Jan 2, 2019 · 21m · a16z

a16z Podcast | Tackling Senior Care with Help from Technology

Seth Sternberg · 9m spoken Sandy Jen · 5m spoken Michael Copeland · 4m spoken

0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of the a16z Podcast, Honor co-founders Seth Sternberg and Sandy Jen discuss how they are leveraging technology and operational innovation to transform in-home senior care. They explore their human-centered approach to caregiver matching, combating elderly isolation, and blending software scalability with deep healthcare expertise.

Chapters · click to jump

2 statements ▾

Sternberg: Honor sets $15 company wage floor, $17 in Bay Area open →

Sternberg: Average senior care provider earnings are $9.50 per hour open →

2 statements ▾

Sternberg: Open marketplaces fail families navigating sudden senior care crises open →

Jen: Care platforms must become domain experts on behalf of families open →

1 statement ▾

Sternberg: Senior care neglects social and emotional needs for physical ones open →

2 statements ▾

Sternberg: Tech will shift from conscious interaction to background appliance-like utility open →

Jen: Honor will avoid invasive monitoring in favor of subtle senior tech open →

1 statement ▾

Sternberg: Profitable business models enable far greater and scalable human impact open →

1 statement ▾

Jen: Senior care and aging are taboo topics largely ignored by society open →

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →

The host as informed peer 1.8 Guest teaching 2.2 Guest disagreement 1.0 The host pushing back 1.3

speaking balance: gold is the host, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

Sharpest disagreement ▶ 12:07 Sandy rejects invasive sensor surveillance

Sandy explicitly rejects the popular industry assumption that tech in senior care means packing homes with sensors, noting seniors do not want to be spied on.

Hardest push from the host ▶ 17:18 Host questions Silicon Valley hubris

The host directly confronts the guests with public skepticism regarding whether tech founders from Silicon Valley have any real business trying to solve senior care.

Biggest teaching moment ▶ 12:07 Educating on senior psychology and autonomy

Sandy educates the host on how existing eldercare tech fails because it focuses purely on physical monitoring while ignoring the senior's desire for agency and privacy.

The host holds their own ▶ 17:18 Host channels industry skepticism

The host demonstrates critical domain awareness by pushing past founder enthusiasm to ask how they answer common industry doubts about tech insiders entering non-tech care sector.

the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each

Topic	The host as informed peer	Guest teaching	Guest disagreement	The host pushing back	Why
Technology as an Enabler for Human Experience	3	3	2	2	The host references Jeff Jordan's marketplace theory and asks if Honor is a three-sided marketplace. Seth politely reframes the premise, explaining that 'marketplace' is a loaded term that users in crisis do not want to wade through.
Community Lessons from Meebo Applied to Senior Care	1	2	0	0	The host asks collaborative questions about learnings from Meebo. The guests explain how focusing on community and social-emotional needs applies directly to senior care.
Rethinking In-Home Technology for Seniors	2	3	2	2	When the host asks if technology in the home means a house bristling with sensors, Sandy pushes back on that industry premise, pointing out that seniors feel spied on and lose autonomy with invasive tech.
Finding Purpose After Success	1	1	0	0	The host asks a standard biographical question about why the founders chose to start another company after selling Meebo. Seth provides a thoughtful monologue on seeking purpose and human impact.
Selecting Senior Care as a Societal Priority	3	3	2	4	The host challenges the guests on why Silicon Valley tech founders think they are equipped to solve senior care. Seth responds by explaining how they intentionally paired their tech background with domain experts from healthcare and home care agencies.
Impact Realized and Pilot Launch Plans	1	1	0	0	The host asks about initial pilot milestones and geographic rollout plans. Seth outlines the pilot details in Contra Costa County in a friendly wrap-up exchange.

Statements from this episode (9)

Prediction Held up

Sternberg: Honor sets $15 company wage floor, $17 in Bay Area

“Their earnings potential right out the gate with honor will be in the Bay area for our pioneers, 17 dollars an hour, and we're creating a floor of 15 dollars for the company.”

Seth Sternberg Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 2:19

Assertion Partly supported

Sternberg: Average senior care provider earnings are $9.50 per hour

“The average Earnings for care providers today are nine 50 an hour.”

Seth Sternberg Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 2:28

Insight

Sternberg: Open marketplaces fail families navigating sudden senior care crises

“Now marketplace is a kind of a loaded term because I actually think that the experience of a user who, you know, whose mom just fell. Is just getting, you know, discharged from the hospital. The last thing they want is to wade into a marketplace and try to fig…”

Seth Sternberg Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 5:16

Insight

Jen: Care platforms must become domain experts on behalf of families

“You're expected, and part of the panic is that you're expected to become a knowledge expert instantaneously when you have no idea what's going on. And so part of our goal is to have Honor be that knowledge expert so that we're taking all of that burden away fr…”

Sandy Jen Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 6:25

Opinion

Sternberg: Senior care neglects social and emotional needs for physical ones

“There's a lot of focus in today's world on the physical needs of a senior, right? Like helping them get out of bed, helping them with, you know, breakfast, but there's not enough focus on the social emotional needs of the senior.”

Seth Sternberg Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 8:11

Prediction Not checkable as stated

Sternberg: Tech will shift from conscious interaction to background appliance-like utility

“I think that's an era that's going to come to a close pretty soon. Right, and I think we're going to go into an era where technology enables experiences, and it's kind of like using a toaster oven or a microwave.”

Seth Sternberg Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 11:09

Prediction Not checkable as stated

Jen: Honor will avoid invasive monitoring in favor of subtle senior tech

“Our strategy is to create something that's not really invasive, but very subtle. They can choose to use it, they can choose not to use it”

Sandy Jen Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 12:56

Insight

Sternberg: Profitable business models enable far greater and scalable human impact

“If we can make humans' lives better by creating a real business around it, you know, then we can make so many more humans' lives better because businesses have this nice thing that they're kind of perpetually in motion and perpetually growing.”

Seth Sternberg Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 15:18

Opinion

Jen: Senior care and aging are taboo topics largely ignored by society

“We don't talk about senior care much in society. We don't, it's generally a very taboo subject. We don't talk about death. We don't talk about things like, oh, you know, my mother can't go to the bathroom by herself anymore. And these are issues that, you know…”

Sandy Jen Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 16:34

a16z Podcast | Tackling Senior Care with Help from Technology

How this conversation actually went

Statements from this episode (9)

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