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The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Over the past decade, the rising cost of insulin epitomized the broader systemic issue of higher healthcare out-of-pocket costs that prevented many Americans from accessing essential care. People with diabetes, who rely on insulin to maintain their health, were routinely priced out of accessing their medicationsforced to choose between filling their prescriptions or paying other bills. As a result, lowering the cost of insulin became a political rallying cry, compelling elected officials and regulators to take action. Given the complexity of the American healthcare system, theres no magic bullet when it comes to reducing insulin pricesor any prescription price for that matter. Patent protections, gaps in targeted affordability regulations, and supply chain issues are just a handful of the network dynamics at play. But, through collaborative efforts by pharma, lawmakers, and other stakeholders, the tide on insulin prices is beginning to turn. New research from GoodRx shows that the average price per insulin unit dropped 42% from 2019 to mid-2024the lowest average in a decade. Notably, it wasnt just one factor that contributed to this significant drop. The Inflation Reduction Act, which began capping costs for Medicare enrollees, was a game changer for millions of Americans. Voluntary manufacturer price cuts and savings programs, as well as increased approvals of biosimilars and generics, also drove big declines in insulin prices. Collectively, these efforts reflect a pivotal shift toward improving accessibility. Most importantly, this illustrates how, when the industry comes together, we can make medications more affordable. Collaboration as a catalyst for change To usher in a new era of affordable medicine, working together across the healthcare ecosystem is essential. Pharmaceutical companies, policymakers, insurance companies, and healthcare systems each hold a critical piece of the solution. While insulin price reductions are a notable victory, out-of-pocket costs for prescription medications continue to trend upward. Since 2014, prescription list prices have grown nearly 40%. Today, fewer medications are covered by insurance, and others are subject to restrictions like step therapy and prior authorizations. These factors contribute to why an estimated 53 million Americans leave their medications at the pharmacy counter every month. The insulin example demonstrates the impact that joint efforts can have in making lasting change, and private partners can play a significant role in driving innovation. At GoodRx, we saw an opportunity to contribute to the solution by partnering with Sanofi in 2023 to offer their most prescribed insulin, Lantus, for only $35 to all Americanswhether they had insurance or not. This happened before the manufacturer implemented its own program for consumers with commercial insurance and within the same coverage year that Medicare enrollees began benefiting from $35 insulin copay caps. Apply the insulin blueprint Though insulin was the starting point, it was only the first step on our path to better support people with diabetes. Since partnering with Sanofi, GoodRx broadened its efforts by launching cash-pay programs with other manufacturers to make essential diabetes medications and devices more affordableespecially for those not covered by insurance or with high out-of-pocket costs. For instance, weve partnered with Dexcom to lower the price of their Dexcom G6 and Dexcom G7 continuous glucose monitors by over $200 per month for consumers with diabetes. Both of these programs have brought savings to thousands of people who used GoodRx to complement insurance shortfalls. Our success with diabetes offers a playbook to tackle affordability challenges for other chronic conditions, such as heart and renal diseases. The groundbreaking medications and technology used to treat and monitor these conditions, especially solutions new to the market, typically come with high price tags that put them out of reach for many people. But it doesnt have to be this way. To prioritize affordability and increase access to lifesaving treatments, there must be a sustained commitment to transparency and accountability from all stakeholders. Policymakers can strengthen and expand consumer-centric legislation while enforcing regulations that ensure companies prioritize the needs of people over profits. Pharmaceutical companies can prioritize the development of innovative treatments to advance patient care while also taking deliberate steps to improve affordability. This includes providing savings programs and supporting the production of biosimilars and generics to ensure broader patient access to lifesaving medication. Charting a path forward At GoodRx, we collaborate with partners across the healthcare industry, from pharmaceutical companies to retail pharmacies and healthcare professionals. These interactions provide an unparalleled vantage point for identifying opportunities to improve transparency and affordability. The journey toward making healthcare more affordable is undeniably complex, but the insulin price reduction serves as a beacon of hope. It underscores how sustained, collaborative efforts and a shared commitment to the public good can improve access to critical medications for those who need them most. The path forward is clear, and it is up to us as industry leaders to follow it. Dorothy Gemmell is chief commercial officer and president, manufacturer solutions at GoodRx.
