An American Dynamo

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I expect many of you have heard the sad news and likely read articles such as this excellent piece by Ge Bai:

Believing In American Dynamism: In Memory Of Paul Mango

Gunjan and I met Paul and Dawn sometime in 1996 or 1997 and quickly became good family friends.

  1. Martinis and Red Wine

Paul made splendidly dry, cold and crisp Martinis and served fine red wines. On several occasions, he cooked a non-trivial vegetarian dish although I was the only person at dinner who was vegetarian.

  1. Healthcare Operations

As I have mentioned in Meditation on McKinsey, Paul introduced me to Regina Herzlinger (HBS) and Don Fischer (Highmark) to help further OrganJet. Of course, we discussed various aspects of Operation Warp Speed. Recently, he helped me better understand the intricacies of PBM economics. I also learned a lot about the US healthcare eco-system by reading his quarterly reports.

  1. Movies

Of course, we watched movies together, in a theater (such as Operations Finale, pre-Covid) or at home (with our kids), including:

Spectre is a 2015 spy film and the twenty-fourth in the James Bond series. Directed by Sam Mendes, it stars Daniel Craig as Bond, alongside Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, and Ralph Fiennes. It grossed $880 million worldwide (on a budget of $300 million), and the film’s theme song, “Writing’s on the Wall”, won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Its opening scene was so compelling it prompted Mexico City to actually start doing an annual Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) parade. 

We were executive producers of the documentary film Journey to Normal. Paul and I also discussed an inbound enquiry he had received from a well-regarded documentarian about making a film about Operations Warp Speed. Such a documentary certainly needs to be made and I hope it is.

I will miss his friendship.

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