About Upward Growth:
Strategy for companies competing in the health plan market
Most companies competing in the health plan market underestimate what it takes to build durable, repeatable traction. They hire reps, chase pilots, pressure-test decks with advisors, and wonder why momentum still stalls.
The problem isn’t effort. It’s that growth in the health plan market requires a different kind of thinking. And almost no one teaches it.
Every Tuesday, I publish what I have learned from nearly 15 years of selling to the payor market: Medicare Advantage plans, Medicaid MCOs, commercial health plans, Blues plans, and national carriers.
I’m Ryan Peterson, founder of Upward Growth, and this newsletter is built on strategic insight about how health tech companies scale with payors, and yes, the tactics that actually work when you are in the trenches.
Who Reads This
CEOs and GTM leaders at health tech vendors
Investors backing portfolio companies in healthcare
Executives at provider organizations building solutions that serve health plans
Consultants advising clients in the payor market
Health plan leaders who want to better identify and work with the right vendors
Anyone responsible for turning early wins with health plans into something that compounds
About Ryan Peterson
I've spent nearly 15 years in health tech growth leadership, holding senior roles at Advantmed, Reveleer, NantHealth, and Quantum Health. Across those roles, I've led sales organizations, built go-to-market strategies, negotiated enterprise contracts with health plans, and helped companies scale from early revenue through nine-figure ARR, across both software and services. I've sat in the seat, carried the bag, led teams, and built playbooks within health tech companies that went from scrappy to category leaders.
I lead Upward Growth, a health plan market advisory firm that works with health tech vendors, investors, provider organizations, and management consultancies to build go-to-market strategies around how health plans actually buy, operate, and make decisions. If you're interested in working together, contact us here.
I write this newsletter every Tuesday because the knowledge gap in this market is too wide and too expensive. I learned this stuff the hard way. There is no reason everyone else needs to.
Choose Your Newsletter Membership
Every Tuesday, Upward Growth delivers a new article on health tech go-to-market strategy, payor market dynamics, and CMS regulatory developments that affect how vendors sell to health plans.
Free subscribers get:
Market analysis: insights on payor trends and health tech moves shaping the field.
Frameworks: practical tools you can apply to positioning, sales motions, and growth strategy.
Archive access: the full library of free posts.
Paid subscribers get everything above, plus:
Full editions: the complete Tuesday articles, including the deep-dive strategy sections not shared publicly.
Playbooks: private frameworks I use with executive teams.
Case breakdowns: real examples of what works and what does not in scaling.
Direct access: the ability to reply privately with your questions.
💡 Pro tip: Many subscribers expense Upward Growth through their company’s professional development, training, or learning budget. Here’s a one-minute email template to get your manager to approve expensing your subscription.
Sponsorships
Upward Growth reaches over 4,500 health tech decision-makers every week: CEOs, CROs, investors, and health plan leaders shaping how vendors grow in the payor market.
Sponsorship puts your solution directly in front of this decision-making audience. Sponsors are prominently featured in the weekly send, alongside articles that consistently achieve high read, share, and action rates among industry leaders.
👉 [Submit a Sponsorship Inquiry]
Start Here
Not sure where to begin? This collection will help you jump straight to what matters:
→ Start Here: Making the Most of Upward Growth
