How Zocdoc survived near death, increased prices up to 100x, and turned around the company | Oliver Kharraz

Zocdoc has transformed healthcare access in America, powering one in three new doctor-patient relationships in New York City alone. Founded 18 years ago by physician Oliver Kharraz, the company nearly died 10 years in when it was growing just 1% annually and losing money on every customer. The pivot from subscription to pay-per-booking required raising prices 10-100x for existing customers, changing federal and state laws, and rebuilding core infrastructure - all while the sales team stopped acquiring new business to convert the existing base. Oliver shares the brutal mechanics of that turnaround, why nearly all churned doctors eventually returned, and how Zocdoc is now expanding beyond its marketplace with AI-powered tools like Zo, their voice assistant that eliminates hold times by handling unlimited simultaneous calls.

Topics Discussed:

• The near-death experience 10 years in: barely 1% growth, negative unit economics, months of runway remaining
• Managing thousands of emotionally charged conversations with doctors facing 10-100x price increases
• Why Oliver paused the New York rollout mid-execution after creating a burning platform with employees
• The strategic decision to target hardest-to-book specialties (primary care, OBGYN, dermatology) over acquisition-hungry cosmetic surgeons
• Managing tens of millions of sub-markets defined by neighborhood, specialty, and insurance combinations
• Transitioning from founder-led sales to enterprise motion while maintaining founder involvement 18 years later
• Going on offense: powering insurance directories, embedding in Google and Apple Maps, launching Zo AI voice assistant