Building Community and Connection in Business with Craig Larsen and Dr. Peter Fotinos
Craig Larsen, Co-Founder and CEO, and Dr. Peter Fotinos, Chief Medical Officer of Excel Medical (Male Excel and Fem Excel), join The Bliss Business Podcast to explore proactive healthy aging: why prevention beats sick care, how telehealth keeps patients connected, and how compassion shapes their leadership.
Proactive healthy aging starts with refusing the idea that decline is simply part of getting older. In this episode of The Bliss Business Podcast, we welcome Craig Larsen, Co-Founder and CEO of Excel Medical, and Dr. Peter Fotinos, its Chief Medical Officer, the team behind the Male Excel and Fem Excel brands, to talk about prevention, trust, and community in a telehealth model supporting over 100,000 members.
In this episode we explore:
• Why medicine needs to move from sick care to prevention
• How Excel Medical keeps patients and doctors connected through telehealth
• Why symptoms matter as much as bloodwork in hormone care
• How providers are trained and supported across a remote network
• Why doctors should be partners to patients, not authority figures
• How compassion shows up in leadership, from the clinic to the team
Craig Larsen came to healthcare as a patient. After results from Dr. Fotinos that surprised him, he bought the business, became his partner, and set out to scale access for other men and women dealing with symptoms of aging. Dr. Fotinos saw a system built for early detection and sick care, where prevention rarely gets named as such.
Scaling that care without losing the relationship took design. Excel Medical digitized its 60-day patient check-ins so patients can report symptoms from their phones, built its own lab so blood kits can be mailed from home, and brings in a live video visit whenever something looks unusual. Providers train for four weeks before seeing patients, then keep learning through weekly case reviews and biannual summits.
The conversation closes on leadership. Craig explains why Excel Medical pays its medical liaisons at the top of the pay grade, and tells a personal story about housing an employee in need. Dr. Fotinos shares how Craig taught him to bring the same compassion he gave patients to his staff.
Building trust at scale without losing the personal touch is the same discipline Zero Company brings to the audience relationships of the companies it serves.
Key Takeaways
• (4:01) Craig Larsen on why he got into healthcare: “I saw it as an opportunity to get other guys like me and women that were also struggling with symptoms of aging and a way to spread the word and scale that business.”
• (6:10) Dr. Fotinos on prevention: “this is true prevention. Hormone replacement is the third leg to that stool.”
• (11:36) Craig Larsen on keeping care personal at scale: “we took that system of meeting that patient every 60 days and checking in with them on how their symptoms do and we digitized that”
• (21:20) Dr. Fotinos on the doctor-patient relationship: “We should not be authoritarian figures. We should be servants to our patients. We are partners in their care.”
• (32:18) Craig Larsen on why community matters in health: “We're not selling people washing machines, you know. We're dealing with people's health, which is very, very personal.”
• (41:39) Craig Larsen on a moment of compassion with an employee: “I just told her to come live with me.”
FAQ
What is proactive healthy aging?
Dr. Peter Fotinos of Excel Medical says people do not have to accept decline with age, and that real prevention, including hormone replacement, is the missing piece beyond diet and exercise. Craig Larsen, Excel Medical’s CEO, built the company to bring that approach to men and women nationwide.
How does Excel Medical keep patients connected in a telehealth model?
Craig Larsen explains that Excel Medical digitized its 60-day patient check-ins so patients report symptoms by phone, schedules a video visit whenever a provider sees something unusual, and runs its own lab that mails blood kits to patients at home. The company supports over 100,000 members this way.
How does compassion show up in leadership at Excel Medical?
Craig Larsen pays medical liaisons at the top of the pay grade and once housed an employee who was living in her car. Dr. Peter Fotinos says Craig taught him to give his staff the same compassion he gives patients.
Proactive healthy aging begins when leaders treat patients and teams as people first. Learn more at maleexcel.com and femexcel.com. See the guest profiles for Craig Larsen and Dr. Peter Fotinos, watch the video, or explore more Featured Guest Series conversations.
🎙️ Hosted by Tullio Siragusa and Mike Liwski
🎧 Produced by Tullio Siragusa
Chief Medical Officer of Excel Medical
Dr. Fotinos is a world-renowned expert in hormone replacement therapy (HRT), age management, and preventative medicine. With decades of experience, he has developed innovative methods in HRT, achieving remarkable success in improving patients’ overall well-being. By focusing on the root causes of aging and hormonal imbalances, Dr. Fotinos ensures that his patients not only feel younger but also live healthier, more fulfilling lives.
He earned a Bachelor of Science and medical degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a residency at Carolina Medical Center, now Atrium.
Co-Founder and CEO Excel Medical
Craig has over 30 years of executive leadership. He has extensive experience in scaling businesses to profitability, including 13 years dedicated to growing the healthy aging market. He co-founded Aquesta Bank and later sold it to UCBI. He also co-founded the first cloud-based software in the US. He is presently the co-founder and CEO of Excel Medical. "By optimizing hormones and lifestyles, we empower men and women with proactive health solutions that promote long-term protection and vitality."
