I'm interested in the healthcare/medical space and trying to find a worthy problem to work on. I'm applying the YC method of asking as many doctors as possible what their pain point is.
It's not going well. Just scraping LinkedIn and trying to make connections, I'm getting a 25% connection rate and a 1% interview rate.
My message is super concise and trying to be as non-salesy as possible. I'm pretty clear I'm just looking to learn/listen and not pitch.
BTW I'm also looking into other avenues than LinkedIn, just not 100% sure what that may be.
So, startup folks, how did you manage to land these early discovery interviews? Especially those in the healthcare sector.
If you want to try different strategies in parallel, I work in sales for a healthcare SaaS and while my product is results/outcomes oriented, I have much better luck talking to people about RESULTS they want to achieve vs. PROBLEMS they want to solve. At least now we're getting excited about something good vs. something they are already sick of talking about, or know they can't fix.
Some of the pains in healthcare are so structurally embedded in the industry, products purporting to relieve those pains are so plentiful, and ACTUAL pain relieving results are so few and far between, that messages looking for honest input on major pains that doctors experience is too clear of a dogwhistle for "I'm going to try to sell you a solution that doesn't work" and will be ignored.
Many doctors, for example, are still nursing wounds caused by the shift to EMR from paper- pretty much every vendor in that space promises an "easy migration" and the reality is that porting to EMR or switching vendors is a massive massive pain in the ass. ANY solution for a pain, or for amplifying/increasing a beneficial outcome, comes at not only a financial cost, but (perhaps more importantly) an opportunity cost associated with the time investment. Time = patients, patients = reimbursement, reimbursement = money.
Edit: Another thing that works for me is seeding the conversation with something like, "Something I hear from a lot of providers in [specialty] is they have a problem with [problem], or they want to do more [thing]. Is that true in your practice?"
You made good points for the stage that you're in, i.e. you already have a solution that you can sort of pitch upfront (even seeding the conversation is a version of that). I'm at the point where I can't/don't want to bias them with the slightest hint of what I'm solving because it will taint their response. That makes it quite hard!
They have no reason to trust you. I would think you're just looking for an angle to sell me on no matter what you say.
You might try attending/crashing medical conferences in the area. You could also talk to folks on the periphery of the healthcare industry to look for opportunities.
One that I experienced personally is the difficulty in matching a specific person at a specific point in their treatment to applicable clinical trials. Particularly with cancer where there are so many inclusion/exclusion criteria to consider. The terminology is very dense and not always clear. Then you reach out to the PI and find that the window is even smaller than it appeared at first.
They do not trust me (why would they) and they think it's a sales tactic. I couldn't be purer in my intentions, but people are on the defensive.
And your pain point is actually one I've heard firsthand. Got a few ideas and connections in this area.
I'm not trying to be rude or insulting, but thinking you have pure intentions doesn't change this.
Some people might have the time or interest in the hope that you can one day make their work easier. So overall I understand why you are asking this question and I'm sure the advice people have given here will help you make some stronger connections to people in this cohort.
On the other hand, if you write me a longer message, explaining your background and position, give me all the background info, and let me answer via email, I might be more inclined to help, assuming you demonstrate that you at least have some understanding of the field.
Alternatively, you could offer to pay people for their time, which is not something sales people typically do.
Note that this stuff is never as easy as it sounds on paper, but if you put enough effort in, it eventually works (in my experience anyway).
Also note that even if you're not pitching a product for sale (yet) asking people for their time for an interview is still an ask. Ideally you'd like to be able to offer to compensate people for their time somehow. I don't mean paying them cash or anything, but think about how to structure your invitations in such a way as to communicate that you're offering them something in return for their time. That "something" might be "an early peek at a revolutionary new technology for ABC" or whatever you can think of that is a way of giving some value to them. Be creative.
Also, it's not always the easiest thing to go in asking people "what are your pain points" in an extremely open-ended way. You might find that it's easier to start with a hypothesis about a possible pain point, and pitch things in terms of "We've noticed that firms like yours often have to deal with problem $FOOBAR. To that end, we're developing a novel solution for $FOOBAR, and we'd love a few minutes of your time (no sales pitch!) to talk about how $FOOBAR and related problems affect you. In return for a 30 minute interview, we'll offer you $SOMETHING".
This is a humbling realization of what salespeople are up against. We all love to hate on these guys but man... What a hustle and you need armor-like skin and insane optimism and persistence.
Are you doing these in person or virtually? If you're doing it in person, you're already at the end and have the data you're looking for from the person you're talking with. "Do you know any other people I should talk to?" "Yeah" "Ok, could I just write their names down right now here?"
a "business" already works on what is built or established, refining processes to branch off beaten paths to sales/marketing
a "startup" operates with too many unknowns for the average person, 99% failure means only 1% of the people figure out the unknowns to become a "business"
I just don't understand why people just default to "startup". You should be focused on running a business and make a 15 cents out of a dollar spent, not spend a dollar to make 15 cents in hopes that someone will "buy you out" or you "ipo"
such are pipe dreams
You have to find a way to network.
Look at how pharma reps do it. Attractive people, coming into the office and bring lunch.
Where can you put yourself in a spot to meet and talk to a high percentage of doctors. My first thought is a golf course. Is there a way in that way?
Do you volunteer at a hospital on weekends?
Another tip is for anyone you talk to, ask for introductions. Who else has this problem?? I work in healthcare (not a doctor). Not sure if I can help, but happy to chat if you dm me.
Same retired pharma rep now volunteers at a major hospital a couple of days a week - most of his interaction is with patients - staff are too busy and volunteers provide the necessary welfare connections, especially with elderly and lonely patients.
put another way, you're asking people to take some of their time to teach you. I'm assuming that if you were offering compensation for this time you'd have mentioned it.
getting a 1% interview rate for an ask like that is exceptional. especially considering the people you're asking are known for being extremely busy, and you're asking from outside their industry.
First, find out where your prospects actually spend time. LinkedIn is garbage for a lot of industries. Most doctors don't change jobs much or building "personal brands", so they're not scanning LinkedIn often. Reddit can also be often a better community.
Second, don't cold message people. Put out HELPFUL (not clickbait) content. It can be as simple as a question ("hey, I'm wondering how people solve X?"). Let the community come to you. Then follow up with the people that engaged with your content. They've shown an interest in your topic AND a willingness to engage.
At the end of every call, ask two questions: can you follow up with them with further questions and is there anyone they can think of that would be helpful to learn more? For that second question ask them, IN THE CALL, to write an intro email/message connecting you. Social validation is critical.
Finally, actually follow up. 1-4 weeks later message an update, thank them for their perspective and connection, and again ask if there's anyone they can think of to learn more from.
From my coaching practice, people are not very good identifying there real pain point. My back hurts, but my back isn't broken, I just sit too much.
I know you don't want to sounds sales-y, and there are ways to offer this without sounding like a salesperson. Just an idea
> If they need money or a gift to tell me about their pain point, it's not a pain point.
This just doesn't follow. There are issues I face, but still have no incentive to spend time explaining them to you.