I'm joined by Jeff June, MedTech Founder and Ecosystem Builder, as we explore the broken venture capital model in healthcare, why accelerator programs are failing early-stage companies, and his battle-tested strategies for building successful MedTech ventures through strategic partnerships and ecosystem development.
In this episode, we dive deep into:
The Funding Crisis Reality Check
→ Why venture capital has transformed into private equity, abandoning true early-stage companies
→ How founders are achieving FDA clearance and $500K revenue without raising venture capital
→ The massive disconnect between what VCs fund versus what MedTech innovation actually needs
The Accelerator Industrial Complex Problem
→ Why sponsor-driven programs select companies through the lens of corporate partners, not innovation merit
→ How success metrics focused on "total funding raised" create perverse incentives that harm true innovators
→ The power of micro-accelerators and peer learning over brand-name program marketing
Technical Founders Are More Capable Than They Think
→ Why being told to "find an experienced CEO" is the worst advice technical founders receive
→ How clinical founders should lead with their expertise story, not generic market-size slides
→ The critical difference between selling yourself first versus selling your technology
The Clinical-to-Consumer Healthcare Revolution
→ How patient education and responsibility can solve healthcare's innovation adoption crisis
→ Why great clinical innovations fail when they don't fit reimbursement models
→ The untapped opportunity for consumer health technologies with clinical validation
Ischemia Care: A $15M Success Story
→ How Jeff's stroke diagnostics company accomplished what others needed $120M to achieve
→ Building ecosystems of clinicians, hospitals, payers, and strategics for maximum leverage
→ The first blood test for stroke and lessons from commercializing breakthrough diagnostics
Strategic Partnership Acquisition Playbook
→ Why M&A timelines have stretched to 12+ years and average deal sizes tripled
→ How to build relationships with division presidents who have P&L responsibility, not BD departments
→ The "we can do what you'll never be able to do" positioning that unlocks strategic partnerships
Reimbursement Reality: The Two-Year Patient Turnover Truth
→ Why payers optimize for getting patients off their rolls within two years
→ How to speak the specific language of individual payers versus generic "healthcare system" messaging
→ The critical distinction between clinical evidence for FDA versus clinical evidence for adoption
Ecosystem Building Over Individual Excellence
→ Creating comprehensive support networks that enable ventures to achieve more with less capital
→ Why fractional experts who truly integrate with your team outperform expensive full-time hires
→ Building relationships that become competitive moats in highly specialized healthcare markets
Best Quotes:
"You are not an AI enabled solution. Stop it. Stop putting that as the first words describing your company."
"There is no such thing as a healthcare system. Every hospital is individualized, they work with different payers. You are not saving 'the healthcare system' money."
"The best people you will work with want to knock you out right away. They want to know what you know and you've got to lead them."
"You're far more capable than you think you are. Trust your instincts more. You know more than you think you do."
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Ischemia Care - https://www.ischemiacare.com/
Episode Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction to Jeff June's three-decade MedTech journey
5:00 - Why the venture capital model is broken for early-stage MedTech
15:00 - Technical founders are more capable than they're told
22:00 - The accelerator industrial complex diagnosis
35:00 - Clinical-to-consumer healthcare transformation
45:00 - What MedTech innovators consistently overlook
55:00 - Building ecosystem partnerships over individual excellence
65:00 - Reimbursement reality and payer psychology
75:00 - Strategic M&A relationship building playbook