Category:
E-Commerce
The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. When I was a college student renting an apartment in New York City, I learned firsthand that the rental process was overly complex and inefficient. My friends and I lost out on an apartment we really wanted simply because we couldnt gather the necessary documentation fast enough. That experience stuck with me, and it sparked an ideawhy not electronically store all of the documentation you need to apply for rental housing so its always ready at your fingertips. So I built an app to do just that. Along the way, I began talking to more people on both sides of the rental process, and I realized the issues went beyond just tenants. Understand both sides of the equation As I spoke with more landlords, I realized that they were just as frustrated as tenants, if not more so. I saw that independent landlords, in particular, felt a deep connection to their tenants and wanted them to have a positive experience. Yet, they were forced into a system filled with inefficienciesusing pens, paper, and spreadsheets to manage complex situations, resulting in logistical headaches. Independent landlords told me about pain points they were struggling with: how to collect rent efficiently; how to handle maintenance requests in a timely fashion; how to fill vacant units faster; and how to create a rental experience that makes people want to stay. Meanwhile, the technology available was not cost effective nor purpose-built for them. The existing systems were designed for massive property managers with different issues and budgets. Interacting with renters (and being one myself) revealed that renters value convenience just as much as their landlords. Tenants also struggled with outdated payment systems, maintenance requests getting lost or forgotten, and difficulties communicating with their landlords, making them feel dissatisfied and less likely to renew their leases. They wanted an easy way to pay rent, submit maintenance requests, and stay informed about issues (like property water shutoffs or garbage day changes). Driven by the belief that there had to be a better way, I saw an opportunity to bridge this gap, making the renting process easier for both landlords and tenants. Listening to the needs of both sides was instrumental in turning a personal project into an industry-changing solution. The power of customer feedback (and trust) Since my desire to build a software platform was born from talking to potential product users, it was only natural that listening to customers has been the cornerstone of my product development approach. One of my biggest regrets was waiting too long before sharing the platform with potential customers. I spent over two years building the first version without letting anyone use it because I was convinced it had to be “perfect.” Ive since learned that waiting for a perfect or “customer-ready” product before releasing it is counterproductive. In technology, quick iterations are important. If a technical feature or update can solve 50% of the customers problems, just release it. Helping people sooner is better than waiting until a solution is 95% complete. Plus, customer feedback will help refine and optimize the product along the way. Once we got our product into customers hands, their feedback shaped everything. We learned that some features we thought were essential werent actually necessary, while othersones we hadnt even consideredbecame must-haves. By creating a direct feedback loop, we could pivot quickly, iterate fast, and build a product that truly meets users needs. Both customers and investors are willing to take a leap of faith with you if they feel heard and included in the journey. Weve built a technology platform alongside users, and that collaboration has been invaluable. By staying engaged with our customers, weve ensured that were delivering what they actually need, not just what we think they need. A data-driven, customer-centric approach Once you have a good process to incorporate customer feedback into the development process, adding and analyzing data provides an even higher level of alignment on goals and decision making. Data gives us the “why” behind our choices, creating transparency and understanding within the company. This approach allows us to focus on the “right” thingsgiving customers everything they need, and nothing they dont. As Steve Jobs once said, innovation is actually saying “no” to a thousand good ideas so you can focus on the most important ones, and I believe that wholeheartedly. Starting with your customer lets you focus on the most important ideas, and making data-driven decisions helps you refine those ideas and turn them into real solutions that help real people. Case in point: We added a Credit Boost feature that allowed tenants to report their on-time rent payments to TransUnion to help them build credit and/or boost their