Case Study: Interview with Jacob Hodes, CEO of Relevant Healthcare Technologies

I founded Relevant with a fellow computer nerd who happened to be working in healthcare analytics. We decided some time later to build a product around it, with no particular idea of how complicated or challenging that would be. One of the first things we needed legal advice on was buying back some of the intellectual property we had built as consultants.

So we started looking for legal help, reaching out to various friend networks. We actually talked to a number of lawyers, none of whom we really loved. Then a friend told us to check out Priori.

I really didn’t think I needed a third party to help me find a lawyer – I thought I knew enough people to do it myself. But within 30 minutes of contacting Priori, they had scheduled three attorney interviews for me, something I never would have been able to do myself. Booking appointments on the Priori platform was seamless and delightful. They had thought through every detail, including providing a pre-arranged conference number.

There was one lawyer we particularly clicked with, and the next day we were on our way, negotiating the deal.

We were looking for someone who had experience with tech startups. We also wanted somebody who fit with our way of working –technology-friendly, quick and responsive. Priori’s structure really matches that. There’s an emphasis on harnessing the power of technology to improve efficiency in what’s traditionally been a very inefficient space. So from the very beginning, we knew the attorneys in Priori’s network would be predisposed to working our way.

Ilya, our attorney, embodies this approach. He’s perfectly comfortable meeting with us over Skype. We use Google Docs when we need to collaborate and redline together. He’s extremely responsive on email, which is generally much better for us than phone or voicemail.

As a 2-person startup with no outside funding, we were spending our own money on legal advice, and we’d chosen to enter a field, healthcare, where there’s an immense legal and regulatory cost of entry. So we were literally counting every dollar. The great thing about Priori was that we could compare rates within the network and choose accordingly.

Priori’s network discount has saved us a significant amount of money. I estimate that we’re saving more than $150 per hour as compared to a traditional law firm.