Philip Van den Bergh & Salvador Severich
Salvus Health
Meet the founders of Salvus Health, Philip and Salvador, who are driven by the mission to improve care for people around the world. Salvus Health helps patients to be more empowered with the help of their local pharmacy, when it comes to pharmaceutical or preventive care. With end-users that are patients, a big impact can be made on people’s lives.
PHILIP VAN DEN BERGH
Your house catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save one item. What would it be?
I would save a hand-crafted family book that my uncle created several years ago with unique insights into my family going back 4 to 5 generations. It's something that would be impossible to recover, as it's not digital, and something I’d like to pass to my children. It’s important that they know where they come from.
What is the best book you have ever read, and why?
Probably ‘Black Swan' by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. I took away from that book that life is not linear, that sudden events can very much determine your life and that the risk for those events is higher than we often imagine. Being lucky can help in life, but reducing the risk of being unlucky is an important strategy too.
What in your life are you most grateful for?
I was lucky to grow up in a warm family that supported me in all my undertakings - in business and my personal life. This led to having a wonderful family of my own, with my lovely wife and two happy daughters while leading a start-up which gives me energy to improve myself and give something back to society every day.
Could you go back to not being an entrepreneur? In other words, do you see yourself working for someone else (again) or absolutely not and why?
Even though I hope that it won't be necessary, it would definitely be an option in case something would drastically change in my career. Still, it will always be important to me to be able to make an impact with the work that I’m doing and feel ownership about my day-to-day activities.
SALVADOR SEVERICH
What do people need to know about you? What is something people should know about you?
I’m quite reserved and serious but I can also be fun. I like to spend time with my friends and family, especially around a table with some good food and wine. I had the opportunity to travel quite a lot and learn more about different cultures. Actually, that’s always an important factor when planning my holidays. I'm always looking for a “reason” to visit a friend in a place or country where I have not been yet :)
What is the best book you have ever read, and why?
I really enjoyed reading The Hobbit as a child. It was a present from my aunt as a summer read and I didn't know about the JRR Tolkien universe before. I was immediately captivated by the storyline and the adventurous quest that the main character, Bilbo, embarks on. I enjoyed traveling around this fantasy world filled with fictional creatures and with many exciting challenges along the journey...
What gives you satisfaction as an entrepreneur?
I love being constantly challenged and the problem-solving required to move forward with a new business. Things hardly ever go according to plan, especially in the early stages, and you need to be prepared for almost any kind of situation. You are trying to figure out and understand many things at the same time (the market, the problem, the solution, etc.) while building a team that can support you in this journey. In that sense, finding product market fit is an exciting process for me, with plenty of back-and-forth iterations until you can figure out the way ahead.
What in your life are you most grateful for?
I’m most grateful for the education and the values that I received from my family, including my grandparents and great grandparents, whom I was lucky enough to meet while growing up. Thanks to that, I believe that if I’d have to start again from scratch, I could always face the challenges ahead ready and prepared.