Dr. Steven Lee grew up in Toronto - his dad worked a multitude of jobs including in the auto industry, his mom was a highly supportive parent. He became interested in science in middle school which led to studying it at the University of Waterloo, and ultimately to attending the Illinois College of Optometry.
A self-described “nerdy gadget guy,” he quickly became interested in disruptive technology that might support patients. After dabbling with a software buildup, in 2012 he co-founded the company, Opternative, that eventually became quite controversial for its direct-to-patient care approach. His entrepreneurial journey followed an incredible path that is worthwhile to understand, because he was focused on supporting the doctor and patient together.
While he spent some of his career being dogged by opinions about the intent behind his entrepreneurial efforts, Dr. Lee is a sincere OD whose many stories are immensely interesting. Today he is involved with Zenni Optical in their digital strategies.
The Stories within the Story include:
1:21 The Influence toward Science Story
2:42 The Toronto Upbringing Story
6:20 The Interest in Optometry Story
9:17 The Early Career Story
9:57 The Opternative Backstory Story
14:52 The Opternative Story
22:46 The Opternative Evolution Story
28:12 The Opternative Controversy Story
31:13 The Opternative Learnings Story
34:42 The Optometry Studyguide Controversy Story
38:19 The Building a Family Story
40:21 The Evolving Businessperson Story
48:27 The Zenni Optical Story
49:53 The Online Optical Scrutiny Story
53:02 The Doctor-Patient Story
56:54 The Entrepreneur Story
58:48 The Patient-Facing Technology Story
1:02:52 The Prospect (or not) of AI Story
1:07:39 The Benevolence Story
1:09:33 The Future of Optometry Story
Runtime: 1 hr 12 min
Check it out:
YouTube video podcast: https://youtu.be/WLFoceJ64iU
Audio Podcast Apps: search for "Sandbox Stories" on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon, Pandora and more!
Downloadable Podcast (mp3): https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/yrit6a5apjggbpqq/Sandbox_Story_-_Lee_AUDIO63v1j.mp3
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