He received an honors degree from Harvard (where he majored in economics and played varsity football), with a background in management consulting. Now, he’s working on how to best use technology, design, and data to humanize healthcare. Meet Ali, Strategy Associate on Oscar’s Finance team.
What were you doing before Oscar?
I was a strategy consultant at Bain & Company in San Francisco. I advised investment firms on potential acquisitions and technology companies on growth strategy.
How did you first connect with Oscar?
I first connected with Oscar through Vijay, our GM of Texas. Vijay and I were good buddies from college. When Vijay shared his excitement about Oscar’s vision and mentioned that they were looking for someone to join the Strategic Finance team, I was excited to apply!
What was your job when you started?
I did a lot of competitive analysis during my first couple months. I also helped with our 2017 expansion strategy. After that I worked on a few really interesting projects including our 2016 operating plan and our most recent round of equity fundraising.
And what does it entail now?
Right now my time is focused on two key initiatives: 2017 pricing and financial stewardship within Operations. I’m helping to make sure we stay on track by monitoring our spend, renegotiating our vendor contracts, and identifying inefficiencies in our processes.
How would you sum up life at Oscar?
Life at Oscar is a lot like a running a Tough Mudder. The healthcare system is an obstacle course and our team is still in the early stages of the race. We can see plenty of obstacles ahead –obstacles which we probably couldn’t overcome on our own, but working together, we have what it takes to win. There will always be challenges ahead, but regardless of what comes our way, we’ll continue working through it to cross the finish line…no matter how bruised and dirty we get along the way.