Via Negativa Health
Type 1 diabetes has been teaching us about Black Swans since 1921.
We apply that understanding to every business we touch — and we ensure it’s respected by putting our skin in your game.
The name is the method
Via Negativa — wisdom through subtraction
Via Negativa is an ancient principle: the wisest path forward is not to add more, but to remove what is unnecessary. Applied to health business — remove the agency taking a percentage of your profits. Remove the platform you don’t own. Remove the dependency on someone else’s tools and knowledge. Remove the opaque contract that punishes your growth. What remains is yours. Simpler. Stronger. Antifragile. The name is not a brand strategy. It is the operating method.
“Type 1 diabetes has been teaching us about Black Swans since 1921. Every hypo, every unexplained spike, every device failure at 3am is a reminder that the unpredictable is not the exception — it is the condition. We built The Glucose Never Lies on the principle that understanding mechanisms, not memorising rules, is what makes a person — or a platform — antifragile. We bring that same philosophy to every business we work with. And we ensure it’s respected by putting our skin in your game.”
— John Pemberton & Phillip Hayes, Via Negativa Health
Who this is for
People building serious things in the T1D space
We work with practitioners and creators who want to take their offering beyond information — into properly validated, clinically grounded, technically robust practice. This is not a facelift. It’s a whole system.
What’s available
Five things we bring — none of them exist elsewhere in this combination
Case Study — The Glucose Never Lies®
We built it for ourselves first. Here’s what happened.
The GNL platform is the proof of concept for everything we offer. Before we brought this to anyone else, we applied every principle — antifragile design, mechanistic content, expert technical build — to our own platform. With our own money at risk.
- 120+ pages of strong clinical content
- Inconsistent design — no system, no flow
- Inaccessible to anyone not already searching
- No tools — content only, nothing interactive
- No subscription or recurring revenue
- Brilliant material, locked away
- Full design system — accessible, navigable
- Six algorithm-driven explorers by Phillip Hayes
- Clinical content findable and usable at scale
- Explorer subscription — a new business model
- Educational grants attracted by platform credibility
- Device manufacturer partnerships created
The investment was significant and the risk was real. It paid back in under two months. Full case study ↗ · Explorers ↗ · theglucoseneverlies.com ↗
How it works
Six months to build something real — then we grow together
Most engagements follow this shape. The six-month term exists because that’s what it takes to build something that actually works. After that, rolling monthly — and you can walk away with 30 days notice if it’s not working. In practice, it is.
We work across three levels. Every engagement includes the option of our Skin in the Game pricing model — a lower monthly rate in exchange for a small share of your revenue growth. We only make more when you make more.
All engagements: £8k-£15k setup depending on build requirements, then £750-£1,500 per month depending on the size and scale of weekly operations. 6-month initial term, then rolling monthly. Talk to us about whether the fixed or Skin in the Game model is right for you.
What we’re not: We are not a consultancy that takes a fee, gives advice from a safe distance, and bears no consequence if it doesn’t work. Via Negativa: we remove the unnecessary layers — the opaque contracts, the platforms you don’t own, the intermediaries taking a cut of your growth. What remains is yours. And we grow with it.
Every Thursday morning
Via Negativa 80/20 – So What Research Signals
One clinical finding. Every Thursday. Stripped to the 20% of the evidence that changes 80% of how you think. Written by the clinical team, reviewed by the scientific advisers. The only question we ask: so what? Not what the study found – what it removes from the uncertainty. What it means in practice. What you can do with it.
John Pemberton + Phillip Hayes · reviewed by Prof Othmar Moser, Professor Dessi Zaharieva, Dr Adrian Brown · Independent. No sponsors. No filler.
Free for GNL subscribers
Pre-register – it’s freeFree to read, every Thursday. No paywall. If you find it valuable and want to help keep it that way, you can support it – completely optional, no obligation, cancel any time.
One-off support – anything from £1 →Or support monthly – cancel any time:
Every little helps cover the research costs and keeps it free.
Ready to subtract
Start a conversation
If you’re building something serious in the T1D space and want operators with skin in the game — we’d like to hear from you.
Get in touch with Johnjohn@theglucoseneverlies.com · No pitch deck required