“Live in the future, then build what’s missing.”
— Paul Graham, Y Combinator
Who I am
Founder building AI services for healthcare operations
Hi, I’m Bill Edwards, a UK‑based founder with a background in investment analysis and enterprise B2B sales, now co‑founding a non‑clinical AI call‑answering agency for UK dentists. I like challenging operational problems where software + process compound into durable cash flow.
What I’m working on
AI call answering for UK dental practices
From early 2026 I’m co-founding a UK agency that deploys phone-only, non-clinical AI receptionists into dental practices.
Roughly a third of calls to UK dental practices go unanswered – lost revenue, frustrated patients and extra pressure on reception teams.
My co-founder has already built and run AI phone systems for dentists and tourism boards. We’re turning that into a focused vertical agency: I own customer acquisition and commercial strategy; he owns implementation and delivery.
In plain terms, our AI agents:
- Answer inbound calls
- Handle routine questions: opening hours, directions, standard FAQs
- Book, amend and cancel appointments in the existing practice-management or booking system
- Capture and confirm key details so staff aren’t constantly re-typing information
It’s a compact but meaningful market: ~12–14k UK practices, typically 4–6 clinicians each, where the phone is still the main front door. Every extra answered call is more revenue, better diary utilisation and easier access for patients.
We’re aiming for ~98% of inbound calls answered, with most handled end-to-end by AI and complex queries handed to reception.
How I think
A few mental models that guide how I build:
Evidence first
Hedge fund work forced me to check assumptions and back recommendations with evidence. If I’m making a claim, I want data behind it, not just enthusiasm.
Customer‑language only
Enterprise sales taught me to speak in the problems and vocabulary of the person across the table, not internal jargon.
Keep incentives in view
In large organisations, the quality of an idea is only part of the story. You also need to understand incentives, risk and who actually has power to say yes.
Role clarity over heroics
My first ventures made it clear I shouldn’t pretend to be the senior engineer. I’m at my best owning customers, markets and strategy alongside a technical partner who owns implementation.
Recent ventures (and what I learnt)
In mid-2024 I went all-in on entrepreneurship and built two small ventures. They didn’t become big businesses, but they materially changed how I operate.
Missed Call Maestro
AI call-answering SaaS for tradespeople
I spent about four months building the product solo, teaching myself to code and deploying AI call flows. I onboarded two clients but never got them into consistent live usage: one lost interest; the other needed heavy customisation that didn’t make sense at the price point.
The headline lessons:
- “Cheap to many” doesn’t work if you don’t have a distribution engine.
- Complex operations tools are slow and brittle to build without a technical co-founder.
- I’m better suited to higher-ticket, lower-volume, vertical offers than mass-market SaaS.
Leadverve AI
AI / automation studio
Leadverve AI was a boutique automation studio. I got into serious talks with a FTSE 250-level company about AI implementation – and they correctly decided I didn’t yet have the technical depth or team to be their long-term partner.
I’d spent a lot of time trying to learn everything myself and ended up proficient in many things, masterful in none. The gap was obvious.
The conclusion: commit to a clear role. I’m at my best owning customers, positioning and commercial structure alongside a technical partner who owns implementation.
Both ventures are being deliberately wound down. On paper they failed; in practice they clarified who I serve, how I structure teams and what kind of business I want to build.
Why healthcare operations and AI
I didn’t wake up obsessed with dental telephony. The direction came from exposure and pattern‑recognition.
My co‑founder had been implementing AI phone agents for dentists and local tourism boards. As we compared notes and spoke with people in and around healthcare, the same pattern kept showing up: high inbound call volume, stretched staff and a lot of patients simply not getting through.
Through an investor’s lens, the niche is straightforwardly attractive:
- Phone‑dependent, operationally stressed practices.
- Clear unit‑economic upside from small improvements in answered calls and conversion.
- Reliability and compliance needs that favour focused vertical providers over generic “AI receptionist” tools.
My view on AI in healthcare is simple: used well in operations, it should help patients get more and better care, not replace clinicians. Administrative friction is a huge bottleneck; removing it matters.
The FTSE 250 experience confirmed I didn’t want to be a generalist agency trying to be everything to everyone. Instead, I teamed up with a technical co‑founder already deep in this problem and we’re building a focused services business around it.
Career snapshot
- 2026 → Co‑founder of a UK healthcare AI call‑answering agency (non‑clinical, phone‑only, dentistry beachhead).
- 2024–2025 → Founder of Leadverve AI (automation studio) and Missed Call Maestro (AI call‑answering SaaS for tradespeople).
- 2022–2024 → Sales Representative at Visible Alpha (acquired by S&P Global during my tenure). Consistently ranked in the top three performers in a 20‑person global team and asked to focus on new market segments and the largest enterprise deals (investment banks).
- 2018–2022 → Investment Analyst at Castellain Capital LLP, doing deep fundamental research, modelling and evidence‑driven decision‑making.
- 2016–2018 → Consultant at HSBC and Silicon Valley Bank. Awarded Consultant of the Quarter (Q1 2018) while working in banking operations.
- 2015–2016 → Associate, Personal Banking at NatWest.
- 2012–2015 → BSc Mathematics, University of Leeds.
Certifications
- Investment Management Certificate (IMC)
- ITPM Professional Options Trading certification
If you’re here for a reason
I’m not looking for a job or services.
I am open to conversations with:
- Founders in adjacent AI / automation niches who want candid, non‑fluffy conversations about what’s actually working.
- Senior operators or collaborators who like building serious, focused services businesses rather than chasing hype cycles.
- Angel investors who care about healthcare operations, AI infrastructure or B2B services and want to stay close to what we’re building (even if it’s too early for a cheque).
If that sounds like you and you think our paths might line up, I’d love to connect and let the relationship compound.
Bill Edwards 