Wichita startup Novus Network — a gamified recovery app focused on financial incentives for recovering substance users — announced a new CEO this month.
With the outgoing CEO transitioning into a product development role, the company said incoming CEO Ayaan Parikh is “positioned perfectly” to lead the company into a “new era of growth and innovation.”
But there’s one thing the company's LinkedIn post didn’t mention — the incoming CEO is a teenager.
Parikh, 18, who graduated in May from Wichita Collegiate School in May, is known in the local tech scene for his telemedical nonprofit Medic All, which launched in 2022 as a website platform that offers free consultations, medical tests and prescriptions to eliminate barriers to health care in Kansas. The nonprofit participated in NXTUS’s NXSTAGE Community Health and Vibrancy Competition in September.
However, Medic All was not the first time Parikh dabbled in entrepreneurship.
In 2020, 14-year-old Parikh stumbled upon the business of reselling shoes. After researching the basic information about stocks and the market, Parikh said he bought his first shoe for $200 and didn’t look back.
“I could just get online, put some credit card information, get some shoes and then resell those,” he said. “I spent a lot of time doing that during Covid because the market was really hot. I think that was what first introduced me to the real world of entrepreneurship.”
Parikh said he made 30% to 40% of his money during Covid by buying shoes from local sellers and then selling them online.
Parikh, whose parents are medical professionals who immigrated to the U.S. in 1995 from India, had seen the medical profession at a “very privatized level,” which he said did not give a complete perspective of the field. He shadowed at Guadalupe Clinic, which was an “eye-opening” experience for the teen entrepreneur.
“That experience was like, ‘Wow, there is such a big disparity in health care,’” he said. “That's what kind of got me interested in the administrative side of health care, the tech perspective and ultimately, it kind of drove me to start Medic All.”
Parikh was also reading Michio Kaku’s “The Physics of the Future” at the time, which started him down the path of technological exploration — namely, that telehealth would be the “driving force” in health care for years to come.
He said that telehealth, especially during Covid, was not serving low-income patients for reasons often unrelated to the health care system and its faults.
“That kind of got me sparked on this journey of ‘OK, well, how can you use telemedicine in the most effective way, how can you kind of overcome these barriers and create a comprehensive pathway to health care?'” Parikh said.
The nonprofit, which has 12 part-time employees, has received funding from the Kansas Health Foundation, DeVaughn James Injury Lawyers and United Way of the Plains — among others — since its launch. Parikh said he has taken up a more holistic role as executive director, and is looking to expand services to states across the U.S.
Before his work with Medic All kicked off, Parikh said his friend and role model Varun Verma introduced him to Joey Nowlin, the then-CEO of Novus Network.
"I started as an intern (at Novus) and then kind of gained up by being the lead researcher and just kind of doing more and more things,” he said.
Parikh said Nowlin reached out in March to take over the company as he focused on building his other business, Agent Ink.
Nowlin, who also started his first company when was a teenager, said he was impressed by Parikh's ability to multitask his tasks for school, extra-curricular activities, his entrepreneurial venture Medic All and his internship at Novus.
"I was like, 'How is he doing this?' ... he was cranking things out that would have otherwise taken weeks," Nowlin said. "I simply don't understand how he was able to do what he was doing, the reports that he was running, the research papers that he was producing. It was remarkable to me."
Nowlin said Parikh's output shunned the "dogmas" of hiring a young person as a company's CEO for him.
"He was the only one that fit my criteria and he's also incredibly aligned with our mission," he said. "His focus is health care and technology advancements. That's exactly what Novus is: a technologically advanced healthcare solution for an underserved, marginalized population."
As the incoming CEO, Parikh said the tech startup has established a beta version of its app, which will collaborate with small businesses in Kansas to provide financial incentives for individuals recovering from substance use and reduce chances of relapse. He said the company has around 200 volunteers signed up to test the app. While he did not reveal a launch date, Parikh said the beta version might be launched in the next few months.
Like most 18-year-olds, Parikh will pack his bags for college this fall. He's enrolled at Stanford University, which posed a question about managing his ventures at home in Wichita.
Parikh said his time in high school has prepared him for the rigor of continuing his education and managing his entrepreneurial ventures.
“The cool thing about going to a place like Stanford is that the culture is set to do things like this. You're in Silicon Valley, the hub of all things innovation and all things tech, right?” he said. “It would be silly to go to a place like Stanford, and not make use of the resources that are available to you from a tech, funding perspective and mentor perspective. There are so many different ways for me to learn and grow as an entrepreneur.”
Nowlin is optimistic and excited for Parikh as he heads off to Stanford. He said the academic rigor will sharpen the teen CEO's skills, which will drive Novus forward.
"So my dad once told me that if you want something done, ask a busy person. I didn't agree with that sentiment initially," Nowlin said. "Over time, I found it to be very true. And the caveat is that you have to ask the right busy person. Ayaan is the right busy person."
But is Parikh going to come back? In short, yes.
“Once I have the initial part of my life figured out, I definitely want to come back to Wichita. It's a beautiful city. It's where I grew up. It's where my family is,” Parikh said. “It's growing. A lot of things are coming here. So, I think I definitely want to eventually come back.”
