Your future mobile health device isn’t your phone, it’s your watch

April 11, 2013 in digital health | No comments

Image courtesy of pc-tablet.com

The age of the smartwatch is approaching, and it represents a significant potential shift in the consumer mobile health space.  These wearable, multi-functional devices have the potential to supplant mobile phones and existing wearable health devices as the central platform for mobile health.  There are already a few smartwatches on the market today, notably Pebble, Martian and MetaWatch Strata, and the market is getting increasing attention as several major technology players currently have devices in development.  Samsung and LG recently confirmed that they are developing smartwatches, and both Apple and Google are reported to be developing them as well.

These wearable devices have several characteristics that make them ideal for use in health management: Read the rest of this entry »

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Why Become an Entrepreneur?

August 21, 2012 in Uncategorized | No comments

What is the goal of most entrepreneurs?  Make lots of money?  Create something the world has never seen before?  Be their own boss?

This quote from Steve Jobs got me thinking:

I hate it when people call themselves “entrepreneurs” when what they’re really trying to do is launch a startup and then sell or go public, so they can cash in and move on. They’re unwilling to do the work it takes to build a real company, which is the hardest work in business. That’s how you really make a contribution and add to the legacy of those who went before. You build a company that will still stand for something a generation or two from now. That’s what Walt Disney did, and Hewlett and Packard, and the people who built Intel. They created a company to last, not just to make money. That’s what I want Apple to be.

-Steve Jobs

I think that a very big part of the draw of entrepreneurship is the opportunity to get rich quick.  But I wonder how big a driving force it is for most  entrepreneurs.  An interesting aspect of Steve Jobs, is that he didn’t appear to be motivated by money (at least it wasn’t the primary motivator).  He wanted to change the world.  I think that budding entrepreneurs would be well-served by giving the topic some introspective thought.

Am I doing this because I think I can make a lot of money?

Am I doing this because it’s something I believe in, love doing and think can change the world?

Of course the answer will never be one or the other, but some combination of the two.  But I think it’s helpful to reflect on our motivations and course-correct accordingly.

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Surprising Data on How People Consume Music

August 14, 2012 in Uncategorized | No comments

I’m reading the Steve Jobs biography and remembering the digital music revolution.  It’ s been about 9 years since the launch of the  iTunes store, so there’s been time for digital music to mature some, and for a new generation to grow up with a new model for acquiring and listening to music.  I was interested to see how people get their music today.  Nielsen just released its first ever report on how people, both kids(13-17) and adults (18+),  listen to music.  The results…YouTube, Radio, and CDs are the most popular ways.  CDs!  I found the results really surprising and had to share.  Most of my peers use spotify or pandora.  I’m an iTunes guy.  The smart playlist function is amazing, and I like to own my music.  See the chart below for a full breakdown of listening preferences, or read more in this WSJ article.

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EMR Lessons from an Online Dating Website

May 2, 2011 in Healthcare, emr | No comments

The healthcare information age is upon us.  With federal incentives to adopt Electronic Medical Records (EMR), more and more medical practices are going paperless. An important benefit of EMR is ease of data collection and analysis.  As patient treatments and outcomes are stored electronically, rich data sets become available to medical practices.  Responses to treatments can be measured and used to guide future treatment decisions.  For example, analysis can identify variations in treatment responses by sub-populations, with the promise of more personalized medicine.

In the past, this kind of patient outcomes data analysis was something primarily done by insurance companies, because of their access to lots of patient information.  EMR systems now bring this power to the healthcare providers.  Now that they have the infrastructure to collect data, they can begin to better understand their own patients.  But because this is a newly acquired capability, it may take time before providers fully understand the potential of data analysis.

As an illustration of an organization that does know the power of data, we can turn to the dating website OkCupid.  In the same way that EMR digitizes patient record keeping, dating websites have taken the acts of courting (answering personal questions, winking, being rejected, lining up dates and hopefully finding love) digital.  And just like EMR, records of these transactions provide rich data sets for analysis.  OkCupid does a great job of analyzing user interactions through the site and sharing interesting trends that they identify via a blog they call OkTrends. Read the rest of this entry »

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Accountable Care Organizations – What are they and what do they mean for pharma?

