Health Tech Innovation: How Entrepreneurs Can Define and Build the Value of Their New Products

Today, over 500,000 medical technologies are available in hospitals, homes, and community care settings. They range from simple bandages to complex, multi-part body scanners that cost millions of dollars to develop. Yet a typical technology has a lifecycle of just 21 months before an improved product usurps it - the healthcare ecosystem is rapidly advancing and driven by a constant flow of innovation. And those innovations need innovators.

With $21 billion made available for investment in the digital healthcare industry in 2020 (a 20x increase on 2010), entrepreneurs, investors, and related actors are entering the healthcare ecosystem in greater numbers than ever before. Last year alone, over 17,000 medical technology patents were filed, the third highest of all patent types. Each of those has a dedicated team of innovators behind it. Yet with increasingly strict regulations and pharmaceutical giants growing more aggressive, many thousands of entrepreneurs fail before even the patent stage: just 2% secure revenue or adoption.

How to Learn to Fly is a down-to-earth survival guide for entrepreneurs struggling to secure a strategic position within the healthtech ecosystem. This guide is designed to help innovators navigate this complex and newly volatile landscape. It covers business strategy, marketing, funding acquisition, and operation in a global regulatory context. It is written in simple language, evidenced by the latest academic and industry research, and explained using real-world examples and case studies.