Dear Tidepool Community,
It’s during this time of year that I can’t help but reflect on the year we have had. 2020 has brought many unexpected changes that have touched all of us — most notably, a global pandemic. And on a more personal note, the layoff of 40% of our team. I share many of the stresses and fears that I know you face. But despite all of the bad, I believe there has been good, too. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here is what this verklempt CEO is thankful for this year.
I founded Tidepool as a nonprofit organization in 2013 with like-minded people who felt as frustrated by the state of diabetes technology as I did, and who wanted to do something about it. We devoted ourselves to delivering better technology to our diabetes community and doing it in a way that few thought was possible. Here we are almost eight years later, and I’m proud to say we’ve pulled off everything we intended to do.
Tidepool has been providing diabetes uploading and monitoring software at no charge for users since our very beginning. We built Tidepool Uploader and Tidepool Mobile for you to better access your data via remote uploading and note-taking. And we developed Tidepool Web to bring everything together in one place to make your data more meaningful for you.
Our software has given us the opportunity to better serve you during the pandemic, in addition to offering meaningful resources and toolkits to our diabetes community during the world’s transition to telemedicine. Whether you’re a person with diabetes, a caregiver, or a healthcare provider, you need a way to upload, view, and share data from the comfort and safety of your home.
We have given away all of our intellectual property for free to help our community. That means we operate as an open source organization, and we strive for openness and transparency with our users, supporters, and team.
We were chosen as one of nine companies to help guide a complete overhaul of how the FDA evaluates software. Our peers in this effort include: Google’s Verily, Apple, Fitbit, Samsung, Roche, Johnson & Johnson, Pear Therapeutics, and Phosphorus.
I am proud of the remarkable strength our team has shown this year — working hard to submit our FDA application for Tidepool Loop in the middle of a global pandemic, while also juggling work-from-home life with partners and children in our workspaces each day. I am humbled by this team’s dogged dedication to our mission and beyond grateful for our ability to band together in times of crisis. The impact of COVID-19 forced us to continually reimagine how to keep our team together and thriving. Through it all, Tidepool team members continued to execute on our mission to bring Tidepool Loop to the finish line. (And we’re nearly there.)
On that note, I want to thank our Tidepool alumni from the bottom of my heart. Your incredible passion and years of hard work have made Tidepool what it is today. You are part of our story and you will be sorely missed by myself and the rest of the Tidepool team. I mean it when I say that you are some of the best and brightest people in diabetes software. I couldn’t ask for a better work family.
Last, we announced our intention to deliver Tidepool Loop, an automated insulin delivery app (currently in development), to make your diabetes data more actionable. I am grateful to our Tidepool Loop partners — Insulet, Dexcom, and Medtronic (with hopefully more we can soon name and more yet to follow!) — for believing in our vision and helping us pioneer an interoperable automated insulin delivery system that I believe will finally connect all the pieces of the puzzle. If it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes a community of innovators to improve the lives of people with diabetes.
We’re doing important work. Work which would simply not be possible without the incredible support of our partners, JDRF, The Helmsley Charitable Trust, and the amazing do-it-yourself effort from the #WeAreNotWaiting community on which our Tidepool Loop code is founded.
This brings me to you — our Tidepool community. Some of you have been here with us since the very beginning and some of you are just beginning to explore the depths Tidepool has to offer. But whoever you are and whatever your connection to diabetes — thank you. It is no understatement to say that you are who we do this work for. You are what keeps us going through a global pandemic.
We chose to be a nonprofit for a very good reason: It’s the right thing for our community. It allows us to put you first — to be radically transparent and to do things that for-profit companies choose not to do. It allows us to openly advocate for the things we believe in. Things we think you believe in, too.
You have shown us time and time again that you are with us. Earlier this year, we celebrated over 10,000 anonymous dataset donations through the Tidepool Big Data Donation Project. And that number is growing. This milestone represents a new generation of diabetes research and innovation and is a testament to your immense generosity.
I am also deeply grateful to the many healthcare providers who are working around the clock to deal with the pandemic crisis, while continuing to care for people with diabetes. It’s fitting that this year’s World Diabetes Day theme is nurses and certified diabetes care and education specialists. Your strength, compassion, and care are truly remarkable and worth celebrating. Thank you for advocating for us — even in the face of adversity.
Please know that we are continuing to work for you however we can. We are advocating for your right to own your own data. We are looking at better ways of developing software that serves you, the people you care for, and those who you care about. And we are working to bring continuous innovation to our diabetes community.
We hope you’ll consider supporting our work with a donation as we do our best to pave it forward.
With my deepest gratitude,
Howard LookPresident and CEO, Tidepool#ThisisTidepool
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