On/Go: Healthcare Entrepreneur Ron Gutman on Championing Humanitarian Causes

On/go for good founder ron gutman in israel

We all know the feeling: waiting with bated breath for that T line and C line to pop up. A pre-2020 time traveler would marvel at the COVID testing that has since become a part of normal life, even as the new normal no longer feels new. Back in the early days of the pandemic, Stanford grad Ron Gutman launched Intrivo Diagnostics to address the urgent need to develop high-quality COVID tests. The company developed On/Go, a rapid at-home COVID antigen test and AI-powered app.

Intrivo Diagnostics is just the latest in a series of health-related ventures for the serial entrepreneur, who once gave a TED Talk about the power of smiling. But as Gutman’s business ventures continue to ramp up, he’s also starting to think more seriously about philanthropy. The result is On/Go for Good, a charitable initiative within Intrivo that Gutman started alongside his co-founders, created to engage in philanthropy and support humanitarian causes around the world. Its first act was to provide vital aid to Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

I recently caught up with Gutman to discuss why he’s started thinking more about philanthropy over the last couple of years, as well as On/Go for Good’s work and where he sees his giving heading next — including through the eventual formation of a family foundation.

Healthcare and doing good

Gutman’s vision of giving back is entwined with his story in the healthcare industry. Some of his earlier companies included HealthTap, a mobile platform that connects customers with trusted health information and doctors, and Wellsphere, which he sold only a few years after graduating. All of these companies, he said, were founded with the vision of giving back and making an impact.

“My decision to take my skills and invention and apply them to healthcare was because I wanted to do good,” he said. “Even within for-profit, it’s saving lives, it’s helping people… that was the pinnacle of my career, when I started getting thousands and thousands of notes saying ‘thank you for saving my life.’”

Gutman said he believes healthcare is a fundamental human right, and has taken steps to bake in access for people who could not otherwise afford care into his companies. During the pandemic, when On/Go started donating free tests to those in need both in the U.S. and abroad, Intrivo also gave its employees the chance to donate tests to organizations of their choice on the company dime.

When the war in Ukraine started, Gutman went to visit hospital executives there during those first few weeks of turmoil — in addition to the war, there was a new wave of COVID sweeping through the country at the time, as well. “There was a lot of concern about concentrations of refugees,” Gutman said. Intrivo ended up donating $1 million in COVID-19 tests, as well as computers and software, to war-torn Ukrainian hospitals in need. “We did it, and we helped a lot of people.”

Gutman himself has traveled to nearly 100 countries and has volunteered in a number of them. In these spaces, he said he learned how to connect with people and meet them where they are. The worst thing you can do, he said, is come down off your perch with assumptions of what people need. Instead, Gutman said he prioritizes listening, asking questions and then investing in leaders on the ground. This is especially important now in the age of disinformation, he added.

So far, On/Go for Good has also supported organizations including American Diabetes Association, Team Rubicon, International Rescue Mission, San Francisco City Impact and Lotus House. Gutman also mentioned a children’s mental health center in Ukraine that On/Go for Good helped stand up, in addition to its $1 million in funding earlier.

Israel-Gaza giving and looking ahead

Gutman has plenty of company among philanthropists guided by the concept of tikkun olam, a Jewish idea emphasizing that everyone has a responsibility to help improve society. He spoke about a kibbutz near the Gaza border, a village of 200 families that was one of the first to be attacked when the current Israel-Gaza conflict started in October of last year.

He traveled to this village and got to meet some of the families, and he was deeply moved. He said many of these people were without day-to-day essentials like their ID and forms of payment. “Some of these people had to leave their homes with nothing but their bloody shirt on. Literally,” he said. On/Go for Good went in and gave these families pre-paid debit cards to help them start getting back on their feet. “It was important to do this without friction… we cut all the bureaucracy.”

Gutman’s ventures also include launching an invite-only nonprofit club called Live Long & Flourish (LL&F) at his alma mater Stanford, which involved a “bunch of geeks coming together every couple of weeks,” and exploring cutting-edge innovations in health and wellbeing. On/Go itself was actually born within this space after Gary Skolnick, Stanford University professor emeritus of infectious disease, came to speak in January 2020 about a new virus halfway across the world. Gutman heeded his warning and got to work.

Looking to his peers across tech and healthcare, Gutman mentioned the idea of micro-philanthropy and small acts of kindness. Sure, there are the big headlining donations. But there’s also lending your time, being decent and helping in other non-monetary ways. “Everyone is waiting until they have a lot. But you can always give, regardless of how much you have,” he said.

To close our conversation, Gutman said that he will soon launch his own family foundation. Wanting to work beyond On/Go for Good, he knows in the coming years he will be spending even more of his time and resources on philanthropy. He calls himself a believer in capitalism and “the system,” but sees philanthropy as a way to solve problems that government or capitalism cannot. “I’m excited, because I think allocating the right kind of resources, can make a big, big difference in the world.”