Dr. Cliff Olson / HearingUpdiscussed
HearingUp — network of vetted audiologists (pay-to-join after vetting) + Applied Hearing Solutions practice + ~340K-sub YouTubeHearing health / audiology — creator-led network + practice
Creator Fund Weekly — Sep 14, 2026Sam Lessin, Eddie DeDomenico, Jack Raines, Megan Lightcap, Caroline Singer
Dr. Cliff Olson: audiology, HearingUp, and the hearing-tech moment
2:49
from 30:05 in the recording
Creator Fund call, Sep 14 2026 (Riverside)
Caroline's pick: an audiologist focused on adults with hearing loss, hearing aids, their caregivers and consumers seeking audiology care — ~340K YouTube subscribers (the call said 'almost 500K'; live count is ~340K with 58M+ views), his own practice (Applied Hearing Solutions, Phoenix), and co-founder of HearingUp, a network of professionally vetted audiologists who pay to be in it after he vets them. Her thesis: hearing is a dated health category overdue for a rebrand, more resources and updated technology. Sam was into it and offered diligence angles: a buzzy new Silicon Valley hearing-aid product he can look up, and an ex-Facebook colleague who bought, built and sold a hearing company — worth checking where Cliff actually sits in the ecosystem. Sam's bigger frame: this is a huge issue, an interesting AI moment for the category, and hearing aids are 'so expensive' — Caroline extended it to a broader pattern she's tracking (her dad is legally blind): stagnant accessibility categories with one or two dated resources where next-generation businesses can capture near-infinite willingness to spend.
Things We Like
- The network is the asset: HearingUp audiologists pay to join after being vetted — trust converted into recurring B2B revenue, not just ad-supported content
- Full-stack credibility: practicing audiologist with his own clinic (Applied Hearing Solutions) plus a ~340K-subscriber, 58M-view YouTube in a category where trust is everything
- Dated category, huge spend: hearing aids are extremely expensive, the space has had one or two stagnant resources for decades, and AI/hardware innovation is arriving (Sam: 'an interesting AI moment')
- Caroline's broader accessibility thesis: stagnant categories serving disabilities (hearing, vision — cf. Meta glasses for blind users) support 'infinite budget' when someone builds the next generation
- Sam has real diligence channels: the buzzy Silicon Valley hearing-aid startup + an ex-Facebook colleague who built and sold a hearing company
Key Questions
- Where does Cliff sit in the ecosystem relative to the new hardware wave (the buzzy Silicon Valley hearing-aid product)? Sam to look it up and ask his ex-Facebook contact
- What exactly is HearingUp's model and scale — how many audiologists pay, and what does vetting really gate?
- Is the opportunity Cliff's brand, the network, or the category rebrand itself? (Caroline: hearing 'can use a rebrand and more resources')
Conversation Quotes
- “He is a co-founder of HearingUp, which is a network of professionally vetted audiologists who... pay to be on his network after he vets them.”Caroline
- “A guy I used to work with at Facebook bought and built and sold a next-gen hearing company... it definitely would be worth diligencing with some of these people where he sits in the ecosystem. And by the way, hearing aids are so expensive.”Sam
- “There's infinite budget and things are changing. I think that makes sense.”Sam