Patients Are Consumers: How to Position Your Startup to a Non-Clinician Audience
With rising demand for more accessible and preventive healthcare, medtech companies have a golden opportunity to focus on consumers. Here are some key strategies from six medical device entrepreneurs who have successfully broken into the D2C market.
Understand market dynamics and leverage visibility: Align your product with current market demands. Don't neglect publicity. Invest in PR to build credibility and attract quality leads.
Prioritize user-centric design and cost-effectiveness: Make sure your device is appealing, especially if you’re in a competitive space like wearables. Explore innovative pricing models – such as subscriptions – to reach a broader customer base.
Leverage user reviews to build a strong consumer base: Use customer reviews, such as those on Amazon and through word of mouth, to gather real-world feedback and build a loyal customer base before considering expansion into other models, like prescription-based options.
Ready your supply chain and remain flexible: Build confidence with your investors by preparing a supply chain that’s commercially scalable. While doing that, also remember that unexpected challenges may require you to pivot. Don't get too attached to your original plans; adapt as needed to keep moving forward
Address whopping, expensive problems: Look for big and expensive problems that money is already being spent on. Offer solutions that deliver real value and save costs.
Consider a dual commercialization strategy: Entering the market from all angles is also an option. Make your product simple and intuitive so consumers can easily understand and adopt it. Then combine different marketing models, and have them complement each other.
Leverage PR to Generate Credibility
Starting out in the skincare industry, serial entrepreneur Peter Vranes’s first venture, Biocore Technologies, was focused on natural cosmeceuticals and made its way onto the shelves of 1,500 retailers across Australia. In 2013, Peter successfully exited Biocore. After other stints in the industry, today, Peter is working on his latest venture, Nutromics, a startup developing a digitally connected wearable patch technology to monitor molecular targets under the skin in real-time.
Peter acknowledges that after the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a noticeable shift in consumer behavior toward personalized health monitoring devices. People are now more interested in proactively taking charge of their health and wellbeing. Meanwhile, clinicians are overwhelmed with information and workload. Overall, this means there’s a great opportunity for Nutromics.
“Where we want to go eventually is prevention,” says Peter. It is a huge trend in healthcare, and is especially preventable diseases, for which lifestyle changes play an immense role. “We want to give people a device that gives them insights if they are on the path to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or other diseases that have early molecular biomarkers,” Peter says.
Secondly, Peter admits he didn't always prioritize publicity in his earlier ventures, and experienced the hardships directly. Lately, getting name recognition for Nutromics has proved crucial for networking, especially with potential investors. Today, Peter puts substantial effort in PR. For example, Peter shares, one of the major motivations for entering MedTech Actuator was to promote Nutromics to the industry. And getting Nutromics highlighted as one of the top 50 medtech startups opened doors to quality inbound leads, from hospital networks to venture investors. Peter says, “Having done so makes it so much easier for us to facilitate connections, as opposed to saying ‘Hey, you don't know me, but are you happy to have a Zoom call?’”
Peter’s key advice for winning in the consumer market is to closely analyze industry trends and ensure your product aligns with demands. For Nutromics, this means tapping into the growing interest in personalized health management and prevention. Equally important is building strong visibility—investing in PR and gaining recognition can be crucial for attracting investors and key business partners. Though it may seem expensive, it grants you valuable connections and increases the chances of long-term success.
Prioritize User-Friendly Design and Affordability
John Mastrototaro has 30+ years of experience in bringing groundbreaking products to market. He played key roles in pioneering diabetes management technologies like the first ambulatory continuous glucose monitoring system and the sensor-augmented insulin pump at Medtronic and MiniMed, and served as COO of Orthosensor, which was acquired by Stryker. Today, he’s the CEO of Movano Health, the developer of Evie Ring, a smart ring designed specifically for women that provides real life data on metrics like sleep, activity, temperature, heart rate, and calories burned.
Honing in on preventative healthcare, John says, “We want to show people the cause and effect. We want to help them understand how their activities of daily living affect their health metrics, and maybe show how those are improving over time.” However, to do that, you need to get people to wear your wearable consistently. John puts it, “If it's not on, it doesn’t count.” That’s why, during the product development, John always puts the user first. Your value proposition is one aspect of it, but, especially for wearables, it’s crucial to aesthetically appeal to consumers.
The wearable space is highly competitive and many players are vying for attention. Movano saw that women were often overlooked in terms of design and user experience. That’s why the Evie Ring is a medical-grade device that doubles as a piece of jewelry.
Pricing is another aspect that says alot about where you position in the market. John suggests weighing the cost of your technology against traditional healthcare costs like doctor visits or lab tests. For instance, a wearable with a subscription model might cost users a few hundred dollars annually to offer them continuous health data. Compared to the cost of just a few visits to a doctor's office for similar data, this can be a very attractive proposition.
To reach a larger customer base, consider offering a more affordable version of your product, which can attract more users and generate revenue through higher sales volume. This way, you’ll have more people experience the value of your offering. Alternatively, offering your product for free and charging users for the service through a subscription model is another option, and a creative way to lower barriers to entry while still building a sustainable business model.
In summary, John’s advice is to focus on creating user-friendly and aesthetically appealing products, especially in competitive markets like wearables. Understanding your users – what they need, what they like, and what they’re willing to pay for – can guide your decisions on everything from product design to pricing strategy. Offering lower-cost versions or using creative pricing models, like subscriptions, can help attract a larger customer base, lower barriers to entry, and lead to a sustainable business model.
Capitalize on User Reviews and Word of Mouth
Jennifer Ernst, CEO and co-founder of Tivic Health, has 20+ years of experience in bringing breakthrough technologies to market. In only five years, she grew the Thin Film Electronics' US subsidiary from just eight to 130 people and achieved a $480 million market cap, launching several award-winning products along the way.
