Lunch & Learn: Employer Benefits is Broken & the Startup Fixing it
Let's be honest — nobody gets excited about employee benefits. It's confusing, expensive, and somehow both over-complicated and under-serving the people it's supposed to help. But that's exactly what makes it such a fascinating space right now.
We're bringing in Andrew Lydens — founder of Benepicks and one of the most thoughtful builders in healthcare — for a casual, candid lunch where we dig into why employer benefits is having a serious moment, and how a scrappy startup is quietly taking on the old guard.
Andrew's story is a good one. He saw that employers were locked into clunky, one-size-fits-all group plans and built something better: a platform where employers set a budget and employees actually choose their own coverage. Simple idea, complicated execution — and he'll tell us exactly how it's going.
We'll get into things like:
What's really going on in employer benefits and why everyone's suddenly paying attention
The ICHRA model — the policy shift that quietly cracked the market wide open
How Benepicks outmaneuvered incumbents not with a bigger budget, but with a better product experience
The messy, real, unfiltered product journey of building in healthcare
This is the kind of session where you'll leave with actual insight you can use — whether you're a founder, operator, investor, or just someone who's ever stared at an open enrollment form and wanted to cry.
About SeaHealthTech
This event is hosted by SeaHealthTech, the largest community-led healthtech organization in Seattle and the PNW. We believe the strongest innovation happens through genuine connection, shared learning, and meaningful partnerships.
Whether it's monthly happy hours, workshops, panel discussions, or larger industry events, SeaHealthTech brings together founders, investors, healthcare professionals, technologists, and anyone passionate about transforming health through technology. We're building an ecosystem where the best ideas emerge from the community itself.
Join us in shaping the future of healthtech in the Pacific Northwest.