Outcome Health's path: From a Northwestern classroom to the courtroom
Derek Moeller
More than decade ago  Shah and a friend  Derek Moeller  hatched a plan for a health information and advertising startup called ContextMedia while students at Northwestern University   Moeller  said.  Moeller  presented the business plan during Professor William White’s engineering and entrepreneurship class.
Both students had an interest in health because of family members with diabetes  and they started planning. “We both had the entrepreneurial bug and we wanted to make something of it ”  Moeller  said.
 Moeller ’s group got an A on the business plan  said White  who later became one of ContextMedia’s directors.
It was spring 2006 and  Moeller  was set to graduate and work in the banking industry. ContextMedia changed his plans. “We were spending so much time on the business and trying to figure out how to launch it and what the model is going to be that we were really primarily focused on that ” he said.
Neither  Moeller  nor Shah received degrees from Northwestern. Agarwal graduated in 2008 with a bachelor’s of science in journalism  according to Northwestern. Outcome Health spokesman John Eddy said Agarwal was involved in the early discussions and helped with the company in the early days  joining it full-time after graduation.
Shah   Moeller  and Agarwal’s skill sets were complementary  said White  who stepped down from the board in 2013.  Moeller  was more involved in finances and operations  Agarwal focused on marketing strategy and Shah pulled it all together and did the direct selling  White said.
It took at least a year for ContextMedia to land a major advertiser   Moeller  said. In those early days  the company was shipping DVDs to doctors’ offices that had their screens installed  and it was focused on endocrinologists  who treat diabetes  among other conditions. “They really enjoyed the idea of having relevant content in their waiting rooms ”  Moeller  said. “At the time  the primary competitor was soap operas. ‘Judge Judy’ was a big one.”
The recession hit around the same time ContextMedia moved into its first real office space in the Loop. That made fundraising harder. The company was not yet profitable and was still working to solidify itself among advertising clients. There were times when one customer accounted for a majority of the company’s revenue   Moeller  said. “That’s the kind of stuff that keeps you up at night ”  he  said.
Near the end of 2009   Moeller  left to buy a Washington-based manufacturing company called McConkey. ContextMedia bought his shares and it was an amicable parting   Moeller  said. He was proud of where ContextMedia was  and McConkey “needed a turnaround ” he said. He added that at that point  Shah wanted to be the primary driver of ContextMedia. “He wanted this to be more his thing ”  Moeller  said.
Soon after  Moeller ’s departure  the company expanded  starting with the launch of its Rheumatoid Health Network. Between 2010 and 2016  ContextMedia increased its network from a few hundred hospitals and clinics to more than 10 000  according to a 2016 court filing. Its clients were big companies like Bristol-Myers Squibb  and divisions of ad agencies Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group.
More than decade ago  Shah and a friend  [TGT]  hatched a plan for a health information and advertising startup called ContextMedia while students at Northwestern University   Moeller  said.  [TGT]  presented the business plan during Professor William White’s engineering and entrepreneurship class.
Both students had an interest in health because of family members with diabetes  and they started planning. “We both had the entrepreneurial bug and we wanted to make something of it ”  [TGT]said.
 [TGT] ’s group got an A on the business plan  said White  who later became one of ContextMedia’s directors.
It was spring 2006 and  [TGT]was set to graduate and work in the banking industry. ContextMedia changed [TGT] plans. “We were spending so much time on the business and trying to figure out how to launch it and what the model is going to be that we were really primarily focused on that ” he said.
Neither  Moeller  nor Shah received degrees from Northwestern. Agarwal graduated in 2008 with a bachelor’s of science in journalism  according to Northwestern. Outcome Health spokesman John Eddy said Agarwal was involved in the early discussions and helped with the company in the early days  joining it full-time after graduation.
Shah   Moeller  and Agarwal’s skill sets were complementary  said White  who stepped down from the board in 2013.  [TGT]was more involved in finances and operations  Agarwal focused on marketing strategy and Shah pulled it all together and did the direct selling  White said.
It took at least a year for ContextMedia to land a major advertiser   [TGT]said. In those early days  the company was shipping DVDs to doctors’ offices that had their screens installed  and it was focused on endocrinologists  who treat diabetes  among other conditions. “They really enjoyed the idea of having relevant content in their waiting rooms ”  [TGT]said. “At the time  the primary competitor was soap operas. ‘Judge Judy’ was a big one.”
The recession hit around the same time ContextMedia moved into its first real office space in the Loop. That made fundraising harder. The company was not yet profitable and was still working to solidify itself among advertising clients. There were times when one customer accounted for a majority of the company’s revenue   [TGT]said. “That’s the kind of stuff that keeps you up at night ”  he  said.
Near the end of 2009   [TGT]left to buy a Washington-based manufacturing company called McConkey. ContextMedia bought his shares and it was an amicable parting   [TGT]  said. [TGT] was proud of where ContextMedia was  and McConkey “needed a turnaround ” [TGT] said. [TGT] added that at that point  Shah wanted to be the primary driver of ContextMedia. “He wanted this to be more his thing ”  [TGT]  said.
Soon after  [TGT] ’s departure  the company expanded  starting with the launch of its Rheumatoid Health Network. Between 2010 and 2016  ContextMedia increased its network from a few hundred hospitals and clinics to more than 10 000  according to a 2016 court filing. Its clients were big companies like Bristol-Myers Squibb  and divisions of ad agencies Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group.