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Primary Ventures

IntroWarm
Check size: $2-10MContacts: Hannah McQuaid, Sam ToolLast contact: 2026-01-30
Next step: Deck sent, awaiting Sam scheduling

Meetings

1
2026-01-30Meeting: Primary Ventures

Strong intro call. Hannah leads healthcare investing at Primary alongside Sam Tool. She knows the UM space well, liked the FDE angle, but raised concerns about payers as an end market (slow, bureaucratic). We addressed it well — pull not push, payers under financial pressure, talent gap. She wants a deck before setting up a call with Sam. Fast process (1-2 weeks typically).

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Meeting: Primary Ventures

Date: 2026-01-30 Attendees: Thomas, Michael, Hannah McQuaid (Primary) Type: Intro call

Summary

Strong intro call. Hannah leads healthcare investing at Primary alongside Sam Tool. She knows the UM space well, liked the FDE angle, but raised concerns about payers as an end market (slow, bureaucratic). We addressed it well — pull not push, payers under financial pressure, talent gap. She wants a deck before setting up a call with Sam. Fast process (1-2 weeks typically).

What Resonated

  • FDE / services model — She immediately got it. Mentioned Valerie Health in their portfolio as a comp ("services wrapped in software is the only thing that sells in healthcare")

  • Pull not push framing — When Michael explained the health plan client already had this on their 2027 roadmap and we're pulling it forward to 2026, she responded positively ("so there's already pull")

  • Payer financial pressure — Thomas's point about Humana/United stock prices, Medicare cuts, talent gap — she acknowledged this makes payers more amenable than historically

  • Two-person team shipping — Seemed impressed that it's just the two of us with a real client

Questions / Concerns Raised

  • Payers as end market — Her main concern. Called it "one of those end markets that gives me agita." Referenced J2 Health in their portfolio (network adequacy for regional plans) as "fucking brutal go to market"

  • Contract details — Asked about implementation timeline, pilot vs production, pricing model. We were honest that it's not fully baked yet. She was fine with that.

  • Core systems / integration — Asked about data access, EMR integration. Thomas explained ADT messages and document management system integration.

Our Commitments

  • Send deck over the weekend — She wants materials before setting up Sam call. Doesn't need to be polished, but something to digest.

Their Next Steps

  • Hannah will flag to Sam Tool (partner) on Monday (their pipeline review day)
  • Get back to us by Monday EOD with feedback and next steps
  • Next step would be a call with Sam
  • Then they do independent diligence (network calls, Tegus/AlphaSights)
  • IC pitch can happen "whenever" — process typically 1-2 weeks

Insights About This Investor

Firm profile:

  • $420M Fund V (not announced yet), $1.6B total AUM
  • Seed focused (20-30% pre-seed, rest seed)
  • $2-10M check sizes
  • 6 pods, 3-4 deals per pod per year — intentionally low volume
  • 60 people total, only 12 on investment team — big portfolio support team
  • New York based, considering SF office

Healthcare pod:

  • Hannah McQuaid (principal?) + Sam Tool (partner)
  • Hannah's background: Guardian Life corporate VC → Prudential solo LP fund (Unitas, Particle Health, Angle Health) → Onset Capital → Primary
  • She knows UM well, hasn't seen anyone building in it except Redesign spinout

What they care about:

  • Services + software model (not just SaaS)
  • Founders who understand the market
  • Pull not push dynamics
  • They do real diligence (network calls, expert networks)

Concerns to address:

  • Payer go-to-market skepticism — need to keep reinforcing the "pull not push" and financial pressure angles
  • Contract details — will help to have more specifics by Sam call

Portfolio comps mentioned:

  • Valerie Health — AI-enabled managed service for front office workflows, PE-backed specialty practices (cardiology)
  • J2 Health — network adequacy for regional health plans (brutal GTM)

Interesting Moments

Redesign history came up — Hannah mentioned meeting the Redesign UM spinout founder, said it was "one of the weirdest conversations" — he clearly didn't want to be CEO, complained about Redesign's greedy terms. Thomas disclosed we had legal issues with them (they claimed IP, went nowhere). Good to have this out in the open.

"Physically incapable" — When Thomas said we'd be "physically incapable of building all these tools" if we get more clients, she repeated it back. Good signal of capacity constraint / demand.

Her energy — Running on fumes (flew back from SF late night) but still engaged. Took detailed notes. Seems genuinely interested.

Action Items for Materials

Based on this call:

  • Deck needed by weekend — can be the two-pager expanded into slides
  • Should address payer GTM concern directly in materials
  • Contract details would strengthen (even if ranges)

Raw Transcript

[See below or separate file — 27 minutes]

Top Concern

Payer GTM speed

Overview

  • Stage focus: Seed (20-30% pre-seed)
  • Check size: $2-10M
  • Fund: $420M Fund V (not announced), $1.6B total AUM
  • Healthcare thesis: Services + software models, not just SaaS. Understand healthcare requires hands-on implementation.
  • Key people:
    • Hannah McQuaid — Leads healthcare investing. Background: Guardian Life CVC → Prudential solo LP fund → Onset Capital → Primary. Knows UM space well.
    • Sam Tool — Partner on healthcare side. Sits next to Hannah. Works from home Mon/Fri (lives in Jersey).

Relationship History

DateTypeWhoNotes
2026-01-30Intro callHannahStrong call. She knows UM, likes FDE model. Wants deck before Sam call.

Status

  • Current stage: Intro → pending Sam call
  • Next step: Send deck over weekend. She gets back Monday EOD.
  • Temperature: Warm — genuine interest, knows the space, but has payer market concerns

What They Care About

  • Services wrapped in software (referenced Valerie Health as model)
  • Pull not push dynamics (client already wanted this)
  • Founders who understand the market deeply
  • They do real diligence (network calls, Tegus/AlphaSights, health plan advisors)

Concerns to Address

  • Payer go-to-market — Her main hesitation. "Slowest moving organizations out there." Referenced J2 Health as brutal GTM example. Need to keep reinforcing financial pressure angle and pull dynamics.
  • Contract details — Will want more specifics by Sam call (pricing model, timeline, pilot vs production)

Materials Sent

  • Two-pager
  • Deck (need to send by weekend)
  • Product brief

Portfolio Companies Mentioned

  • Valerie Health — AI-enabled managed service for front office workflows, PE-backed specialty practices. Her comp for services + software model.
  • J2 Health — Network adequacy for regional health plans. "Fucking brutal go to market." Cautionary tale on payer sales.
  • Angle Health — Tech-enabled TPA/health plan (Hannah invested pre-Primary)
  • Particle Health — Data interoperability (Hannah invested pre-Primary)

Process Notes

  • 6 pods total, healthcare is one
  • 3-4 deals per pod per year — intentionally low volume
  • Big portfolio support team (60 people, only 12 investment)
  • IC pitch can happen "whenever" — typical process 1-2 weeks
  • Monday is pipeline review day

Notes

  • Redesign history came up — she met their UM spinout founder, weird conversation (he didn't want to be CEO). We disclosed legal issues with Redesign (IP claim that went nowhere). Good to have out in the open.
  • She was running on fumes (late flight from SF) but still engaged and took detailed notes
  • NY based, considering SF office for Fund V

Materials Sent

  • deck
  • two-pager

Daisy

v1

What do you need?

I can pull up the fundraise pipeline, CRM accounts, hot board, meeting notes — anything in the OS.

Sonnet · read-only