credit scores. When analyzing our internal data over the past four years, we learned that landlords are likely to see a 13% jump in on-time rent payments when their tenants use it. So this feature that was originally intended to benefit tenants was also benefiting landlords. Therefore, we added partnerships with Experian and Equifax, becoming the first property management software to enable on-time rent reporting to all three major credit bureaus, and we also made the feature available to landlords so they could purchase it for their tenants as an extra perk or amenity. We used this approach to improve landlords and tenant relationships and lives many times. Some examples: offering autopay to reduce missed rent payments and late fees; providing customizable experiences such as template builders for pre-qualification and application processes; developing accelerated two-day funding for rent payments; and adding state-of-the-art security layers to protect landlord and tenant identities, protecting them against fraud. We are continuously iterating, adapting, and refining the platform to ensure that renting is an easy and enjoyable experience for all. By focusing on these principles, weve created a platform that not only simplifies property management but also improves relationships between landlords and tenants. Investors can dedicate more time to their personal lives while growing their financial success, and renters benefit from a seamless, hassle-free process. Embrace the entrepreneurial mindset Ultimately, Ive learned that success comes from a simple but powerful philosophy: Build only whats needed, listen to the people who use your product, and always look for ways to make things better. By focusing on these principles, weve created a platform that simplifies property management and makes renting a better experience for everyone. Renting shouldn’t be a battleit should be a partnership. And thats the future we continue to build. Ryan Barone is cofounder and CEO of RentRedi.
Category:
E-Commerce
The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. As the number of internet of things (IoT) devices is projected to reach 40 billion by 2030, IoT integration into our daily lives is undeniable. From smart homes to industrial systems, IoT devices offer unprecedented convenience and efficiency. Netgears 2024 IoT Security Landscape report found that IoT devices, including TV sets, smart plugs, routers, and more face frequent attacks, with an average of 10 per device, per day. The rapid adoption of IoT is outpacing the security measures necessary to protect them. The rise of IoT goes beyond smart homes, reaching into critical sectors like healthcare, utilities, and transportation, where the stakes are far higher. A security breach in these areas could lead to devastating outcomes, from personal data theft to operational disruptions in essential operations. To fully realize IoTs potential, it is crucial to rethink device security, establish stronger standards, and foster a security-first culture that aims to protect the systems driving our future. The explosion of IoTand its security gaps The rise of IoT has been transformative. What began as simple, smart devices in homes has expanded into a vast, interconnected ecosystem that touches nearly every industry such as agriculture, healthcare, transportation, and manufacturing. IoT devices now power real-time decision making, automate complex systems and optimize operations at a global scale. However, significant security gaps threaten to undermine these benefits. Many IoT devices lack fundamental protections like encryption, regular firmware updates, and secure boot processes. The issue is compounded by the sheer volume of devices now deployedeach a potential entry point for attackers. In many cases, once an IoT device is compromised, it can serve as a gateway to more critical systems, creating a ripple effect of vulnerabilities across entire networks. Key risks include default security settings, limited processing power and memory, and the lack of standardized security protocols across the IoT ecosystem. These gaps allow attackers to exploit devices to access sensitive data, disrupt essential services, or breach larger, more critical networks, putting the integrity of entire systems at risk. The role of users and manufacturers in IoT security IoT security is a shared responsibility between users and manufacturers, who play crucial roles in safeguarding devices from cyber threats. Manufacturers are primarily responsible for designing and developing secure devices, but they sometimes need to prioritize time-to-market over comprehensive security features. Many IoT devices, such as smart home gadgets, cameras, and wearables, are produced by companies with limited experience in cybersecurity, leading to vulnerabilities in device firmware and communication protocols. Inadequate testing and security oversight at the