Success eludes many people for many reasons, from wrong business ventures, dismantling addictions, and hazy entrepreneurial goals to unlucky incidents. For Michael Ciullo, founder of five successful companies, including Nsight Health, fortune escaped his grip twice, eventually finding its way back into Michael’s life. Currently, a prosperous entrepreneur reshaping the future of healthcare, technology, and industries of tomorrow, Michael’s journey to success was full of twists, turns, deleterious lows, and rewarding highs.
Growing up in a middle-class household, Michael had no entrepreneurial influences around him. After battling the hazards of drug addiction at 19, young, unemployed, and confused, he began working for a software company. With re-instilled hope and a newly-found sense of purpose, Michael quickly discovered a natural knack for sales and, despite his lack of a degree, started making hundreds of thousands of dollars. At 25, within the blink of an eye, Michael lost everything and amassed $50 thousand in debt.
“After everything I went through, surviving drug addiction, picking myself up, and finally watching my hard work pay off, I lost everything once again. Out of all the people, my cousin, who owned the company, betrayed me, sending me into a dark place,” adds Michael. “There I was, a 25-year-old man with no money, no car, and no place of my own. I ended up moving back to my parents’ house, and at that point, feeling like an absolute failure, I promised myself I’d never work for someone else ever again, after all, if you can’t trust your family, who can you trust.”
Those who reach success don’t crumble during difficulties; instead, they draw valuable lessons from all situations. The software company Michael worked for, although ended up deranging him off track, also sharpened his entrepreneurial skills and equipped him with knowledge on building startups.
In the nostalgic light of his childhood bedroom, 25-year-old Michael created a business plan, gave himself a couple of pep talks, and started his entrepreneurial journey. At first, he was making 200 cold calls a day, offering white-label services, and for nearly 14 months, he didn’t see any results.
“Everybody thought I was crazy. My parents and my friends were skeptical, and everyone said, ‘It’s time to go to college.’ But I had a vision and decided to stick with it,” shares Michael. ”At that point, all I had was a PowerPoint presentation and a website, and I started portraying it as an established company. I remember when I signed my first contract, I was sitting on the bed in my pajamas, and I thought, ‘Wow! Now I actually need to service this person.'”
Michael’s first customer was a medical billing company handling revenue cycle management. After 14 months of deafening silence, he finally had an opportunity to earn money as a business owner. Entering the medical field without expertise and education was overwhelming, so Michael subcontracted a firm of experts who assisted him in executing the task masterfully.
Along the way, the founder of Nsight Health encountered a company implementing technology into healthcare. The firm developed software that located missing patient information about insurance and other crucial documents, enabling ambulances to send billing to the correct entities. Impressed with its originality and practicality, Michael contacted the owner, requesting to white-label his product. A hesitant ‘Sure kid, good luck’ is all he got in response.
Against all odds and disproving the doubtful owner, Michael upgraded the company to an Inc500 and grew the revenue to $2.5 million. At 27, after automating that establishment, Michael achieved the life of his dreams, where he traveled all year round, moved to Colombia, acquired expensive cars, and eventually met his wife. Reveling in wealth and prosperity fulfilled his desires temporarily, but Michael’s appetite for success kept growing.
With no clear idea in mind, Michael decided he wanted to start a new business. Shortly after, inspired by a call from the VP of Sales from his venture at the time, the young entrepreneur entered the complex medical field once again, this time with Nsight Health, a remote patient monitoring company. Less than three years later, Nsight is a 40 million dollar company with over 150 employees that leave a tangible impact on healthcare every day. According to investment bankers and private equity firms, Nsight is valued at half a billion dollars. From a mere idea to a multimillion-dollar establishment, the growth of Nsight stands as a testament to Michael’s resilience, expertise, charisma, and grit.
“I believe Nsight is the future of healthcare,” says Michael. The company focuses on preventative health through remote patient monitoring. In other words, patients receive cutting-edge devices that check vitals such as blood pressure, heart rate, sugar levels, and many others, sending data to a team of certified nurses and doctors in real-time. The vision Michael is executing through Nsight is a more effective healthcare system where value-based payment overpowers the current fee-for-service model. Through collecting data frequently, Nsight minimizes the need for hospital visits, meticulously analyzes bodily changes, and offers 24/7 advice and telehealth service all year round.
Currently, eight years after he thought he’d lost everything, in addition to relentlessly growing his businesses, Michael is a co-host of the Finding Faith Podcast and a founder of the Ciullo Foundation, created to give back to communities. “After everything I went through, the biggest blessing I could ask for is the ability to give back. Four pillars of success have fueled my growth: relations, physicality, spirituality, and finances. If you can master all of them, you’ll find an infinite source of power, motivation, and stability.”
