The Modern Retail Podcast

‘An experience that’s bad, or at least a little weird’: Alto Pharmacy’s Matt Gamache-Asselin on why he entered the space


Listen Later

Healthcare and insurance aren’t the sexiest areas, but they are both ripe for disruption.

That’s why Matt Gamache-Asselin, co-founder and CEO of Alto Pharmacy, decided to enter the space, as he said on the Modern Retail Podcast. The five-year-old company has raised over $350 million thus far and has been building digital pharmacy to compete with the likes of CVS and Walgreens.

Pharmacies are a big umbrella to tackle. Gamache-Asselin estimated the entire industry to be worth half a trillion dollars. For him and his co-founder, the idea was to first and foremost fix one very big problem: health insurance. Rather than selling over-the-counter prescriptions or charging a concierge fee for healthcare services, Alto is quite simply an online pharmacy that works directly with insurance companies. He described going to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription as “an experience I think everyone would agree is bad -- if not at least kind of weird.”

To figure out how to go about it, Alto bought a small pharmacy in the Bay Area and to understand the industry. He learned “how different operationally [pharmacies are] from retail,” he said. From there, the company launched its digital platform -- which is now available in five major U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle.

On the program, Gamache-Asselin spoke about the overall pharmacy industry, and why he believes there’s so much room for improvement. He’s even excited about the big dogs coming in. “What I’m most excited about is the new entrants into the space,” he said, “especially a company like Amazon.” Why? In his words: “It can be a bit of a wedge to drive change -- which is clearly sorely needed.”

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Modern Retail PodcastBy Digiday

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

76 ratings


More shows like The Modern Retail Podcast

View all
Shopify Masters by Shopify

Shopify Masters

379 Listeners

The Digiday Podcast by Digiday

The Digiday Podcast

104 Listeners

Digiday Live by Digiday

Digiday Live

7 Listeners

How I Built This with Guy Raz by Guy Raz | Wondery

How I Built This with Guy Raz

30,231 Listeners

The Glossy Podcast by Glossy

The Glossy Podcast

256 Listeners

The Business of Fashion Podcast by The Business of Fashion

The Business of Fashion Podcast

578 Listeners

9 to 5ish with theSkimm by theSkimm

9 to 5ish with theSkimm

1,872 Listeners

Second Life by Second Life

Second Life

2,856 Listeners

Career Contessa by Career Contessa

Career Contessa

476 Listeners

RETHINK RETAIL by RETHINK Retail

RETHINK RETAIL

51 Listeners

The CMO Podcast by vYve & Jim Stengel

The CMO Podcast

349 Listeners

Morning Brew Daily by Morning Brew

Morning Brew Daily

3,000 Listeners

The Hustle Daily Show by Hubspot Media

The Hustle Daily Show

235 Listeners

The Debrief by The Business of Fashion

The Debrief

44 Listeners

OPERATORS by OPERATORS

OPERATORS

48 Listeners

Fashion People by Audacy | Puck

Fashion People

227 Listeners

Everybody's Business by Bloomberg and iHeartPodcasts

Everybody's Business

92 Listeners