From UnitedHealthcare to Microsoft: How Canary Speech Turned One Customer Into An Ecosystem

From UnitedHealthcare to Microsoft: How Canary Speech Turned One Customer Into An Ecosystem

Most advice about customer relationships is transactional: deliver value, get a case study, ask for referrals. You close deals, hit targets, move on to the next quarter.

In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Henry O’Connell, CEO and Founder of Canary Speech, shared how his company took the opposite approach—and how one early customer relationship compounded over eight years into Microsoft partnerships, $1.5 million in grants, and international expansion.

The Eight Projects That Changed Everything

Early on, Canary Speech needed revenue. They landed project work with UnitedHealthcare—not glamorous recurring revenue, but practical engineering contracts that paid bills.

“We actually did multiple ones with United Healthcare, probably eight of them, which really helped our company,” Henry explains.

Instead of treating UnitedHealthcare as eight transactions, Henry treated them as a developing relationship. Each project became an opportunity to understand healthcare workflows, build trust, and demonstrate capability beyond the immediate contract.

The Relationship That Took Five Years

Another healthcare institution noticed Canary Speech. Five years ago, Henry presented to their board. The board believed in it. Then nothing happened for years.

“We’re working with one of the organizations, healthcare companies, that five years ago was the first introduction. And I spoke to their board of directors nearly five years ago, presented what we were doing. And the truth is, even then, there was a belief on their part that what we were doing was both important and quite real.”

Henry stayed engaged. “I stayed connected with this healthcare institution because frankly, I liked the people, I trusted them.”

The value was the input. “They also gave us insight into how it might impact in the organization. How would you bring it in so that it was positive and it augmented this interaction between patient and doctor. Those are the kind of insights that you, just as a small company, even as a large company, you’re not going to get them unless you’re integrated into and working with customers like that.”

Three years ago, that institution invested in Canary Speech. Prospect to partner to investor.

How One Customer Unlocked Microsoft

The healthcare institution’s investment created credibility that opened new doors. But the real compounding came through an unexpected connection: Jeff Adams, Henry’s co-founder, had built the Amazon Echo and Dragon NaturallySpeaking at Nuance.

When Microsoft acquired Nuance, those relationships mattered. “Microsoft became aware of what we were doing. It was shortly after they bought nuance. And Jeff still has three dozen friends that are senior people at nuance.”

Microsoft invested $1.5 million in non-dilutive grants over two and a half years. “They’ve invested a million and a half dollars, non dilutive grant money.”

The value went beyond capital. “We operate fully in the Azure platform web services. We take advantage of their AI tools and their high trust environment.” Canary Speech gained infrastructure, credibility, and global reach. “It provided us with a reach globally that we didn’t have before, that we operate in multiple countries around the world.”

The Partnership Possibilities

The Microsoft relationship created strategic alignment. “It also gave us the opportunity to begin looking at partnerships with them. Operating within Microsoft Teams potential to operate together with nuance and Canary as a single solution.”

“Nuance is capturing audio already. You know, it’s a perfect platform, you know, ambient listening, if you will, where not only do you get a transcription of what the doctor and the patient engagement was, but you also get information about the health condition of the patient.”

The Microsoft-Nuance platform gave Canary Speech distribution they couldn’t have built alone.

The International Pattern

This morning, Henry was on a call with Abu Dhabi prospects. The lead came through Microsoft. “It’s a country where 80% of the population speaks English. Our technology can be deployed there. That was a lead that came in to us through Microsoft.”

One healthcare institution invested. That attracted Microsoft. Microsoft’s network created international opportunities. Canary Speech now works with institutions in Japan, Ireland, England, the Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. “We’re working with organizations in the Emirates and also in Saudi Arabia.”

None through outbound sales—all through relationship compounding.

The Principle

Conventional approaches treat customers as endpoints. You solve their problem, collect payment, move on.

Henry treated customers as starting points. Each engagement built trust and created new possibilities. UnitedHealthcare taught them workflows. The five-year relationship taught implementation. Microsoft gave global infrastructure.

“The journey that you take to where you get that sounds ridiculous, but you never know. You just don’t.” The compounding emerged from consistently choosing depth over volume.

Capital Efficiency Through Compounding

This changes customer acquisition math. Instead of spending on marketing for transactions, invest time in relationships that compound. The upfront cost is patience. The return is partnerships you couldn’t buy.

The five-year institution became an investor. Microsoft’s $1.5 million came as non-dilutive grants. International opportunities came through network effects, not sales expenses.

For founders in long-cycle markets, this offers an alternative to burning capital on acquisition. Build deep relationships that unlock ecosystems.

The Decision Framework

Not every customer warrants this investment. Henry’s filter: he liked the people, trusted them, and they provided valuable input.

The UnitedHealthcare projects worked because they generated revenue while teaching about healthcare. The five-year relationship worked because the institution actively helped improve. The Microsoft relationship worked because Jeff had decades of built trust.

Compounding comes from mutual investment over time. You can’t force it—only create conditions where it’s possible.

What You Can Apply

If you’re building in healthcare, enterprise, or any market with long cycles, treat your best customers as R&D partners, not transactions. Extract learning throughout the relationship. Stay engaged even when there’s no immediate deal.

Build with people you genuinely like and trust. Relationships that compound over years only work if you want to spend years building them. Henry stayed connected because he “liked the people” and “trusted them.” That’s not soft thinking—it’s the filter determining which relationships warrant five years.

Leverage existing networks ruthlessly. Jeff’s relationships at Nuance created the Microsoft opportunity. Your co-founder’s network, your investor’s network, your customer’s network—these are distribution channels more valuable than marketing budgets.

Eight years after starting Canary Speech, the compounding continues. That Abu Dhabi call this morning came from a relationship chain starting with UnitedHealthcare project work years ago. That’s the power of treating customers as ecosystems, not transactions.