Scale-Up Health Seminar Series Starts with "Fuel Up: Moving from start-up to growth"

Scale-Up Health Seminar Series Starts with "Fuel Up: Moving from start-up to growth"

On November 4, 2024, HSI hosted the first of a new seminar series, “Scale Up Health,” whose aim is to bring together industry experts to share how they have successfully scaled healthcare start-ups with strategic and financial investors. This series is moderated by Sloan Alum and HSI Advisory Board Member, Rebecca Schechter and Sloan Alum Eric Berger MBA ’11.

For the first session, “Fuel Up,” the panelists (Deepthi Bathina, Founder and CEO, RhythmX AI; Ellen Herlacher, Partner, LRV Health; and Vijay Patel, Managing Partner, CVS Health Ventures) explored challenges and strategies for transitioning from the start-up to the growth stage.
During the session Eric guided a lively discussion that drew in several of the audience to voice their own questions and challenges. A review of the seminar brings to light several key take-aways for entrepreneurs to keep in mind as they move on from the start-up stage.

• An entrepreneur must be able to answer the Five Magic Questions

1. Why would someone buy what you are offering? Are you first or second priority?
2. Why would they buy it now? Are you what is needed right at this time?
3. What price? Is the offering priced appropriately?
4. Why us? How is the company different from other options?
5. Who else? Who is the competition?

• Always question what trade-offs you are making. Every choice has a cost.
• Healthcare innovation success is proportional to the trust you inspire in customers. It is also very important to build trust with the company’s Advisory Board.
• Customers do not want “one trick” solutions that only address one issue.
• To scale in healthcare, entrepreneurs must know how to contract with payers and providers.

The second seminar in this series will be on February 11 from 11:30am – 1pm and may be attended either in person or virtually. This time the topic is Ramp Up: key factors and best practices for successful scaling in healthcare. One speaker is Gayle Bok, Partner, AI and Digital Innovation Fund at Mass General Brigham. Bok leads Mass General Brigham’s $30M AI and Digital Innovation Venture Fund (AIDIF), investing in commercial-stage digital health companies, working with the Mass General Brigham system. Two years ago, Bok led an HSI seminar, Investing in Digital Healthcare Solutions from a Corporate Venture Perspective.