How Lassie Is Automating Healthcare Administration

Alex Rampell and Olivia Moore speak with Lassie cofounders Steijn Pelle and Frédéric Renken about bringing AI to one of the most overlooked parts of the economy: small businesses. Inspired by time spent working inside dental practices, Pelle and Renken set out to automate the administrative work that keeps healthcare providers away from patients. They discuss how AI agents are changing billing, insurance claims, patient payments, and other operational workflows, allowing practices to spend less time on paperwork and more time delivering care. The conversation explores AI agents, software that performs work rather than simply storing information, onboarding AI into real-world businesses, and why healthcare administration offers one of the biggest opportunities for automation. Along the way, they discuss product design, go-to-market strategy, and what it takes to build AI systems that operate reliably in complex business environments. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 01:12 - Story Behind Lassie 03:46 - Embedding in the Customer's Office Before Building a Product 05:39 - How the Product Build Has Changed with Better Models 07:23 - Software Never Did the Work but AI Finally Does 17:24 - 98% Automation: How Lassie Got Agents to Actually Run a Practice 22:08 - Startup vs Incumbent in the AI Era 33:35 - The Master Plan: From Dentists to Every Small Business 39:27 - What It Takes to Hire & Build When You're Selling to Main Street 55:59 - How Do You Reach Hundreds of Thousands of Small Businesses? Resources: Follow Steijn Pelle on X: https://x.com/steijnpelle Follow Frédéric Renken on X: https://x.com/fredericrenken Follow Alex Rampell on X: https://x.com/arampell Follow Olivia Moore on X: https://x.com/omooretweets Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Alex RampellhostSteijn PelleguestOlivia Moorehost

Jul 30, 202658mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: July 30, 2026
Duration: 58m
Channel: a16z
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Alex Rampell and Olivia Moore speak with Lassie cofounders Steijn Pelle and Frédéric Renken about bringing AI to one of the most overlooked parts of the economy: small businesses. Inspired by time spent working inside dental practices, Pelle and Renken set out to automate the administrative work that keeps healthcare providers away from patients. They discuss how AI agents are changing billing, insurance claims, patient payments, and other operational workflows, allowing practices to spend less time on paperwork and more time delivering care. The conversation explores AI agents, software that performs work rather than simply storing information, onboarding AI into real-world businesses, and why healthcare administration offers one of the biggest opportunities for automation. Along the way, they discuss product design, go-to-market strategy, and what it takes to build AI systems that operate reliably in complex business environments. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 01:12 - Story Behind Lassie 03:46 - Embedding in the Customer's Office Before Building a Product 05:39 - How the Product Build Has Changed with Better Models 07:23 - Software Never Did the Work but AI Finally Does 17:24 - 98% Automation: How Lassie Got Agents to Actually Run a Practice 22:08 - Startup vs Incumbent in the AI Era 33:35 - The Master Plan: From Dentists to Every Small Business 39:27 - What It Takes to Hire & Build When You're Selling to Main Street 55:59 - How Do You Reach Hundreds of Thousands of Small Businesses? Resources: Follow Steijn Pelle on X: https://x.com/steijnpelle Follow Frédéric Renken on X: https://x.com/fredericrenken Follow Alex Rampell on X: https://x.com/arampell Follow Olivia Moore on X: https://x.com/omooretweets Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see http://a16z.com/disclosures.

SPEAKERS

Alex Rampell
host
a16z investor and podcast host focused on software, marketplaces, and fintech.
Steijn Pelle
guest
Co-founder of Lassie; previously worked at Robinhood and moved from Amsterdam to Silicon Valley.
Olivia Moore
host
a16z investor and podcast host who interviews founders about product and go-to-market.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of a16z, featuring Alex Rampell and Steijn Pelle, How Lassie Is Automating Healthcare Administration explores lassie brings AI agents to automate dental practice admin work Lassie began after the founders observed highly rated doctors spending ~200 hours/month on manual billing and insurance paperwork due to broken, understaffed back offices.

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