Livongo: Scaling a Purpose-Driven Organization in Healthcare

When seasoned entrepreneur Glen Tullman founded the chronic health care startup Livongo in 2014, it was personal. His son lived with diabetes, and Tullman knew firsthand how taxing it could be to manage such an unrelenting disease. Livongo set out to empower people with chronic conditions to take control of their health through better behaviors, and in the process save money for themselves, their employers, and healthcare providers. In the years to follow, he and a motivated team of technologists and medical professionals built a purpose-driven organization that in turn created an easy-to-use mobile experience that was medically sound to deliver on that promise. "Members" (the individuals Livongo served) loved the product, and by 2020, Livongo had contracted to provide its services to nearly a third of the Fortune 500, and the company was doubling in size annually and went public. But as Livongo grew, leadership recognized that Members also needed virtual access to medical professionals, or telehealth. After an intensive search, the company confronted a major new opportunity: whether to merge with telehealth behemoth Teladoc, with the prospect of becoming one of the largest digital health companies in history. But despite the strategic appeal, Livongo and Teladoc were very different companies. This divergence raised important questions for Tullman and Livongo's leadership: could Livongo live up to its potential, and retain its distinctive and passionate culture, if it joined with Teladoc?