Top 10 Messages from Silicon Valley Health Tech Investors

Text and photo: Eeva Kiuru, Oulu Wellness Institute

Today was the third and last day at the 7^th Annual Health 2.0 Fall Conference in Santa Clara. The day was full of demos and developer challenge announcements. Also, the winners of the Nokia X Prize Innovation Challenge were announced and rewarded. 

We are truly witnessing amazing progress in the field of combining life science with mobile technology.

My focus today was on investors and their advise to health tech entrepreneurs in the crowded health tech space.

Here is top 10 take home messages straight from Silicon Valley Health Tech investors:

1. Focus on big enough health challenges and address them with new technologies.

2. Help get doctors in proper use – don’t try to replace them.

3. Choose carefully what space you are in. The healthcare market is very segmented and the smaller startup you are the better you must choose your niche.

4. Revenue is the best format of funding. Customer is the best possible investor.

5. Bootstrapping forces your business to discipline.

6. Healthcare convenience is a strong selling point.

7. Consumers will drive medical community to transform.

8. Get proof of concept and evidence with a couple of customers. Without that your idea is not valuable.

9. Accelerators provide great environment, but you should vet them carefully to make sure they offer what you really need (relevant client contacts in your segment, space, mentors, funding).

10. Make sure you help customers to save money or make money. Preferably both. In the US, improving quality alone does not rank high on the value proposition list.