Bill Snyder is the Founder & CEO of Cylinder Health, a digital health company transforming how gastrointestinal (GI) care is delivered. With more than 70% of Americans experiencing GI issues multiple times a month, Cylinder addresses a significant and often overlooked area of healthcare through a comprehensive, virtual-first platform. The company provides members with personalized care plans, access to a coordinated team of gastroenterologists, dietitians, and health coaches, and tools for symptom tracking and behavior change. By partnering with employers and health plans, Cylinder improves outcomes, reduces absenteeism, and lowers total cost of care.

Bill brings deep expertise in both healthcare and technology, having previously led commercial and payer partnerships at Virta Health and served in leadership roles at Humana, where he oversaw its $500 million IL market.

We had the opportunity to connect with Bill to learn more about his journey into healthcare innovation, how Cylinder is tackling one of the most prevalent and costly areas of care, and what it takes to deliver high-touch, tech-enabled support for millions in need in our latest Top of the Ladder feature.

Could you share a little bit about your childhood background?

I grew up in North Jersey with my parents, my older brother and my younger sister.  I always enjoyed staying active, including playing ice hockey throughout the Northeast. I was never one of the best players, but I learned a lot about grit and resiliency playing hockey.  From there I left to attend Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN and studied Economics and Political Science.

How did you find yourself in health care?

I’ve spent my entire career in health care. After college, I joined Humana’s leadership rotational program and spent 12 years there, overseeing its $500M Illinois market. That experience gave me a deep understanding of the broader health care ecosystem and the important role innovative digital health solutions can play in enhancing patient care.

While at Humana, I co-created my first digital solution—a patient-provider connection platform—which sparked my interest in building scalable, tech-enabled models that truly meet people’s needs. From there, I held leadership roles at Virta Health and Vivante Health before founding Cylinder in 2021.

Each of these experiences has shaped my perspective and helped me grow as a leader. But the constant throughout has been a passion for improving how we deliver care—making it more accessible, more human, and more effective.

What excites you most about Cylinder’s mission, and how is the company’s approach to GI care truly different?

Digestive health is an area that touches nearly half of the US population (up to 70 million Americans are grappling with some form of digestive issue), but it’s been overlooked for too long.

What really excites me is that we’re not just addressing the $136B digestive care industry, we’re building the first truly comprehensive GI platform that meets people where they are, connects the dots across symptoms and specialties, and delivers real outcomes.

Our model is built around the members and their unique needs. The problem is there’s no novel biomarker for GI. There’s no singular way to tell how a patient is doing quickly and effectively. It takes spending time with the patient and getting to know what’s going on in their life. And unfortunately, the doctors in the brick-and-mortar setting are doing the best they can, but they have limited time. They can only see patients for short periods and are inundated with patients in need.

That creates a big opportunity for us at Cylinder and why we’ve had so much success. We can spent time understanding the patient, build an evidence-based clinical pathway based on their personal need, and then wrap them with a coordinated care team of health coaches, registered dieticians, gastroenterologists, and internal medicine specialists.

It’s one platform for all GI needs, which means less confusion, better results, and significantly lower costs for employers and health plans. Our care team works hand-in-hand with members to help minimize ER visits and increase medication adherence.

We are the leading digestive health platform, delivering the most peer-reviewed, published clinical outcomes at scale, delivering up to a 5:1 ROI and achieving 13% employee engagement—more than double the industry average.

What is your long-term vision for Cylinder?

Our vision is rooted in delivering care that not only addresses symptoms but anticipates them—leveraging our scale, data, and clinical expertise to predict the onset of chronic digestive conditions and identify the most effective intervention for each individual, anywhere in the world.

We’ve already helped over 100,000 people feel better through personalized, clinician-backed care. But that’s just the beginning. As we continue to expand, our platform will house the richest longitudinal data set in GI care, giving us an unmatched understanding of what works for whom, and when. That insight—combined with our human-first approach—will allow us to make predictive, precision-based care the standard.

Cylinder is committed to collaborating with world-class researchers (from organizations such as Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Cedars Sinai, Mayo, and Brown) to analyze and publish our outcomes in peer reviewed journals in order to advance the science and better serve our members.

With that, our goal is to be the partner that people, employers, and health plans trust to guide every individual through their digestive health journey. We’ll continue building a best-in-class platform, expanding our reach, and pushing the industry toward smarter, value-based models that reward real outcomes.

You’ve held key roles at Humana and Virta – how have you seen the healthcare industry shift over time, and what trends are you most optimistic about today?

The industry has slowly—but meaningfully—shifted from fee-for-service to value-based thinking. And we’re seeing more recognition that specialty care, not just primary care, drives costs and outcomes. At Virta, we proved that intensive virtual care could reverse chronic disease. At Cylinder, we’re proving that the same model can transform digestive health.

I’m most optimistic about two trends: the rise of virtual specialty care and the growing demand for measurable outcomes. Employers and plans are tired of point solutions without proof. They want partners who deliver real value, and they’re finally in a position to demand it.

How do you approach building and sustaining high-performing, mission-aligned teams?

We’re really fortunate to be a mission-driven company. Many of the people who join us are deeply connected to our purpose—often because they or someone they love has experienced the impact of digestive health issues firsthand. They understand the scale of the problem and come in ready to make a difference. That shared passion is foundational to how we work. We prioritize transparency, accountability, and collaboration across the organization—and it starts with the people we bring on board.

We look for individuals who hold themselves and others accountable, who are clear-eyed about their strengths and growth areas, and who show up without ego—focused on the mission and energized by working with other purpose-driven professionals. That’s the baseline. Every new associate goes through a rigorous screening process to ensure alignment not only on skill, but also on values.

It all begins with clarity—on the mission, the metrics, and what success looks like. I believe in hiring people who care deeply about the “why” and then giving them the autonomy and support to figure out the “how.” We spend a lot of time ensuring alignment across teams so we can move fast and iterate without losing focus. Psychological safety is key to that speed and innovation. When people feel trusted, challenged, and connected to the mission, that’s when their best work happens.

Are there any specific books or podcasts that have had a significant impact on your personal growth or leadership style?

A few books that have had a meaningful impact on me include:

• “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz – a great reminder of how difficult building can be and the struggles that every founder faces along the journey.
• “The Obstacle is the Way” by Ryan Holiday – a great read about how our view shapes our environment and applies some of the disciplines of stoicism to how we lead and act.
• Last year our senior leadership team read “The Five Disfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni together and did ongoing training leveraging the book’s framework which we all really enjoyed.

What’s one piece of advice you would offer to other health care startup CEOs navigating today’s challenges?

Focus relentlessly on outcomes. It’s easy to get distracted by growth metrics or fundraising headlines, but at the end of the day, what matters is whether you’re solving a real problem in a way that delivers measurable value.

Health care is hard. The incentives are complex, the stakes are high, and the path to scale is never linear. But if you stay close to your members, build around their needs, and partner wisely, you can build something that lasts—and makes a difference.