Great Product. No Buyers. The Pivot That Saved GOES.

What happens when wilderness medicine, AI, and entrepreneurship collide?

In this episode of Long Run Labs, Camilo Barcenas breaks down how he went from building hospital systems to creating GOES, a platform translating real-world environmental risk into medically guided action.

We cover:
Why most consumer apps fail without massive marketing budgets
How Goes pivoted from DTC to enterprise and government partnerships
What “trustworthy AI” actually looks like when lives are on the line
The difference between building a mission-driven product and chasing hype
Why outdoor workers, national parks, and cities are the real opportunity
How AI should support humans, not replace judgment

This is a masterclass in product evolution, founder resilience, and building technology that actually helps people when it matters most.

🎧 Full episode: https://podlink.com/1820300459
🏃🏻‍♂️ Follow along with Jon:   / jwlevitt  

Long Run Labs is a weekly series exploring the intersection of endurance and entrepreneurship from the team that brings you For The Long Run Podcast. From brand builders to movement makers, we spotlight the runners driving change in the outdoor and endurance space.

These are the untold stories behind the tools, companies, and communities that shape the industry, told with curiosity, honesty, and heart. Hosted by Jon Levitt.

Chapters:
00:00 – Why AI Should Help Humans, Not Replace Them
03:00 – What Goes Is and Why It Exists
06:00 – From Hospitals to the Outdoors
11:00 – The Snakebite That Changed Everything
17:30 – Solving a Problem No One Else Was Solving
21:00 – Early Wins, Awards, and Hard Marketing Lessons
26:00 – The Consumer App Reality Check
28:30 – The Pivot to B2B and Industrial Safety
33:30 – Building Trustworthy, Expert-Trained AI
39:00 – Government, National Parks, and Scale
41:30 – Staying Alive as a Founder
48:00 – What “AI-Native” Actually Means
59:00 – Founder Tenacity and Building Something That Matters

New episodes drop every Tuesday.