Here's a brief Q&A round-up from this informative session presented at the NEXT Summit on August 5.
The third NEXT Summit panel took a slightly different tack by inviting three established financial experts to share their thoughts about today’s trends in healthcare investment. We welcomed Dan Hermann of Ziegler, Jesse Lane from Denali Growth Partners, and Danika Fry from Morgan Stanley. VirtuSense’s own Brent Dobsch hosted the panel to help guide the conversation.
Dan Hermann is well known in the healthcare investment world as the president and CEO of Ziegler, one of the top specialty investment banks in the post-acute healthcare space. With over thirty-five years of experience in the industry, Hermann has seen how rapidly healthcare has changed. His expert eye for the market and insider knowledge of post-acute care makes him a strong ally for up-and-coming innovators working to break into the market.
Jesse Lane, founder and managing director of Denali Growth Partners a Boston-based growth equity firm, joined us as well. Denali Growth Partners helps entrepreneurs in the healthcare and technology space transform their ventures into capital-efficient businesses and build growth. Lane is a Harvard and Stanford graduate using his expertise to help innovators transition their ideas into thriving business.
Finally, as a surprise addition to our panel, the executive director of healthcare investment banking at Morgan Stanley, Danika Fry joined us. Fresh from working on Amazon’s $3.9 billion dollar acquisition of One Medical, Fry set the room abuzz with conversation on how this could signal a disruption in the core of healthcare delivery and impact smaller businesses that are positioned to help medical giants stay flexible in changing times.
The conversation centered on the idea that money travels to the places of most use, especially when it comes to healthcare. The market has gone through several changes in the last two years or so, and between inflation, the pandemic, and supply chain issues, making smart investment decisions has been more important than ever. However, the pandemic did not slow down innovation and entrepreneurs seeking to make their businesses thrive. Our panel shared that the key features that new companies need to flourish were knowing the ecosystem they are entering; interfacing effectively with healthcare payers; maintaining a realistic view of their addressable market; and being able to flexibly work with all stakeholders in their system, not just aligning with one partner or vertical.
This panel shared their wealth of experience from the investment side of healthcare, which is often left in the background. This panel left NEXT Summit guests with behind-the-scenes insights about how new medical ventures navigate from an idea to a thriving business with the right support.
