# Nikhil Krishnan

> Nikhil Krishnan is the founder and 'Thinkboi' behind Out-of-Pocket, a healthcare newsletter and education platform that makes the bewildering business of American healthcare funny, accessible, and actually worth reading. A Brooklyn-based writer, creator, and early-stage investor, Krishnan grew up in a family of physicians and parlayed a career in healthcare research at CB Insights and clinical trial partnerships at TrialSpark into one of the most original media brands in health tech - one that includes a newsletter with 30,000+ subscribers, educational crash courses, a medical bankruptcy card game, a children's book about clinical trials, hackathons, and a scout fund backing early-stage healthcare startups.

- **Role:** Founder & Thinkboi at Out-of-Pocket
- **Organizations:** Out-of-Pocket
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Sustainable Development & Business Management, Columbia University
- **Known for:** Built Out-of-Pocket newsletter from 0 to 30,000+ subscribers, Previously grew CB Insights healthcare newsletter to 90,000+ subscribers, Created and sold a medical bankruptcy-themed card game on Amazon

## Career timeline

- **2014** — Graduated from Columbia University
- **2014-2017** — Roles at Uber, Small Business Administration, and Relationship Science
- **2017-2019** — Senior Industry Analyst at CB Insights covering digital health and biotech; built healthcare newsletter to 90,000+ subscribers
- **2019-2020** — Strategic Partnerships Manager at TrialSpark
- **2020-02** — Founded Out-of-Pocket healthcare newsletter
- **2021** — Released medical bankruptcy card game on Amazon
- **2021** — Self-published children's book 'If You Give A Mouse Metformin' about clinical trials
- **2022** — Featured in Crain's New York Business; newsletter surpassed 20,000+ subscribers
- **2023** — Launched healthcare crash courses and scout fund for early-stage healthcare investing
- **2024** — Co-hosted AI hackathon with Deerfield in NYC (Oct 24-26); newsletter grew to 30,000+ subscribers
- **2025** — Hosted healthcare hardware hackathon in SF; co-hosted hackathon with Google Cloud; planning Med Machina conference

## Achievements

- Built Out-of-Pocket newsletter from 0 to 30,000+ subscribers
- Previously grew CB Insights healthcare newsletter to 90,000+ subscribers
- Created and sold a medical bankruptcy-themed card game on Amazon
- Self-published illustrated children's book 'If You Give A Mouse Metformin' about clinical trials
- Launched multiple healthcare educational crash courses with 1,000+ signups per course
- Hosted hackathons, conferences, and dinners with 32 sponsors in 2025
- Built scout fund for early-stage healthcare startup investing
- Featured in Crain's New York Business, Nieman Journalism Lab, and Substack Podcast
- Co-hosted AI hackathons with Deerfield and Google Cloud
- Built Get-Real Club, a community platform for structured social connections

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — Hosted healthcare hardware hackathon in San Francisco (April 17-19)
- **2025-01** — Out-of-Pocket hosted hackathons and events with 32 sponsors; courses hit 1,000+ signups with 250+ live attendees
- **2024-10** — Co-hosted AI hackathon (B2B edition) with Deerfield in NYC
- **2024-07** — Co-hosted hackathon with Google Cloud focused on healthcare AI prototyping
- **2024-06** — Interviewed on AI trends in healthcare as Out-of-Pocket founder

## Links

- Website: https://www.outofpocket.health
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thinkboi
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/nikillinit

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/nikhil-krishnan
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-04-22