Ross Klosterman T’20, Co-founder of Poppins Health
Prior to co-founding Poppins Health, Ross Klosterman worked in M&A and corporate ventures at UnitedHealth Group and athenahealth, where he focused on health plans, provider technology and provider services deal making. His responsibilities at athenahealth also included building their strategy to disrupt the employer sponsored health care market. Prior to athenahealth, Ross spent time in healthcare investment banking and public accounting. Ross is a CPA, a CFA Charterholder, and holds an MBA and MPH from Dartmouth.
What does your current business do and what is your impact on the world?
Ross Klosterman: Today, Poppins is the modern health plan for small businesses. Our long-term vision is to be the only health plan you’ll ever need. Ultimately we’re striving to have our impact be increasing access to healthcare for all Americans.
This is very personal to me. My mom was a small business owner – she’s a hairstylist – and was never able to afford health insurance for herself, let alone her employees. Insurance became even more unobtainable after she underwent treatment for breast cancer (this was pre-ACA). Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, she could afford health insurance, for a time. I enroll her each year, and have seen her premiums increase 3x over the last decade, to where it’s barely affordable now. All I personally want is to create a health plan she can afford and use.
Why was Tuck the right business school for you?
RK: In short – community. I grew up in small farm town Ohio, and know that the bonds made when you’re in a place with no other distractions can last a lifetime. To this day I’m friends with much of my elementary school classmates. Every conversation with a Tuckie gave me the same feeling – that no matter what, Tuckies will always go out of their way to lift Tuckies up – and that feeling was all I needed.
What about the Tuck MBA impacted your life and career the most?
RK: Being at Tuck with my wife, Marie, and watching her own community blossom in the Upper Valley and at Tuck, was a great life impact.
The Tuck and broader Dartmouth health care and entrepreneurial community really punched above their weight and I credit a lot of Poppins early funding momentum on the relationships and feedback from Tuck staff, students, and alumni.
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