Nothing I write can properly sum up what a year this has been. There just aren't words that can encapsulate the amount of personal and professional growth I've felt, the amount of support you've all shown, and the accomplishments the Peachy team has made in the last year. Many people think I'm joking when I say that this all sort of happened accidentally over my own frustration and a little tweet, but it's true, and I simply had no idea where we'd be a year later. I'll get everyone caught up on some exciting company updates, but first, I want to take a second to say thank you.
To our early investors, thank you.
Thank you for believing in me from Day 1 and for providing us with the resources necessary to turn Peachy into something so much bigger than a frustration and a tweet. Thank you for answering the phone, replying to emails, making intros, telling us where we need to improve, acting as sounding boards and strategists, and reminding us that we're doing great and that this is a process. Thank you for pushing me–and all of us–to be better, dream bigger, tighten things up, or slow things down.
To PJ, thank you.
Thank you for turning down other offers that probably made a hell of a lot more sense at the time to join me on this journey as a partner. I remember looking through lists of recommended co-founders and knowing in my gut that I would find my own at the right time. I was right. You have been everything I didn't know I would need. You have grown an engineering team that I hardly think about because I know you have it under control. You have done demos and sales calls and kept the team motivated. For every pre-10am meeting you've done without me, thank you. For every pep talk, and every conversation where you've refocused me, and every call you let me rant, complain, and cry, thank you. For every last-second flight you've booked me, thank you. There is nobody I'd rather be building something with. Whether it was my best day or my worst day, I have shown up knowing I was not doing this alone, and I’m grateful for that. You are a great business partner and an incredible friend. I can't wait to see everything we do together.
To the rest of the Peachy team, thank you.
Every day I get to work on this company with you all is a great day. You are some of the most brilliant, hardworking, kind, empathetic, creative, and cool people I have ever met. I know any of you could go work at basically any company, so it means the world to me that you choose to be here. My respect and admiration for all of you runs deeper than I thought possible. I show up every day because of you. Our product is excellent, but the culture you all have created here (especially as a remote company) is my biggest point of pride. Every one of you has risen to every occasion, surpassed expectations, and grown so much individually–it's the coolest thing to watch. You make each other better, you make me better, and you've made Peachy what it is. I will spend the rest of forever trying to express my gratitude for all you have put into this.
Some Company Updates
2021 has truly been a year of incredible progress for Peachy. We started the year as barely a company. We had an idea, some designs, a different name, and the determination to solve a problem that we’d personally felt too many times.
Today, as I write this, we sit in a completely different place. A company, eight employees strong, with customers using our product to send patients bills! We’ve taken that idea, those designs, and some otherworldly determination and turned it into a product that makes medical bill payment easier and more flexible for patients, as well as faster and more effective for providers.
Over the last quarter of 2021, we made some strides that I’m particularly proud of–accomplishments that will help Peachy move boldly into 2022. These programs will (1) help us get our product into the hands of more patients and providers, (2) enable more small providers to quickly onboard to Peachy, and (3) provide accessible financing to patients in need.
Referral Programs
We launched a referral program for our customers at the beginning of December, allowing existing Peachy customers to refer other providers in their network.
After launching our customer referral program, our next step was launching a referral program for patients. Anyone, provider or patient, can now easily refer providers of all types and specialties (dentist, physician, personal trainer, therapist, etc.) and be rewarded for their efforts! (Simply refer two providers today and receive a Peachy sticker!)
Self Service
We also launched a self-service offering, Peachy Pay Lite, along with our referral programs. While our core product, Peachy Pay Pro, is built to support deep EHR and practice management integrations, not every practice needs this level of integration.
Peachy Pay Lite is perfect for solo practices. Onboarding does not involve any handholding from the Peachy team, and providers can get up and running and start sending bills to patients within 24 hours. There is no startup cost for providers, making it an excellent way for small providers to test Peachy without a large financial commitment.
You can learn more about the differences between the two products here.
Walnut Integration
Peachy now supports financing through Walnut. We love the Walnut team and are thrilled to provide a seamless patient-experience while still undercutting CareCredit and Lending Club. We are very excited to start rolling this out to existing Peachy customers in January 2022.
Looking Forward
Starting, building, and growing Peachy over the last year has been one of the most incredible things I've ever done. It has felt important, special, and fun. It has been challenging, frustrating, and exhausting. I have laughed, cried, spent days at a time awake in my office, and (less, but still real) days hiding under my blankets wondering if this is actually something I am cut out for. I have hired, trained, and fired people. We have had big wins and walked out of meetings we weren't ready for. We have raised money and stepped away from money. Some days Peachy has felt like the easiest thing in the world; other days, I've had to make tough calls I didn't feel qualified to make. Through it all, we have remained a team filled with optimism and a shared mission, have stuck to our values, supported each other, asked for help, and trusted our instincts. We have moved fast, course-corrected, and gotten better.
We are all going into Year 2 as a company, and 2022, excited.
Thank you endlessly,
Lex 🍑
