Why you can't find doctor-founder-funder fit
Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA
President and CEO, Society of Physician Entrepreneurs, another lousy golfer, terrible cook, friction fixer
Having input from end users and different customers is an important part of creating product-market fit. Those that successfully create drugs, medical devices, digital health, or patient products and services understand that they need to test their underlying business model hypotheses and be adaptable when necessary.
Unfortunately, there are gaps between doctors, technologists, and engineers when it comes to product management and go to market collaboration. Doctors don't want the EMR catastrophe repeating itself, so they are interested in helping and getting non-clinical roles in companies as advisors, consultants, members of the management team or board of directors to prevent it from happening again.
However, many have tried and failed, and they are frustrated.
Here are some reasons why doctors, founders, and funders are struggling to find doctor-founder-funder fit:
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It will take time for doctors, founders, and funders to learn how to play nice with each other.
Fortunately, all the barriers are self-imposed and eminently fixable. The sooner we do it, the sooner we can transform a sick, sick care system of systems into a healthcare system that achieves the sextuple aims.
Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs on Substack
MD | HBS MBA | Ex-Bain | Rice BSEE - applying technology to advancing medicine
8moThere's a role for "translators" ... those who have been trained or have experience across these areas (e.g., technology, medicine, business). I accidentally found myself playing this role during my career, especially in new ventures. Perhaps emphasizing this as a new "discipline," and recruiting those with promising backgrounds is one way forward?
Unconventional Surgeon | 🐙 | 🐬 | Podcast/Speaker, Coach, Entrepreneur, Leader, Human
9moOne of the big problems is the "doctor" label. By reducing "doctors" to just that, most people fail to see all the other competencies doctors can bring to the table. We are all human. Which means we have many more dimensions and facets than being a "doctor." Doctors can add a tremendous amount of value to any startup: 1. they know how to study complicated things 2. because they perhaps are an "outsider" to your industry, they can identify blind spots you might not even be aware of (doesn't just go for doctors, but bringing in any "outsider" can vastly expand your understanding of your industry in ways "insiders" can't because they are already biased) 3. helping you create healthier employees (physically, mentally, and emotionally): healthier and happier employees are more productive and cost less (e.g. health insurance costs, turn over, sick days, etc) 4. they know how to break complex ideas into simple to understand concepts (think about talking to patients and helping them understand their problems) 5. they know how to grind through the hard times (think about the years of training they go through) Great article, Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA! Thanks for sharing. If anyone wants to take this discussion further, DM me.