First ever Techstars/Cedars-Sinai Healthcare Accelerator alumni offer advice to startups

 

We had high expectations for the Techstars program after talking with several Techstars alumni. We knew that Techstars had an incredibly strong mentor and investor network and provided valuable startup guidance. Even with these high expectations, we were blown away by our Techstars experience. Techstars has helped us make more progress in three months than we could have made in years. The clinical expertise and resources we have had access to at Cedars-Sinai are unattainable by start-ups outside of this program.  

 

 

Seize every opportunity that comes your way, you never know what doors it will open.

 

 

We are moving into manufacturing with our first device this summer. Our clinical study with Cedars-Sinai will start this fall. We are focused on channel partner development and are moving full speed ahead on R&D of our second device.

 

 

 

 

To validate our assumptions about the healthcare industry, work closely with actual decision makers and product users, and to close a deal with a reference institution like Cedars. All that, and to test the limits of sleep deprivation.

 

 

Marry rich.

 

 

Growth. Use the momentum from the accelerator program to keep executing rapidly, and sign up more clients.

 

 

We wanted to find a product-market fit and identify a path to rapid scale.

 

 

Hire some interns because it's going to be really hard to take advantage of everything this program has to offer.

 

 

We're doubling the size of the team and opening up offices in St. Louis and San Francisco to support our pipeline. Our next big milestone is $1M in ARR [Accounting Rate of Return], and we hope to get there by end of year!

 

 

Although we didn’t know that much about the Techstars/Cedars-Sinai program, we had high expectations. We expected to develop a commercial agreement with Cedars-Sinai, begin commercial sales with surgery centers and get introductions to other hospital systems. Despite our high expectations, Techstars and Cedars-Sinai blew them away! This has been a phenomenal program.

 

 

Look for that unique competitive differentiator that will truly accelerate your company. In our case, having Cedars Sinai as a strategic partner is opening up a ton of doors.

 

 

Expansion and execution. Now that we are about to complete the program, it’s critical that we maintain the high level of performance that Techstars demanded of us each and every day.

 

 

 

Implement a hospital pilot and increase network opportunities to access payers, employers and other hospital institutions, which represent different pipelines of customers for us. 

 

 

Take every opportunity that presents itself — and just keep going. Never take 'no' for an answer, especially if you really believe in what you are doing. Believe that what you are doing makes a positive impact.

 

 

We want to expand our provider, partner, and customer base, and also add more services that we can offer in a systematic, methodical fashion. To do this, we will need to expand our team to accelerate all these processes.

 

 

 

Coming into the Techstars program, we knew the industry partnership with Cedars-Sinai was going to have a compounding impact on our company. On the Techstars side, the network is stacked with industry experts that span all business aspects. You get personal attention and direct access to resources and mentorship in ways that you would never get on your own. The staff from the top down are engaged and excited to help grow your company, and therefore, you receive practical insights that create impactful results. 

 

 

Having a well-rounded, agile team will make all the difference in getting the most out of the program. Culture and trust were a big piece of why we were able to move as quickly as we did. Bottom line: get the right people in place and put in the work, and it will be worth it in the long run.

 

Our team is growing rapidly to keep on pace with demand. We'll be in three states by the end of the year, and we're on pace to solidify three more influential partnerships to continue growth.

 

 

 

We anticipated it to be a combination of helpful business strategy and help in fine-tuning our product through working with Cedars-Sinai clinicians. We have been extremely impressed with the amount of support we've received from Cedars and the Techstars network! It has exceeded our expectations.

 

 

Every young company must really understand the 'why' in what the company is doing. Use conversations and observations of potential customers to really learn their needs, and how the company's proposed solution meets the observed needs. 

 

We are transitioning into sales efforts and working to develop strong relationships with early customers.

 

 

 

Our goal for the program was primarily to work closely with clinicians from Cedars-Sinai on expanding the functionality of our care coordination solution. At the same time, we wanted to learn from the program and its mentors how we could scale the business. The program has exceeded our expectations and has been a great experience.

 

 

Be prepared for a very intensive program that will push you to work very hard in multiple areas of your business. The knowledge you will get from this program, as the popular MIT saying goes, is like drinking from a fire hose.

 

 

Pilot our new product in a clinical setting.

 

 

 

We expected to meet incredible technology and healthcare mentors, tap into the Techstars and Cedars-Sinai network and pilot our product at one of Cedars-Sinai's institutions. 

 

 

Focus on your product, your KPIs and revenue.

 

We've just announced a big partnership with Cedars-Sinai, we're in conversations with several other large health systems, and we're looking to expand and grow our network of healthcare providers. 

 

 

 

Our goal was to work with world class entrepreneurs and leaders in healthcare to help us build a solution for people with chronic pain. It's been an incredible experience.

 

 

Great question! Don't underestimate the amount of work, learning and growth you'll go through. Startups are intense, and being in an accelerator like Techstars magnifies the experience. It's amazing how much we've learned in the last three months, and we know that's only a taste of what's to come.

 

We're growing fast, and our next stage is to start offering our solution to patients outside Cedars-Sinai. We're really excited about this milestone, because it will give more people who are suffering from chronic pain the opportunity to find relief through mindfulness programs.