# Russ Richmond

> Russ Richmond, MD, is a physician-turned-company builder and the CEO and co-founder of Laudio, a Boston healthcare technology company acquired by Ascend Learning in September 2025. Across McKinsey, D2Hawkeye, Objective Health, Advanced Practice Strategies, and Laudio, his career has followed a consistent idea: data and software matter when they help frontline leaders make a better decision or have a more useful human interaction.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-founder at Laudio
- **Organizations:** Laudio, Ascend Learning, Advanced Practice Strategies, Objective Health, McKinsey & Company, D2Hawkeye, Verisk Health, Explorys, Validic, BioDigital, Mass General Brigham Innovation Growth Board
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS in Biology, University of Michigan, MD, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Internship in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, University of Michigan Health System
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Laudio, whose platform served thousands of leaders responsible for more than 300,000 frontline staff by September 2025., Led Advanced Practice Strategies through restructuring and an eventual acquisition., Launched Objective Health within McKinsey & Company and helped more than 100 hospitals improve strategy and costs in 2011.

## Career timeline

- **1999-2000** — Trained in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Michigan Health System.
- **2000** — Moved from clinical training into healthcare consulting at McKinsey & Company.
- **2000s** — Worked at D2Hawkeye, later serving as executive vice president; Verisk Health acquired the company in 2009.
- **2009** — Returned to McKinsey and launched Objective Health, a provider-focused data analytics business.
- **2013** — Became CEO and a board director of Advanced Practice Strategies.
- **2017** — Co-founded Laudio with CJ Floros, Mridul Ganesh, and Tim Darling.
- **2018** — Laudio publicly launched its staff relationship management platform.
- **2023** — Laudio announced a $13 million Series B financing round led by Define Ventures.
- **2024** — Hosted and appeared at Laudio's inaugural Leadership Innovation Exchange and discussed AI-enabled frontline operations at ViVE.
- **2025** — Ascend Learning acquired Laudio; Richmond continued as Laudio CEO.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Laudio, whose platform served thousands of leaders responsible for more than 300,000 frontline staff by September 2025.
- Led Advanced Practice Strategies through restructuring and an eventual acquisition.
- Launched Objective Health within McKinsey & Company and helped more than 100 hospitals improve strategy and costs in 2011.
- Served on the boards of healthcare technology companies including Explorys, Validic, and BioDigital.
- Raised a $13 million Series B for Laudio in 2023 before its acquisition by Ascend Learning in 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — Laudio announced AI-powered performance insights for hospitals and health systems, and Richmond appeared on the agenda as CEO at the second LINE conference.
- **2025-09** — Ascend Learning acquired Laudio to expand its healthcare workforce management offerings.
- **2025-05** — Richmond published Laudio's new mission statement: to inspire and amplify the people who deliver great care.
- **2024-09** — Richmond hosted a panel at Laudio's inaugural Leadership Innovation Exchange in Boston.

## Links

- Website: https://laudio.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/russrichmond

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/russ-richmond
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-26