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Hello and welcome to the 145th edition of Fresh Salmon, your go-to B2B marketing newsletter that lands in your inbox every week—for free.

This past week sent shockwaves in the US Healthcare startup ecosystem. A Series-E company with over 200 employees abruptly shutdown it operations. That company was Forward Health, which had raised a total of $657 million in funding.

Forward Health was a primary care startup that used technology to provide personalized healthcare. The company launched in 2016 and operated clinics in select U.S. markets, including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

Forward also deployed self-serve kiosks called CarePods in malls, gyms, and offices that used artificial intelligence to screen and diagnose health conditions. However, after generating less than $100 million in total revenues, they are permanently shut.

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Why Forward Health’s Shutdown Offers Lessons for B2B Founders and Marketers? 

Building a company is nothing short of a miracle. It’s about aligning the stars: the right timing, idea, team, funding, and yes, even a bit of luck. Every startup that exists is a testament to those stars aligning just right—for a while, at least.

That’s why hearing about Forward Health shutting down is tough to see. A company is not just its product or brand; it’s a collection of people chasing a mission together.

Every founder starts with a dream and an audacious goal, and every team member brings their own hopes, challenges, and responsibilities. When things don’t work out, it’s more than just a business closing; it’s lives and ambitions being upended.

That said, there’s something powerful about analyzing why some startups don’t make it— especially for companies where market fit, messaging, and buyer behavior can make or break success. Let’s break down the lessons we can learn from Forward Health’s journey and translate them into actionable takeaways for B2B founders and marketers.

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Lesson 1: If It Feels Like Healthcare, People Expect It to Work Like Healthcare 

Forward Health struggled with a basic truth about their market: people expect healthcare to be covered by insurance. While they aimed to disrupt primary care, their model relied on patients paying out of pocket for services that felt like traditional healthcare—something most people just won’t do.

For B2B founders, this underscores the importance of understanding customer expectations in your category. If your product feels like something buyers are used to, they’ll expect it to work the way it always has—pricing, processes, and all.

Disrupting expectations without a bridge can alienate potential customers.

Takeaway: Align your messaging with what buyers already understand and value. Then, educate them on the why behind your innovation. Design your product to meet buyers where they are today, even if your long-term vision involves shifting their behavior.

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 Lesson 2: Investors’ Desires ≠ Market Demand 

Forward Health raised $600M—an extraordinary vote of confidence from investors.

But their failure shows that even massive funding doesn’t guarantee market fit. Investors often get excited about what they want, but that doesn’t mean the end customer will share the same enthusiasm.

For B2B companies, it’s easy to get caught up in building for boardrooms instead of buyers. Features that look great on a pitch deck may not solve the day-to-day problems your customers care about.

Takeaway: Your messaging must speak directly to the buyer’s pain points—not just the shiny features investors love. Conduct interviews, surveys, and user testing to understand what really matters to your target audience. Build for your buyers first, not your investors. Market validation trumps investor excitement every time.

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Lesson 3: Geography Still Matters, Even in Digital B2B 

One of Forward Health’s core challenges was geography: their physical clinics needed to capture a dense local population to succeed.

Even with the promise of innovation, most people won’t go out of their way for something that isn’t significantly better than what’s nearby.

In B2B, the equivalent challenge is industry or segment focus.

Are you targeting the right “neighborhoods” of buyers—industries, niches, or buyer personas? Spreading your efforts too thin across a wide market often leads to weak results.

Takeaway: Define your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) narrowly and go deep in targeting. Focus your campaigns on the industries, job roles, and company sizes where you can gain significant traction. Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Concentrate your go-to-market strategy on a specific segment and expand only when you’ve achieved dominance in that space.

Lesson 4: Don’t Manufacture Problems Buyers Don’t Feel 

Forward Health targeted young, healthy people with a futuristic care model.

The problem?

Young, healthy people don’t feel an urgent need for healthcare solutions.

Without a pressing problem, it’s hard to justify a purchase—no matter how innovative the solution.

For B2B, the same applies. If your product addresses a low-priority issue or tries to “create” a problem buyers don’t feel, you’ll struggle to gain traction.

Takeaway: Anchor your messaging in pain points that buyers already acknowledge. Show how your solution solves urgent challenges or unlocks immediate value. Test whether your product addresses a must-have or a nice-to-have. If it’s the latter, consider repositioning or refining your offering.

What Can We All Learn? 

The story of Forward Health is a story of ambition, experimentation, and lessons learned. For B2B founders and marketers, it’s a powerful reminder of how market fit, customer understanding, and focused execution determine success.

Here’s what to take away:

1. Meet expectations before you challenge them – Build and market solutions that align with how buyers think and act today.

2. Listen to buyers, not just investors – Build for the people who will pay for your product, not just those funding it.

3. Focus on your “neighborhood” first – Target a specific market, prove your value, and then scale outward.

4. Solve real problems, not imagined ones – If buyers don’t feel the pain, they won’t pay for the cure.

Every failure teaches us something. Forward Health may not have succeeded, but their story leaves behind lessons every B2B founder and marketer can learn from.

And remember:

Success in B2B isn’t about the size of your ambition—it’s about the clarity of your execution.

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This concludes this edition of Fresh Salmon.

Do what is good for your soul ❤️

All the best,

Vivek

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For any of these things just shoot me a reply, and we will arrange a time to chat.