design and development stages expose devices to risks like unauthorized access and data breaches. On the user side, negligence in maintaining device security further exacerbates these risks. Users often fail to change default passwords, leaving their devices vulnerable to brute-force attacks. Users often do not regularly update firmware or software, unaware that patches are released to fix known vulnerabilities. Many consumers also need to gain awareness of the potential privacy risks, such as the misuse of personal data collected by their devices, which can be exploited if not correctly and adequately protected. The complexity of addressing these issues lies in the need for more standardization across the industry. Manufacturers often release products with proprietary systems that dont always adhere to universal security frameworks, making it difficult for users to implement best practices consistently. Without standardized security protocols and better consumer education, the IoT ecosystem will continue to face challenges. Implement best practices for IoT security As IoT systems are integrated into critical infrastructure and daily life, evolving policy changes are essential to address growing risks. Regulatory frameworks, such as stricter data protection laws and mandatory security standards for IoT devices, will play a pivotal role in enhancing the security environment. Governments and organizations should work together to develop global security standards that mandate encryption, authentication protocols, and regular software updates. These policies will not only encourage manufacturers to design more secure devices but also hold companies accountable for maintaining security throughout the lifecycle of their products. Given the scale and complexity of IoT ecosystems, traditional security measures often fall short. This is where AI and machine learning can play a transformative role. AI-driven security systems can analyze large datasets generated by IoT devices in real-time, identifying anomalies that might signal a breach. Machine learning algorithms improve over time, enabling them to predict and preempt emerging threats before they escalate. That said, the technologies effectiveness depends on its proper integration with existing security infrastructures and ongoing updates informed by the latest threat intelligence. Your voice matters. Insist that manufacturers prioritize security by choosing products from companies that are transparent about their security practices and committed to regular updates. By supporting policies and initiatives that push for better security practices across the board, you help ensure that all devices, from the smallest sensor to the most complex system, are built with security in mind. Svetlin Todorov is cofounder of Shelly and CEO of Shelly U.S.A.
Category:
E-Commerce
Saturday Night Live was built with a cast of young no-names performing countercultural comedy. Fifty years later, it is firmly part of the culture, dictating mainstream comedy instead of throwing spitballs from the margins. The show has become an incubator of talent think Will Ferrell, Chris Rock, Amy Poehler, Billy Crystal, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Phil Hartman, Pete Davidson and Tracy Morgan. Its sketches have sparked Hollywood movies, from The Blues Brothers and Wayne’s World to MacGruber and Coneheads. But SNL has embedded itself in our culture in deeper ways, from slogans like We’re not worthy! to You look mahvelous! It inspires Halloween costumes, connects viewers to the news via Weekend Update and may even have influenced elections. As the show gears up to celebrate its milestone, here are 12 moments over the past five decades when the show didn’t just reflect pop culture it drove it. Wolverines, 1975 This was the first sketch from the first show, an absurdist-meets-physical comedy interaction between a student played by John Belushi and his English teacher, played by head writer Michael ODonoghue. I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines, the teacher asks his pupil to repeat. The show, then called NBC’s Saturday Night, would have George Carlin as the first host. Jim Hensons Muppets had a sketch and Andy Kaufman lip-synched the Mighty Mouse theme song. Billy Preston played his hit Nothing From Nothing and later folk singer Janis Ian sang At Seventeen and In the Winter. Preston closed things out with Fancy Lady. New York magazine called its promise enormous and the Chicago Tribune said it premiered in superb fashion. The Los Angeles Times said it was bright and bouncy and even suggested it move to prime time. King Tut, 1978 Steve Martin saw this off-the-wall novelty song about ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun capture the nations imagination during a goofy performance. It eventually reached No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over 1 million copies after he