Caduceus LAUNCH is led by industry groundbreaker Dr. Mitch Morris, whose previous leadership roles at Optum, Deloitte, and MD Anderson Cancer Center have equipped him with unique insights into the healthcare system. We recently sat down with him for an interview about his new endeavor.
After a successful career as a physician, professor, and healthcare industry leader, what made you want to get involved with Caduceus LAUNCH?
It’s funny, I have tried to retire a couple of times and failed. I am compelled to help solve the many challenges that we face in healthcare today and, importantly, I enjoy mentoring and coaching entrepreneurs to help them be more successful with their companies. I have had the rare opportunity to operate in various aspects of the healthcare ecosystem, as both a clinical leader and a business leader. It is exciting to work with talented founders who are working hard to solve problems and improve healthcare through new ventures.
Where do you see a need in the market for Caduceus LAUNCH?
In the healthcare innovation world, many accelerators take a one-size-fits all approach. With Caduceus LAUNCH, we have developed a bespoke offering of education, mentorship and network access, designed to meet the needs of digital health founders and their specific companies. Our team of venture partners has an incredible wealth of knowledge and experience. This enables them to see potential roadblocks and paths to success. Our investors are looking to put our money upfront and invest in the companies in the accelerator.
At the end of the three-month LAUNCH program, our goal is to continue our relationship with companies in the accelerator, furthering their development and profitable growth. A measure of our success will be that companies in the program “graduate” to a higher level of funding from Caduceus Capital Partners.
Describe the kind of company would be a great fit to participate in Caduceus LAUNCH.
We are looking for digital health companies whose founders have vision and passion for their company, a value proposition that will create meaningful change in healthcare, and the beginnings of a product that will knock people’s socks off.
How do you approach working with very early-stage companies?
I start by listening to the founders and getting to know them. I want to understand their aspirations and learn what motivates them to take the risks inherent in starting up a new company. If we all feel that working together would be beneficial, we will initially focus on key issues such as refining their value proposition, identifying and courting first clients, and preparing to successfully raise funds.
What advice do you want to pass on to startup founders?
All founders bring different experiences and capabilities to the table. It is important that they be confident about what they know and be open to learning about things they do not know.
What area of healthcare innovation interests you the most?
There’s so much activity right now, especially with the hype of AI. Incremental improvements in acute care or creating something that Epic or Oracle will get around to in the near term are of lesser interest. In the area of software as a service there are so many exciting companies that are focused on lowering the risk of chronic illnesses and enabling people to better manage their own health. Products that help the clinical team focus on spending time with their patients are also high on my list. The other area which has been an interest of mine for 25 years is how do we use machine learning to access and transform data into actionable insights and enable workflow.
Cost pressures for payers, providers and employers continue to increase. Therefore, any innovation needs to increase revenue or demonstrably lower costs, or it is going to be difficult to get it past the CFO.
For those who have an idea for a great healthcare innovation and are thinking of starting a company, what should they consider before launching a company?
There are many characteristics of great founders but some things in common are a willingness to take risks and having fire in the belly. The drive to succeed, to put in long hours, to attract a high performing team, and the ability to convince investors to put their faith in the founders are prerequisites. You do not necessarily need a lot of experience to successfully grow a start up if you have the drive and surround yourself with the right people.