Ishan Patel: How Audien Hearing Cut Out The Middleman To Make Quality Hearing Aids Affordable For Everyone

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ishan Patel, Dylan Garber, and Zack Hubbard.

The three co-founders of Audien Hearing are Ishan Patel, Dylan Garber, and Zack Hubbard. Ishan is a tenacious CEO responsible for spearheading the culture that has disrupted the age-old hearing industry. Dylan comes from a background working in numerous direct -to-consumer (DTC) startups with a focus on design and product development, and Zack is a marketing expert who was responsible for managing tens of millions in ad-spend across numerous different industries.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

All three of us had backgrounds in sales and marketing, each trying a handful of entrepreneurial ventures before founding Audien Hearing. Audien Hearing was then brought to life to make hearing accessible and affordable for everyone. Both Dylan and I saw the tragic impact hearing loss had on both of our grandparent’s lives. The effect on a person’s quality of life and cognitive decline can be unbearable. Hearing loss has even been found to increase the odds of Alzheimer’s and dementia, so when the FDA created the over the counter (OTC) hearing category in 2017, we knew this presented an opportunity to disrupt and progress an outdated industry to help millions of Americans. Our third co-founder, Zack Hubbard, who had extensive marketing experience and education before the company’s inception, was able to help bring Audien’s vision to life in a very tangible way. — Ishan Patel

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Since the industry’s inception, hearing aids were prescription only, and it was a lengthy, expensive process to buy one. For a long time, hearing aids cost nearly $5,000 for a pair, and most simply couldn’t afford them. The work we are doing now is disruptive because we’re making hearing affordable for everyone by leveraging advancements in today’s technology. We are rethinking the business model and cutting out the middleman to bring the consumer effective alternatives to prescription hearing aids at a fraction of the price. — Dylan Garber

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Over the years, we have encountered numerous challenges, many of which were not necessarily funny but undeniably expensive. That said, the following are not exactly mistakes, but rather amusing anecdotes from our initial days: when we operated out of a team member’s garage, packing orders, the postman would arrive to collect large bags of packages. He would sometimes cast suspicious glances at us, seemingly thinking we were involved in illicit activities. During this period, we also exclusively accessed our Facebook ad account while parked at a local McDonald’s. This peculiar practice emerged during the COVID-era when entering indoor spaces was restricted. We developed a superstitious belief that our home IP addresses were somehow tainted or flagged by Facebook, so consequently, we opted for the parking lot strategy to navigate this perceived challenge. — Zack Hubbard

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

We’ve had two brilliant advisors who have helped us immensely over the last few years. The first being Steve Jenks, who believed in us before we’d accomplished anything and agreed to mentor us since the company’s inception. Steve is the CMO of Empower Retirement and has decades of experience in marketing at the highest level. Our second advisor, Scott Cohen, Founder and CEO of Byte (which was acquired for $1B after just three years), joined this past year to help get us to the level that’s needed to be a billion-dollar company.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

In most cases, being disruptive is a good thing. Just because something has been done a certain way for a certain amount of time doesn’t mean it can’t be done better.

In the hearing industry, this was certainly the case. The legislation mandating a category of OTC hearing aids be created certainly agreed that it was time for the industry to be disrupted. Given our mission has since been centered around disruption, we have actively tried to flip the age-old business model on its head, aiming to make the most affordable hearing aids on the market for consumers a reality.

We started by selling hearing aids for under $100 and have since focused relentlessly on making quality products at an affordable price for virtually everyone. We will continue disrupting as much as possible…without ruffling too many feathers as we go along.

Can you please share 5 ideas one needs to shake up their industry?

1. . You need to provide an easy solution to a problem.

In our case, the problem we solved was that hearing aids have been notoriously expensive and inaccessible for most. We made it affordable and easy for anyone to get access to hearing solutions

2. You need to leverage technology.

From the internet to digital advertising or AI, technology is constantly enabling businesses to disrupt the traditional way of doing things. If you want to disrupt an industry, you have to stay on the cutting edge of tech and leverage it.

3. Surround yourself with dreamers.

To make any real change, you have to dream big, and actually believe you can make those dreams come true. Disrupting an industry doesn’t come easily, and it doesn’t come to fruition without some big ideas, and people who aren’t afraid to dream them up.

4. Be a student.

One key to disrupting an industry is to constantly remain in state of learning and finding new ways to improve. While others think they already know what’s best, this is really how you stay ahead of the curve.

5. Remove all assumptions. Challenge what others think is impossible.

No matter what people tell you can or can’t be done, you have to believe in a certain vision and question the way things have been done before you. True innovators and disruptors won’t take no for an answer and insist on finding a way to make their vision possible — no matter what the “experts” say.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

We are focused solely on Audien for right now, but in the future, I’m sure we will shake things up with the team in a new industry; whether it’s building another brand, dabbling in technology, software, or something else.

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

Dylan: After watching the movie Iron Man, I dove into engineering and electronics, and went to school for electrical engineering, but wound up dropping out after wanting to pursue my own business. It sparked my curiosity about what was possible through technology.

Ishan: Watching the series Naruto during my childhood had a huge impact on my life trajectory. For one, it instilled a relentless desire to hone my skills and be great. It also inspired me to build a culture in my life and business that got our company to where it is today. I even go by “Hokage” (cultural leader) instead of CEO, due to the impact that it’s had.

Zack: It wasn’t a book or podcast, but an interview on 60 Minutes with Elon Musk that had a profound impact on my thinking. The interview goes into how he sold PayPal and put all of his earnings into SpaceX and Tesla, to the point where he was nearly broke and neither company was going anywhere. Still, he pushed through and managed to make SpaceX and Tesla into two of the most valuable companies in the world. It showed me that when you believe in something, you have to be willing to do anything to make it a reality.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” — Steve Jobs

We’ve always dreamed bigger than anyone thought was possible, often even ourselves. But we’ve still had the courage to keep fighting toward that dream every day, so a quote like this from someone as impactful as Steve Jobs means a lot. Maybe it means we’re not so crazy after all.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

If there’s anything we can inspire that would bring good to people, it’s to follow your dreams and stop at nothing to make them happen. If more people believed that they could make their dreams into reality, the world would undoubtedly be a better place.

How can our readers follow you online?

Follow us on Instagram:

@ishanvpatel @dylangarberr @zack.nft

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!