If you're building a startup, there are easier industries to choose than healthcare.
Sales cycles are long, regulations are complex, and earning the trust of providers and patients takes years.
In this episode, Mayo Clinic Platform Accelerate Director Jamie Sundsbak explains how healthtech founders can improve their odds of success.
We discuss what Mayo looks for in founding teams, why the program focuses on product development instead of fundraising, how startups use clinical data and physician feedback to refine AI products, and what healthcare systems are actually buying in today's market.
Jamie also shares lessons from reviewing hundreds of startup applications, the founding team profiles that stand out, why some companies gain traction while others stall, and what founders should know before building in one of the world's most regulated industries.
Listen to this episode if you're trying to figure out:
- What Mayo Clinic looks for in healthtech founders
- How to use customer feedback to improve AI products
- Why some healthcare startups gain traction while others struggle
- What health systems are actually buying in the AI boom
- How to navigate the long road from MVP to clinical adoption
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/whrR0IVHEOY
RUNTIME 38:35
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(1:39) What Mayo Clinic Looks for in Early-Stage Healthtech Startups
(13:31) How Mayo Uses Clinical Data and Physician Feedback to Improve Products
(23:50) The Art of Creating Provider FOMO
(25:32) The Ideal Healthtech Founding Team
(29:29) Why OpenEvidence Won — and What Hospitals Are Buying Today
(36:03) Healthcare Is Hard. Here's Why Founders Keep Choosing It Anyway
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Thanks for listening!
– Walter