April 4, 2011 in Accountable Care Organization, Healthcare, Pharma | No comments

ACOs are like the weather.  Everyone is talking about them, no one knows what they will really bring. 

ACO Overview

While the term Accountable Care Organization originated in 2006, ACOs were brought into the spotlight through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) legislation passed in March 2010.  An ACO is a healthcare provider entity/network that includes the full spectrum of care including PCPs, specialists, hospitals, long term care, etc.  The main principle of ACOs is to unify providers and improve coordination of patient care with the goal of improving patient outcomes and decreasing cost of care.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Negotiation Lessons from Van Halen

November 20, 2010 in Negotiations | No comments

You may have heard the legend that Van Halen used to demand a supply of M&Ms backstage at their concerts, with all the brown M&Ms removed.  Well, it turns out the legend is true.  As was recently found by The Smoking Gun, the demand was written into the band’s performance contract, and promoters were actually contractually obligated to remove the brown M&Ms.  The request could easily be written off as bratty behavior of diva rock-stars, but there is more to it.   Read the rest of this entry »

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Be a Better Negotiator

February 27, 2010 in Negotiations | No comments

Being a great negotiator takes discipline. Below is a list of guidelines for success created from experience negotiating technology licensing agreements, and interacting with business development professionals.

Never fall in love with a deal
Whether we admit it or not, almost all decision making is done at an emotional level, with facts and data used to rationalize the decision. That may not be so bad when buying a car, but business deals need to be as emotionlessly calculated as humanly possible. You must be prepared to walk away. Falling in love with a deal can lead to what is known as the “winner’s curse.” Bidding high to win a deal leads to the winner overpaying. Let judgment win over emotion.

Don’t believe the numbers
They’re wrong. No matter how scientifically derived the financial projections are…they’re wrong. You need to know the potential of what you’re buying, but don’t give the numbers too much credit. Read the rest of this entry »

Peer 2 Peer Angel Investing: The Future of Funding Startups?

January 10, 2010 in Angel, P2P, Social Impact | 3 comments

I have a friend who is staring her own business. It’s a for-profit social impact enterprise. As a result, the financial returns she aspires to achieve are lower than a typical startup’s, and she’s struggling to attract investors. Creating an enterprise that aims to generate social benefit as well as financial benefit requires a specific type of investor that is rare. That is to say, there are few entities willing to make a large investment in a company without the potential of a large return on investment. But there are lots of people interested in making social change, and in backing it financially. Most people make some sort of charitable donation each year. Perhaps these people and their social change-seeking dollars could be channeled towards people like my friend. Read the rest of this entry »

Off to Duke to get my MBA!

July 29, 2008 in Duke | No comments

I’m heading to Duke’s Fuqua school of business to get my MBA. I’ve put most of my Innovance work on hold while I’m at school, so there will probably be few updates. I’m enrolled in the school’s Health Sector Management program, where I hope to learn more about commercializing early stage medical technologies. For more information on the Health Sector Management program, click the image below.

Click for more info on Fuqua’s HSM program

New Technology Transfer Clients in South America

August 11, 2007 in Client, Tech Transfer, ipXpress | 1 comment

Partnering with Russ Bown of ipXpress http://www.ip-xpress.com/, I have been working with international technology management organizations, helping them move beyond a regional or national focus, and establish collaborations with international commercial development partners.

I have helped Russ expand ipXpress’ business to South America, and will be working with two new clients there: NEOS http://www.neos.cl/ in Santiago, Chile, and Inova Unicamp in Campinas, Brazil http://www.inova.unicamp.br/site/06/english.php.

NEOS – Pioneering Tech Transfer in Chile
Technology transfer is extremely new in Chile, and NEOS is the country’s leading tech transfer organization. It is rare for Chilean universities to have their own office of technology licensing (OTL), and NEOS generally acts as a national OTL, working directly with inventors at several different research institutions. Read the rest of this entry »