This document discusses the promise and challenges of digital health startups in India. It notes that while startups like Practo have received funding, there have not been major success stories that have generated significant returns for investors or meaningfully improved patient care. It identifies some common reasons why health tech startups often fail, such as focusing on solving problems without doctor input or understanding clinical needs. The document advocates for more collaboration between doctors and engineers/entrepreneurs, and proposes models like medical innovation centers located in hospitals to facilitate this. It also discusses the roles doctors can play in digital health as angel investors, entrepreneurs, and customers of startups.

1. From IVF specialist to Angel
Investor !

2. Where are the healthcare
startup success stories ?
• No Olas and Flipkarts in the digital
health world so far
• Practo has been richly funded, but
where’s the ROI for the investors ?
• Or for the patients and doctors ?
• No change in quality of medical care

3. Why health-tech startups fail
so often
• Techies in search of a problem to solve
• No doctors on their team
• Not enough understanding of unmet
clinical needs
• Want doctors to change their behaviour
and workflow
• Treat doctors as dinosaurs

4. Hope, hype and harm
• Engineers fall In love with the
newest shiny new object
• Doctors have burned their fingers in
the past – don’t trust engineers
• Think they don’t understand
anything about patient care

7. The promise of digital health
startups
• Healthcare is broken
• Startups can improve existing
diagnostic, treatment, and monitoring
processes
• Help healthcare become more
accessible, available, affordable,
accurate, and personalized

8. How can we help doctors to
become more innovative ?

9. Hospitals are where the patients
and doctors are !
• Allows for cross-disciplinary collaboration.
• Medical students can talk to engineers,
senior doctors and designers under one roof
• Perspectives from different fields could be
blended together to create brand new
solutions which are co-created for Indian
conditions.
• Inputs from patients and caregivers

10. Innovation should start from the
bedside !
• Easy access to patients
• Senior doctors will provide guidance
and mentorship.
• Doctors understand the pain points of
patients, so that the solutions they
provide will be practical and feasible,
and can be implemented easily in India.

11. The 4 Ds of medical device
innovation ( BETIC, IIT)
• Define unmet clinical needs
• Design prototypes in the MICE
lab
• Deliver to the bedside
• Deploy in the market

13. Doctor vs Engineer
Bridge the gap !
• Doctors are conservative – if it’s not
broken, why fix it ? Cannot afford to
experiment with our patients !
• Engineers want to break stuff and put it
apart again - but not at the expense of
patients !

16. Catch them young !
www.micelabs.in

17. Doctors and startups!
Doctors can play 3 roles
• 1. As angel investors
• 2. As entrepreneurs
• 3. As customers

19. My journey
• On the Board of IKSHealth ( a Rakesh
Jhunjhunwalla company ) 10 years ago
• My daughter worked in impact investing
and did her MBA from Stanford
• Joined Mumbai Angels – an angel
network
• Now do it through my Family office,
Solidarity

20. Reinventing myself – learning
to become an angel investor
• Easier today, thanks to the internet !
• Share my experiences on LinkedIn. Have
90000 followers today
• Learn a lot daily
• Get to broaden my horizons – the world
is a fascinating place !

22. www.malpaniventures.com

23. Our approach
• To be founder-friendly. Respect
entrepreneurs
• Frugal Innovation
• Say No quickly
• Have a well defined Investment
thesis
• Try to be open and transparent

25. Whom do I fund ?
• Need to fall in love with the
team
• LOI vs ROI
• Integrity, Curiosity, Humility
• Willing to teach – and to learn
• Paying customers

26. Our process
• Back the entrepreneur
• Soft corner for failed entrepreneurs
• Women entrepreneurs
• Social impact investing ( edutech
and healthcare)
• Domain agnostic

27. After signing the cheque
• This is when the hard work starts !
• Need to be actively engaged
• Monthly MIS
• Governance and accounting
• Introductions to other investors and
founders
• Help only when asked !

29. Angel investing will not make
you rich !
• Illiquid asset class. Need lots of patience
• 80% of startups fail
• Only invest money which you can afford
to lose without losing any sleep over
• Have realistic expectations !
• LOI > ROI

30. Principles of angel
investing
• Portfolio approach
• Join a network
• Read about angel investing
• Not a “ get rich quick” scheme –
do your homework !

32. Why I enjoy being an angel
investor
• Makes you optimistic. More hopeful
about the future by connecting with
bright young ambitious entrepreneurs
• Can contribute to the next generation
• Networking opportunities
• Reputation
• Helps you remain young because you
learn all the time

33. Why doctors make good angel
investors
• Empathy ( as a clinical skill)
• Domain expertise in healthcare
• Brand ambassador and evangelist
• Lots of good will in the community
• Doctors in private practice are
entrepreneurs too
• Become a better doctor too because
your business sense improves

34. Why doctors find it hard to
become entrepreneurs
• Not good at being team players – want
to be captain of the ship
• Not taught to tinker – just learn to cram
facts
• Few role models to emulate
• Find it safer to be conventional and to
start a clinic
• Lost opportunities !

35. Ideas, Implementation and
Funding
• Ideas are a dime a dozen. Don’t fall in
love with your ideas – most are bad !
• Generate lots of ideas ! This improves
your chances of stumbling on the right
one
• Don’t worry anyone will steal your
ideas. Share them and ask for criticism,
so you can polish them !
• Passion is necessary but not sufficient

36. The doctor as entrepreneur
• Be willing to take calculated risks
• Be prepared for failure
• Learn to be resilient
• Ask your patients for help !
• Can be a great journey - will
teach you a lot about yourself –
and about the world !

37. Key ingredient for success – Learn!
• To sell. Learn to tell stories
• To lead a team
• To get your hands dirty
• To be patient and persistent
• Work in a startup – the best way to
learn a lot very quickly !
• Play to your strengths

38. Bootstrapping
• Proves you can implement !
• Shows faith in yourself ! If you don’t
invest in yourself, why do you expect
investors to ?
• Guerilla marketing
• Your customers are your best source of
funding !
• If you can get paying customers, the
investors will follow !

39. Books for Entrepreneurs
• Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs by
Berman
• Hot Seat by Dan Shapiro
• Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a
Successful Startup by Bill Aulet
• Bootstrapping your Business by Greg
Gianforte

41. The doctor as a customer of a
healthcare startup
• Give young entrepreneurs a chance
• You can learn a lot from them !
• Be willing to be a beta tester – be
forgiving of false starts and failures
• Can help to guide them !
• Can invest in the ones you admire

42. Doctors need to partner
with entrepreneurs
• You can mentor healthcare startups
• Help you to remain on the cutting edge
of medicine !