Best practices on how to accelerate innovation together

Making it mutually beneficial

To make cooperation in a network successful, however, transparency is vital. Each party has to explain to the other exactly what they expect to get out of the cooperation and what they plan to contribute. 

During the introductory presentation at Breakthrough Day by HealthWorks, insights were shared into how two parties in a network might typically work together: the large, established company and the start-up or scale-up. The findings discussed resonated with my own experiences. A corporation can bring a great deal to collaborations with start-ups, such as IP, marketing and commercial expertise and a global network of healthcare contacts. For a big company, working with a start-up can be challenging. They have to be careful not to pull the start-up into their orbit, so to speak, and try to make them adhere to corporate processes and ways of thinking. It’s essential there’s a single point of contact for the start-ups as well as commitment at board level. However, the corporate stands to gain a great deal from working with a start-up. Until recently, the standard approach to finding out what end users might be interested in would be to conduct market research. However, without knowing the exact questions, methodology, target audience and hidden biases, the results can be misleading. Working with start-ups gives corporates access to data on end user needs and market developments that they may otherwise not have been aware of. 

Of course, the corporate needs to realize that a start-up or scale-up must have room to breathe and stay flexible. Start-ups, in turn, need to understand that things might take a lot longer than they would like. During their presentations, the start-ups at the event explained how it can be challenging for them to stay focused on their original short-term goals, as they receive new information and meet lots of experts. Another aspect of business development that can be frightening is spending large sums of money on things such as patents and legal expertise — but start-ups simply have to do this as soon as possible. In areas like these, the guidance of a more experienced partner is extremely valuable. Market prognoses and spreadsheets can be distracting. 

However, as emphasized during the HealthWorks Breakthrough Day panel discussion, you need to keep your sights on the niche in which you can make a real difference. Becoming a thought leader in healthcare isn’t about having an opinion on everything — it’s about having a clear vision and argumentation about the areas in which you can truly excel. 
 

Adding value by accessing expertise 

True innovative strength arises from a combination of demand, knowledge, expertise and funding. Challenges, ideas and knowledge are transformed into concrete technological innovations, new medicines or tools and different ways of working. Today, we’re seeing the development of HealthTech hubs based on this approach, not only in the Netherlands, but also in London, Berlin and Silicon Valley, for example. In each of these locations, parties have understood that ultra-competitive business models are outdated. It’s all about identifying needs and finding out how to get access to the expertise that can help provide a solution and add real value.