On the Raft with Dr. Jim Daniero, Co-Founder
RefluxRaft was born in a clinic. Dr. Jim Daniero — ENT surgeon, endurance athlete, and one of the two physicians behind this brand — was seeing the same thing over and over: patients asking for natural digestive relief that simply didn't exist. So he built it. We asked him a few questions. Here's what he said.
You built this product and you actually use it — what does that feel like as both a physician and a customer?
“I have to pinch myself every once in a while. I was in the manufacturing facility recently and I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Our little reflux solution that we custom made for patients to teach them about alginate was now helping so many people that I will never get a chance to meet. That kind of reach and impact to a physician is incredibly gratifying. As someone who helps one patient at a time, it unlocks a whole new level of impact. It almost brings a tear to my eye because I personally was able to wean off prescription medication and I know how many thousands more will do the same.”
You’ve run ultras, pushing your body to places most people never will — what has that taught you about your own limits?
“I was never a great traditional athlete, but as an adult I stumbled into endurance sports, which required flexing a different muscle — the grit muscle. I wasn’t fast, but found that I was able to push myself further than most people were willing to go and began searching for my personal limit. There is a saying in ultras: ‘Relentless Forward Progress.’ It means I don’t have to worry about winning every day, just be closer to my goal than I was yesterday.”
What’s harder — the last 10 miles of an ultra or the first year of a startup?
“The ultra. Actually, the first year of a startup is exciting and fun. If you would have asked me about the second year, that might have been a different answer. That is when you have to keep repairing the plane as you are flying and you question the decision to take off in the first place.”
As an ENT, what was the clinical moment that made you think “there has to be a better answer for these patients”?
“A majority of patients were asking for the same exact thing — natural digestive relief — and it wasn’t anything that I could find in my list of prescriptions. I was frustrated and turned to my physician partner, Dr. Payne, to help build a solution.”
If you could get every reflux patient to do one thing differently tomorrow, what would it be?
“Simple. Eat smaller meals earlier in the day. It is the most effective intervention for preventing reflux — but socially it ends up being more difficult given our busy modern lifestyles.”
What do your teenage kids think you do for work — and are they right?
“They know I do a lot of different things, but get most excited about anything they can see online. When I get home from work they ask about the new RefluxRaft bottles — which I absolutely love — rather than about the amazing surgery I did that day. One day I know they will get the bigger picture that a life of service can take many forms.”