performed it on SNL. The comedian was parodying the hysteria and commercialization surrounding a traveling Tutankhamun exhibit, dancing sideways as he sang King Tut/Buried with a donkey/Funky Tut/Hes my favorite honky! The song was riddled with errors: King Tut was not born in Arizona, he did not live in a condo made of stone-a and he was not buried in his jammies. Nevertheless, the song went viral long before there was an internet. The French Chef, 1978 Dan Aykroyd parodied iconic chef Julia Child in a cooking segment gone horribly wrong: She cuts the dickens out of her finger, releasing staggeringly large spurts of blood, tries first aid and then collapses face-first in a puddle of her own blood. It was inspired by a real injury on the set of Child’s The French Chef and was written by Tom Davis and Al Franken (the future former senator was also under the table pumping blood out of a tube on Aykroyds arm). Instead of being offended, Child enjoyed Aykroyds parody of herself so much that the book Baking With Julia recounts she would play the tape at her own dinner parties, crying out, Save the liver! White Like Me, 1984 Long before white privilege became a mainstream concept, Eddie Murphy in a landmark sketch put on white face makeup to see how he would be treated as a white man in New York. It was a parody of the famous 1961 book Black Like Me, in which a white journalist went undercover as a Black man. You can see the legacy in Chappelles Show, Whoopi Goldbergs The Associate and White Chicks. In the skit, a cashier wont take his money for a newspaper (Slowly, I began to realize that when white people are alone, they give things to each other for free), a city bus turns into a party after the lone Black passenger gets off and a bank clerk simply hands him $50,000 in cash. So what did I learn from all of this? Murphy asks at the end. I learned that we still have a very long way to go in this country before all men are truly equal. Sinéad OConnor, 1992 The Irish singer capped her a cappella cover of Bob Marleys War by holding up a photo of Pope John Paul II and tearing it into pieces. Fight the real enemy, she said. SNL was blindsided. During rehearsals, OConnor had instead held up an image of a refugee child. She was protesting child sex abuse in the Catholic Church, a decade before the Boston Globe revealed a systematic cover-up that forced the church to apologize and pay millions. NBC banned OConnor from SNL for life, Joe Pesci mocked her during the next weeks show and Frank Sinatra called her one stupid broad. Her albums were crushed by a steamroller in Times Square. Less than two weeks later, OConnor made her first public appearance following the incident at a Bob Dylan concert at Madison Square Garden and she was jeered as Kris Kristofferson consoled her. White House vs. Wayne’s World, 1993 White House figures are a long-standing target for SNL. In 1993, the White House fired back. In a Waynes World sketch, Mike Myers and Dana Carveys immature, basement-dwelling characters suggested first daughter Chelsea Clinton, then 13, wasnt as attractive as then-vice president Al Gores daughters. Hillary Clinton scolded producer Lorne Michaels and his writers for having nothing better to do than be mean and cruel to a young girl. Michaels issued an apology, Myers apologized to the Clintons and the joke was cut from subsequent reruns of the sketch. More Cowbell, 2000 Another wacky skit that permanently entered the culture was when Christopher Walken, playing a producer as Blue Öyster Cult recorded (Dont Fear) the Reaper, insisted: I gotta have more cowbell. The sketch widely regarded as one of te show’s greatest lampooned the excess of 70s rock and became a shorthand for adding one too many layers. The irony is that the idea was submitted some seven times before finally airing. Blue Öyster Cult had to ban people from bringing actual cowbells to their concerts and Walken has said people tease him about cowbells everywhere he goes. The sketch was so influential that producers of the four-part SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night dedicated an entire episode to the parody. First show after 9/11, 2001 Less than three weeks after 9/11, Saturday Night Live aired one of its most memorable openings. Rudy Giuliani, then New York City’s mayor, was flanked by firefighters and police officers who had just left ground zero. Calling Saturday Night Live one of New Yorks greatest institutions, Giuliani said: Having our citys institutions up and running sends a message that New York City is open for business. Can we be funny? Michaels asked, to which the mayor responded with perfect timing, Why start now? That joke told everyone that things could be all right. Ashlee Simpson, 2004 The younger sister of Jessica Simpson, making her SNL musical debut, first performed her hit Pieces of Me. All good. But when she came back to play the title track from her album