguous mission became a superpower for alignment and trust</p><p>• The formula Todd uses to define what world-class healthcare really means</p><p>• Why Todd believes hard problems belong inside the company’s mission, not outside it</p><p>• The role of trust as both Devoted’s core metric and its greatest moat</p><p>•  Lessons from Howard Schultz on scaling culture </p><p>• What it takes to design an ecosystem where business, technology, and community all serve the same goal</p><p>• And more</p><p>—</p><p><strong>Where to find Todd Park:</strong></p><p>• LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-park-3232573" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-park-3232573</a></p><p>• X: <a href="https://x.com/Todd_Park44" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://x.com/Todd_Park44</a> </p><p>—</p><p><strong>Where to find Eric:</strong></p><p>• Newsletter:<a href="https://ericries.carrd.co/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericries.carrd.co/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> </p><p>• Podcast:<a href="https://ericriesshow.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> </p><p>• YouTube:<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@theericriesshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> </p><p>—</p><p><strong>In This Episode We Cover:</strong></p><p>(00:00) Intro</p><p>(03:04) How Todd turned Devoted Health’s founding vision into a full-stack healthcare system</p><p>(13:09) How Devoted’s virtuous performance cycle turns love into trust in action</p><p>(20:51) Guide: the guardian angels who embody Devoted’s mission</p><p>(29:21) How loyalty drives Devoted’s word-of-mouth growth</p><p>(31:02) Why Devoted’s marketing materials don’t mention love</p><p>(32:27) Harder is easier: Why Devoted built a full-stack healthcare system </p><p>(37:54) The four powers ‘harder is easier’ unlocks</p><p>(46:57) The case for radical transparency with your investors</p><p>(51:20) The elements of alignment and the power they unlock </p><p>(55:13) Howard Schultz’s advice for scaling culture </p><p>(1:05:23) A story from Starbucks about creating culture</p><p>(1:06:50) How Devoted addresses different determinants of health through separate entities</p><p>(1:13:00) Inside Devoted’s Elders Councils </p><p>(1:19:43) Building mission protection into Devoted’s DNA through founder control</p><p>(1:25:55) Final thoughts from Eric and Todd</p><p>—</p><p>You can find episode references at <a href="⁠https://www.ericriesshow.com/⁠" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.ericriesshow.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p><p>—</p><p>Production and marketing by <a href="https://penname.co/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pen Name⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a>.</p><p>Eric may be an investor in the companies discussed.</p>