From Google and Amazon to NewDays: Why These Tech Vets Bet on AI for Dementia

In this episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Managing Director Tim Porter sits down with Babak Parviz and Daniel Kelly, co-founders of NewDays, a platform purpose-built for older Americans living with cognitive change to help them reclaim abilities, preserve independence, and keep being themselves. Babak and Daniel share how their experience at Amazon and Google led them to apply AI in the most human way: helping people with dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with scalable solutions.  They dive into: Why we chose to build at the intersection of AI and cognitive health How to translate clinical science into accessible daily experiences What “meaningful velocity” looks like inside an early-stage company How to balance mission-driven purpose with commercial viability Lessons learned from scaling startups and building impactful teams Why the next wave of generative AI is human-centered, not model-centered Full Transcript: http://www.madrona.com/from-google-and-amazon-to-newdays-why-these-tech-vets-bet-on-ai-for-dementia Chapters:  (00:00) - Introduction (01:22) - The Scale of Cognitive Decline (03:03) - The Search for Solutions & Clinical Evidence (05:22) - Combining AI with Therapeutic Interventions (07:31) - How New Days Works: Telehealth & AI (13:36) - The Importance of Human Supervision (15:02) - Building a Customer-Obsessed Company (18:43) - User Feedback & Impact Stories (21:07) - Business Model & Pricing (22:51) - Building the Team & Company Culture (27:51) - Startup Advice: Velocity & Decision-Making (29:33) - Resource Constraints vs. Big Tech (31:16) - The Importance of Execution Velocity (33:35) - “Bus vs. Motorcycle”: Fast Problem Solving in Startups (35:23) - Startup Mindset