# Zocdoc: Oliver Kharraz

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2020-08-17
- Length: 1h 05m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-08-17-zocdoc-oliver-kharraz

## Summary

Oliver Kharraz, co-founder of Zocdoc, along with Cyrus Massoumi and Nick Ganju, explains how they solved the chicken-and-egg problem of a two-sided marketplace by manually acquiring doctors in New York City. Kharraz details the painful pivot from a flat subscription model to a per-booking fee, a decision that caused a rift with co-founder Cyrus Massoumi but ultimately made the company profitable. He also describes how the team rapidly launched video appointment capabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic to adapt to lockdowns.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-08-17-zocdoc-oliver-kharraz#t=0) Introduction: Oliver Kharraz and Zocdoc
- [4:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-08-17-zocdoc-oliver-kharraz#t=260) Kharraz's Background and McKinsey Experience
- [11:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-08-17-zocdoc-oliver-kharraz#t=701) Ideation and Early Validation with Cyrus Massoumi
- [21:27](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-08-17-zocdoc-oliver-kharraz#t=1287) TechCrunch 40 and the Door-to-Door Sales Hustle
- [29:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-08-17-zocdoc-oliver-kharraz#t=1795) Overcoming the Chicken-and-Egg Problem
- [35:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-08-17-zocdoc-oliver-kharraz#t=2142) Fundraising and the 2008 Financial Crisis
- [45:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-08-17-zocdoc-oliver-kharraz#t=2700) The Business Model Pivot and Co-Founder Rift
- [54:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-08-17-zocdoc-oliver-kharraz#t=3256) Rolling Out the Per-Booking Pricing Model
- [1:00:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-08-17-zocdoc-oliver-kharraz#t=3639) The 2020 Pivot to Telehealth

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Zocdoc (product)
- TechCrunch 40 (other)
- Forbes (other)
- Founders Fund (company)
- Goldman (company)
- DST (company)
- Coatlaw Ventures (company)
- Basis Expeditions (company)
- Mark Benioff (other)
- Jeff Bezos (other)
- Vinod Khosla (other)
- McKinsey (company)
- Nick Ganju (other)
- Cyrus Massoumi (other)
- Guy Kawasaki (other)
- U.S. Bank (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Founder Feature: Bar Bruhis of Boostcous](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2026-07-24-founder-feature-bar-bruhis-of-boostcous) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Founder Feature: Max Luthy of Plink!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2025-04-18-founder-feature-max-luthy-of-plink) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
- [Rooting for the Home Team with Paul Freedman and Bryan Carmel](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2026-05-27-rooting-for-the-home-team-with-paul-freedman-and-bryan-carmel) (Oxide and Friends)
- [Competing with Tech Giants: Approaches and Challenges with Morgan Teachworth of Cisco](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2023-03-02-competing-with-tech-giants-approaches-and-challenges-with-morgan-teachworth-of-c) (Over the Air)
- [97: Plateaus](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/thoroughly-considered/2023-04-06-97-plateaus) (Thoroughly Considered)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2020-08-17-zocdoc-oliver-kharraz. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to How I Built This.