Autobiography, the audience heard the vocal track from the first song by mistake. Awkwardness ensued. Simpson did a silly shuffle and then walked off stage as her group continued to play and the show cut to commercial. She later said a case of acid reflux forced her to lip-sync that night. The incident drew attention to one of pop cultures worst-kept secrets: Lip-syncing was way more common than performers or the music industry wanted us to think. Billboard magazine ranked it second among lip-sync scandals in modern pop history after Milli Vanilli. Lazy Sunday, 2005 SNL is live, of course, but sometimes the funniest bits are pretaped, like the digital shorts from Andy Samberg and his Lonely Island compatriots, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. They crafted 101 digital shorts between 2005 and 2012 many of them destined for virality, from Dick in a Box, with Justin Timberlake, to Natalie’s Rap with Natalie Portman and Shy Ronnie with Rihanna. Lazy Sunday was the second video SNL viewers got from the trio, starring Samberg and Chris Parnell rapping about hilariously mundane yuppie activities, like grabbing cupcakes and using Google Maps. It inspired an entire genre of video-shot joke raps and fed a fast-growing site that people had only just become aware of YouTube. Lazy Sunday was the first TV show clip to have a viral second life online, with 2 million-plus viewings in its first week alone. That week, YouTubes traffic was up 83%. Tina Fey does Sarah Palin, 2008 Many people believe that Republican vice-presidential candidate Palin once uttered: I can see Russia from my house. She never said that. That was Fey in her first appearance as Palin on SNL. Feys spot-on impression later leaning into the more ridiculous sayings the candidate had offered may have changed some minds and therefore influenced the presidential election, an amazing thing for a comedy show. CNN coined the phrase the Tina Fey Effect. People actually did studies on the Tina Fey Effect after the 2008 election and found Republican and independent voters liked Palin less after watching the SNL rendition of the politician, even though Palin herself appeared on the show alongside Fey to show she was in on the joke. Welcome to Hell, 2017 SNL addressed the #MeToo movement with a pitch-perfect video a bubblegum song with lyrics about how women have suffered abuse and harassment for centuries. Guest host Saoirse Ronan was joined by cast members Melissa Villaseor, Leslie Jones, Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong, many of whom had teamed up for hysterical pop girl group songs like First Got Horny 2 U,Back Home Ballers, and (Do It on My) Twin Bed. This time, the comedy was bleak: Now House of Cards is ruined, goes the song, and that really sucks. Well, heres a list of stuff thats ruined for us: parking, and walking, and Uber, and ponytails, and bathrobes, and nighttime, and drinking, and hotels, and vans. Mark Kennedy, AP entertainment writer
Category:
E-Commerce
If your social media suitor seems too good to be true, it might be a scam. Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms is urging users to stay vigilant about romance scams ahead of Valentine’s Day, warning of unsolicited messages through its apps and other social media platforms, as well as general text messages. Scammers tend to pose as attractive, single and successful individuals,” Meta says. They often claim to have military, medical or business backgrounds, with photos either stolen from real people’s accounts or generated through artificial intelligence. Initially, messages are sent to a large pool of people in the hopes of getting a response. A scammer than builds trust over a period of time before they ask their target for money either by claiming hardship or offering investment opportunities, usually in cryptocurrency. Meta said it recently worked with research firm Graphika to take down romance scams in three common categories: those impersonating military officers, celebrity mimics and scammers posing as fake match-making agencies that target people in Africa claiming to offer opportunities to meet rich men from Western countries or build relationships with African women.'” In addition to taking down scam networks, Meta says it is testing other tools to combat bad actors, including facial recognition technology that compares suspicious users’ profile photos against a public figure’s image. But, for now, that only works for celebrity impersonations. To stay vigilant, Meta recommends people be suspicious of messages from strangers. If you do engage, try to verify the persons identity by looking them up on the platform check when their accounts were created or use a reverse image search on their photos. Requests for money, whether in the form of gift cards or payment apps, should also be treated with skepticism.
Category:
E-Commerce
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