Solving Healthtech’s Talent Equation

Regulatory uncertainty and lack of robust business models have meant Healthtech in Asia has not been an ideal destination for senior execs. However, over the last 8 months we have seen a surge in senior execs lining up to join Healthtech.

Early 2018 was our first tryst with the Healthtech sector, when we were called upon to help a VC-backed startup to hire for its leadership team. Healthtech was a natural extension of our universe as we had been covering senior executive searches in the Life-sciences segment in the region for the past 9 years. Being a very nascent talent market, it gave us the opportunity to flex some creative muscle in our search strategies.

Our first search was a Commercial Head reporting to the CEO, the mandate being to hire someone with a strong understanding of the Patient-Payer-Provider ecosystem and who could drive business development strategies. We were out of the block fast, a quick scan of our rolodex churned out a few potential candidates with prior experience in the healthcare space and a month later we had an offer and acceptance. As close to a clinical finish (no to pun intended) as we could get. 

Two months later, my team and I were still high on our success, when we received a rather frantic call from our Commercial Head. He went on to describe in a frenzied tone about how his product direction had kept oscillating between B2B and B2C multiple times in a 2 months’ time frame and he was at a complete loss on how to direct his team or manage his long standing customer relationships through these changes. Our candidate had worked for over 15 years in a large medical devices company and was not able to make the transition to a highly dynamic startup environment. That hire did not last unfortunately, and we had to redo the search.

Eventually, we did figure out the “right talent equation” for Healthtech. Not only did we find a suitable replacement but also went on to make several successful hires in Commercial, Technology, Product, Public Policy and Marketing positions over the two-year period.

The right talent equation, which we will talk more about below, didn’t come easily though. Our team has taken a highly proactive approach over the two years, speaking to over 500 senior execs from pharma, medical devices, insurance, and tech companies to assess interest levels and long-term fit in Healthtech. 

What does the senior talent market think about Healthtech?

The general feel among senior execs is that Healthtech is a highly purpose driven segment, and in some way it appeals to their larger “why”. However, regulatory uncertainty and complex healthcare systems in the region make scaling up rather challenging. This impacts the future monetary potential that most senior execs look for when joining early stage companies. Money still speaks!

The tide is changing… a bit

The last 7-8 months have seen some new trends emerging. Our team has seen a three-fold increase in the number of senior execs willing to explore the segment, mainly related to a series of 3 large events:

Tech debacle – Unrest in the tech world (Read: Softbank, Airbnb, WeWork etc.) has made some senior execs rethink their career motivations and direction. For example, in a recent hire, a senior exec left behind significant ESOPs at a regional tech Unicorn to join the leadership team at a Healthcare eCommerce company.

Consolidation in the Life-sciences world – Global M&A and regional restructures in Pharma and Medical Devices companies have meant several senior execs are in the market for jobs.

And, well of course Covid -19 –  The crisis has exposed gaping holes in health systems globally which could mean huge opportunities for Healthtech. As a result, governments in key markets like China, India and Indonesia have announced concrete steps towards regulatory clarity in digital health.

This chain of events has helped make Healthtech an interesting proposition for senior execs.

Before we forget …the right talent equation

Course correction required on both sides

Now, coming back to the frantic executive who we discussed early in the article. Moving from selling a fixed product to a constantly evolving offering, quite common in early stage companies, can be daunting. A candidate looking to make the move into Healthtech will need to mentally prepare themselves for this change.

On the flip side, due the space being very new, Healthtech founders or Lead investors tend to create a mental image of their ideal candidate, which in some cases is not the right hire for the company’s stage of growth. We see cases when a start-up is looking for a Marketing Head, when all they need at that point of time is someone to manage their performance marketing activities OR trying to hire a Public Policy Director, when a policy analyst who can connect the dots might just be enough at that time. From a talent advisory and acquisition perspective, running an agile search process and timely interventions with real market data help keep things moving.

Not every candidate from a Life-sciences or a Tech company is right for Healthtech. When curating talent for the Healthtech start-ups, we set aside the “standard checklist” of requirements and instead delve deeper into a candidate's past for challenging experiences or war stories that showcase resilience. 

With the global discussions around Healthtech gaining traction, some final thoughts to senior execs looking to enter the space. In our opinion, the following three competencies are paramount when we evaluate senior talent for Healthtech.

• Grit – Ability to play the long game and still be creative in a highly regulated space.
• Awareness – Foresight on internal/external factors impacting business in the healthcare ecosystem.
• Adaptability – Ability to function within a lean and constantly changing organization structure.

The talent universe for this space is still being defined and we have only scratched the surface so far in unearthing the best. As the world looks to open for business post Covid-19, these are exciting times for Healthtech indeed!