Jennifer points out that a consumer-first strategy – giving consumers more control over their healthcare decisions – is becoming more popular. Companies like Ro and Nurx, which offer telemedicine services for specific conditions, have successfully leveraged this approach. In Tivic’s case, about 40% of people who suffer from pain and congestion due to sinus inflammation never visit a doctor. This insight drove her to launch ClearUP – Tivic’s alternative decongestant – as an over-the-counter device.
Jennifer believes that, especially in healthcare, building a strong consumer base is essential. She uses customer reviews – whether through Amazon, news coverage, or word of mouth – to create a body of evidence that demonstrates the product’s value.
"We’re creating benefits for the person that has to pay for the product," Jennifer says. The idea is that if you prove value to the end user first, the rest will follow. For her, it’s a classic case of not putting the cart before the horse. Getting users excited about a product turns them into advocates in clinical settings, creating a natural pathway for healthcare providers to come on board.
Tivic entered the medtech market through its consumer door, but Jennifer doesn’t disregard the potential of following a prescription based model in the future. Still, her plan is to focus on building a strong consumer base first and use that as leverage to potentially expand into prescription-based models later.
Gear Up the Supply Chain
DermaSensor, under the leadership of Cody Simmons, has raised a total of $27 million to launch a point-and-click skin cancer detection tool for primary care providers. This innovation gave Cody a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 in healthcare in 2018.
“Having a commercial product, even if it’s not the cleared medical device you ultimately want, shows that you have the capability and competency as an executive and as a company to execute,” Cody says. A well-prepared startup is more attractive for investors as they want to see a clear path to commercialization without unforeseen roadblocks.
But having a product is just part of the puzzle. Cody points out that you need a solid plan for your supply chain that can handle growing demand as well as regulatory requirements – since addressing users directly through OTC or D2C models doesn’t necessarily free a company from FDA requirements. In Cody’s words, getting all your manufacturing and supply chain “ducks in a row” further demonstrates commitment to your stakeholders and is crucial for scaling up smoothly.
Having a minimum viable product that’s market-ready and a supply chain plan that can handle demand requires quite a bit of planning, and executing on that plan most typically involves a few pivots. For example, DermaSensor, hit two major bumps that each lasted a year—one was a technical issue that led to a complete redesign, and the other was a production problem that meant changing manufacturing partners. While being prepared, Cody also acknowledges the importance of being flexible. His takeaway is not to be married to your original plans. If things go sideways, be ready to tear up the playbook and find a new way forward.
Don’t Shy Away From Big Problems
Jim Pursley has a reputation of driving growth at the intersection of technology, design, and healthcare. Before becoming President of Hinge Health in 2021, Jim was the COO at Livongo Health, where he played a key role in taking the company public and leading it to an $18.5 billion acquisition by Teladoc Health.
Jim’s rule of thumb when identifying a market gap is to solve problems where money is already being spent. It’s easier to position your product if you address an issue that consumers and providers are already aware of and are investing resources in.
For example, Hinge Health is a digital health company that helps people manage joint and muscle pain. Unlike conditions like cancer or heart disease, musculoskeletal problems haven’t received as much attention, even though the demand for effective solutions is huge. For Hinge, addressing musculoskeletal issues – which affect nearly half of all Americans and cost the US healthcare system around $600 billion annually – was a right decision to position the company as a much-needed alternative to inefficient and costly options like surgery and opioids.
This means, in the case of musculoskeletal issues, many people are already paying out of pocket for physical therapy, or turning to more costly and less effective treatments. "There's one thing to try to convince a whole bunch of people to see a problem that they didn't fully appreciate or recognize versus saying, you're already spending time and money and energy here. You're just doing it in an unpleasant, maybe an inefficient way. And there's a better way to think about product market fit," Jim shares.
In short, to follow Jim’s footsteps, focus on addressing urgent problems that are already driving significant costs within the healthcare system. Deliver clear and measurable value, and ensure your solution is accessible and cost-effective.
Go for a Dual Commercialization Strategy
Before founding Companion Medical, which was sold to Medtronic in 2020, Sean Saint held key roles at Tandem Diabetes Care, Dexcom, and Medtronic and now serves as CEO of Beta Bionics. He also boasts 175 issued and pending patents to his name.
Living with Type 1 diabetes himself, Sean brought personal insight to the design of Companion Medical’s InPen, a novel bluetooth-enabled insulin pen that connects directly to a patient’s smartphone to make insulin management smarter and easier.
One of Sean's key lessons is the importance of keeping it simple and intuitive. When people see the InPen, they instantly get it—an insulin pen that connects to a smartphone and helps manage doses. There’s no need for complicated explanations or heavy selling; it speaks for itself. This kind of clarity helps with adoption because customers are more likely to use a product that they can quickly grasp. As Sean puts it, “To the right person, it sells itself.”
For medtech startups, this means solving a real, relatable problem by focusing on user-friendly design. If your product is easy to understand and addresses a real need, it will naturally attract attention and interest.
Besides the design, Sean advises following a two-pronged approach when entering the market. For Companion Medical, this meant targeting both healthcare providers and consumers directly and simultaneously. Direct-to-consumer outreach created awareness and demand among patients, who would then bring the product to their doctors’ attention.
For Companion, a mix of direct-to-provider and direct-to-consumer strategies helped create a buzz in the market and build momentum from both ends.
In sum, Sean’s advice is to design a simple, intuitive device that speaks for itself. While mastering one market before entering the other makes more sense for some companies, following a two-pronged strategy can help build awareness and demand from all angles. Consumers who understand and value the product, can become powerful advocates who drive interest and trust among healthcare professionals.