March 19, 2022
This is particularly relevant for entrepreneurs. The landscape today is not anymore the one in which Elizabeth Holmes was able to pull a “Ana Delvey” on an impressive list of investors to grow her venture to a $10B valued unicorn.
Investors today are evidence-driven and data-driven. The promises have to be substanciated with a solid process BEFORE the later series of investment. Even at seed level, there are significant expectations in terms of clinical evidence. That makes the challenge more interesting to scientifically motivated entrepreneurs, but also much more demanding.
One of the best guarantee of success for a founding team in this environment is to have a doctor or another experienced clinical professional onboard. “Onboard” doesn’t have to be a formal ‘on the board’. In early stages leaness and agility are primordial so the ‘doctor onboard’ can be a consultant, or a co-founder.
These were some take aways for the very good “Startup Day One” event at the Australian Healthcare Week.