Health Stories: Unlocking The Potential of Personal Genomics with Othman Laraki and Alicia Zhou

In this episode of Health Stories, Erik is talking to Othman Laraki (@othman) and Alicia Zhou (@ay_zhou) of Color. Othman is co-founder and CEO and Alicia Zhou is Head of Research. Othman explains the personal reason that he started Color and why he got involved in the healthcare space after previously working at Google and running a company that was acquired by Twitter.Alicia and Othman explain the advances Color has made in genomics and how the approach they’re taking is different from that of other companies in the space. You might not have known that 30% of your health is related to your genome. There are also a number of new types of care that can be unlocked by having your genome sequenced.Othman explains how at Color they are hoping to follow the model of Google or Amazon where early in the company’s life they focus on doing one thing really well, then expand into other areas. He also talks about where he would be building a company in the space if he wasn't working at Color as well as where he might look to invest. They also discuss the time Othman wore a glucose monitor full-time and how it changed how he thinks about health, why he is hoping for an “iPhone moment” in the healthcare space, and why the future of cancer treatment will be much more about prevention than treatment.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global and is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg. Colin Campbell is our audio engineer and the show is produced by Brett Bolkowy.