First heard about Virta in the PH Ask Q on breakout companies to watch in 2018, then saw it again in Business Insider's The 19 hottest San Francisco startups to watch in 2018. "The latest venture from Sami Inkinen, who co-founded Trulia, was inspired by his personal life. Virta Health hopes to tackle Type 2 diabetes, which Inkinen himself was diagnosed with in 2004. Aided by physicians, coaches and algorithms, each regimen Virta designs for its clients "addresses the underlying biochemistry of diabetes and shifts the paradigm from management to reversal," Virta says. The aim is to do all that without medications or surgery."

Inkinen is great but the real juice is in the trio - the other two co-founders, Phinney and Volek are arguably the most knowledgeable sources for ketosis for health transformation. Virta is poised and capable of changing the life of tens of millions in < 5 years and are one of the most important startups in the world.

A well-formulated ketogenic diet is 100% the best way for pre-diabetics and diabetics to manage (and reverse) their condition. Do they need Virta? Depends. Compared to spending $400-500 per month on medications (which is common); joining Virta makes sense. Having said that, it's entirely possible to achieve the same results on your own - it just means investing time & energy educating yourself to the process. So if money is no object, or you're spending it already on meds, go for it. If not, don't worry, you can get there on your own with focused effort :)