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.