Stories

There is no doubt we are in the midst of a healthcare transformation unlike anything seen before. A confluence of ideas from engineering, the sciences, business, and law is driving solutions to some of the world’s most pressing health issues. Yes, it is exciting, but such radical upheaval presents challenges to finding a career path in this turbulent industry.

To help our students navigate these waters, Santa Clara University’s School of Engineering and Leavey School of Business recently presented a mini-conference on Innovations in Healthcare. Top Silicon Valley talent—product managers, senior engineers, doctors, and VCs representing various functions in the healthcare industry—gave insight into new product innovation, entrepreneurship, and career opportunities. For budding entrepreneurs wanting to found their own startup and for those “intrapreneurs” looking for an entry point into this field, following are some takeaways from the New Product Innovation and Development panel discussion.

“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.” Rigidly regulated in the healthcare space, product development and testing takes a long time to meet clinical, technical, and regulatory requirements. Prolonged introduction time, a rapidly-changing market, and clinicians’ reluctance to adopt new products or systems lead to a high rate of failure for startups unprepared for this reality.

Listen to Ben Franklin: "Drive thy business or it will drive thee." To hold onto success, do you resolve to keep a startup mentality of introducing new products, or do you focus on improving the initial product over time? To recruit and retain fresh, cutting-edge talent, a company must stay nimble and must consciously build processes that can incubate potentially disruptive ideas. Focus on the goals of a job to be done, eliminate any legacy tasks that hinder growth.

Forget Superman or Wonderwoman; the Product Manager is the new superhero. Key to success, the PM is responsible for all product decisions—area of focus, definition of customer, design, cost-quality-schedule tradeoff, positioning, and deployment. The PM ensures team members from all departments—sales, marketing, QA, regulation, support, and operations—are working together and meeting goals and deadlines.

Listen to Yoda: “Your path you must decide.” Product management is a versatile field with tremendous growth potential, and there is no one path to getting there. Great PMs have diverse disciplines, backgrounds, and levels of education. While they may not always have a technical background, they keep abreast with emerging technology, are comfortable with data and analytics, and are good communicators with a high level of customer empathy and understanding.

If the prospect of launching a startup or managing a product through development in the healthcare industry lights a flame within, it is up to you to find your own path to success. Innovation labs and entrepreneurship programs are popping up at universities all over the world; find out what is available on your campus and join in. Cross disciplines to maximize your potential. Seek out an internship. Find the extra-curricular activities that will kindle your own entrepreneurial spirit. One of these could be the first step on your path to a fulfilling career in the healthcare industry.

Prashanth Asuri is Associate Professor of Bioengineering and Director of the BioInnovation and Design Lab at Santa Clara University.