Meet Your Guide: Blair Hirst
Blair Hirst has spent two decades at the intersection of digital health, product strategy, community infrastructure, and venture building — working inside major health systems, startups, and founder ecosystems where good ideas often fail because the builder is missing context, not talent.

This residency is for founders who need practical judgment while they build. Many founder programs hand every team the same pitch-deck playbook, assuming warm networks, venture fluency, technical teams, and enough runway to experiment. That is not the reality for many overlooked founders, non-profit builders, community operators, and rural or health-equity teams.

The residency is built around a different premise: founders closest to the problem deserve direct access to industry pattern recognition, product clarity, operating rhythm, and community-aware strategy. Instead of generic programming, you get guided build support — a place to pressure-test your model, sharpen your offer, map a product or pilot path, clarify who pays, and prepare a partner-ready narrative without losing sight of the people you serve.

Why this residency exists:
Most care economy, sustainable health, infrastructure, and rural development work does not fit cleanly into conventional startup categories. It often involves trust, policy, benefits, workforce, food, housing, access, local institutions, and long relationship cycles. That kind of work needs more than demo-day momentum. It needs durable strategy and a guide who understands both the market and the mission.

What you build here:
A clear founder thesis rooted in your lived or operator insight
A focused offer that customers, funders, or partners can understand
A product, service, or pilot pathway that matches your real constraints
A revenue and partnership narrative that can survive outside the room
A practical operating cadence for moving from idea to traction

Blair’s role is not to run you through a generic curriculum. It is to help you see around corners, make better build decisions, and turn community-rooted knowledge into infrastructure with staying power.