What cloud-based healthcare platform Tendo’s leaders learned after their 100th hire

Since sister and brother cofounder duo Jennifer and Dan Goldsmith set up shop with Tendo, the cloud healthcare platform has hit growth point after growth point.

Tendo makes a platform that would allow the clunkier parts of healthcare — like scheduling appointments, data input, checking in at the front desk and managing communication — to all exist in one place. The Goldsmiths launched the company in late 2020, and shortly after raised Series A and B rounds totaling $69 million raised. About a year ago, the company was at about 35 employees, but it recently made its 100th hire. Technical.ly’s 2022 RealLIST Startups topper was also named PACT’s Technology Startup of the Year during the 2022 Enterprise Awards.

Kelly Makovsky, VP of business operations, shared what company leadership has learned in its short journey. Though the 100-person mark is a vital point of growth for many companies, she said they focus on hiring for quality versus quantity.

“From the very beginning, we were focused on what we would need to move the business forward,” Makovsky told Technical.ly. “It’s not really about the quantity, because if you don’t have the right people, no matter how many, it won’t work.”

As a day-one employee, Makovsky said the team was also very focused on building a culture they felt was representative of their mission and goals, and like many companies during the pandemic, especially, they had to work extra hard to reach that with a remote-first setup. While some of Tendo’s hires were people the Goldsmiths had known from previous ventures (the pair had spent time at companies like IBM and Veeva), most people didn’t know each other before coming on board.

“It’s been incredibly important to recognize that we were all part of the reason we were able to get to this stage of building this,” Makovsky said.

The company operates remotely, but it does maintain a few “hubs.” The pair currently live in Philadelphia, launched the business here, and have done quite a bit of hiring in the region, but also have formed cadres of employees in the Bay Area and Salt Lake City. Not everyone comes from a healthcare or software background, though those industries are heavily represented.

A big part of the software team is represented in Greater Philadelphia, Makovsky said, and recent growth has been focused on the R&D side of the business, as the platform is pre-product. There’s been a focus on adding to the engineering, product and UX/UI design teams.

The quick growth is also helped by the simple fact that the cofounding duo have done this before.

“They can sort of see around the curve,” the VP said. “It helped create a lot of focus and the access to that leadership has had the ability to make that impact.”

As for what to expect from the company in the short term: More hiring is likely, but fundraising isn’t needed at the moment, Dan Goldsmith told Technical.ly.

“We set up the company for long-term success with our Series B raise a year ago and have no plans or needs for fundraising,” he said.