How to effectively start market research in the health tech industry by defining objectives, crafting problem statements, selecting methods, identifying data collection sources, and setting clear timelines. This guide covers all the preliminary steps needed to lay a strong foundation for your research.
"Market Research it too text-booky, I am in the market for a decade, I am living research book" this is what the founder I met on the event claimed, few of my colleagues rolled their eyes. Its true that one cannot over look the real life experience, but one cannot out beat structured gold mine of market research.
Many 0 to 1 startup founders often overlook market research, but this critical step can make or break a venture, especially in health tech.
But Why do they skip it?
Limited resources—time, money, and manpower—are common culprits.
"In fact, a survey by CB Insights found that 42% of startups fail due to no market need, which is like building a spaceship to Mars only to realise you forgot the fuel." Sudharsan Srinivasan Operational Partner Pitchworks VC Studio
Overconfidence in their product’s success leads founders to assume it will naturally find its market, especially in health tech where patient needs, entire system issues and regulatory requirements are as complex as trying to perform brain surgery with a butter knife. Additionally, the pressure to launch quickly and the belief in their own intuition further contribute to this oversight. Yet, thorough market research in health tech could be the key to transforming a startup's vision into a life-saving reality, instead of a medical mishap waiting to happen.
Example of Market Research working
Innovaccer, founded by Abhinav Shashank in 2014, focuses on improving healthcare delivery through data-driven insights and interoperability solutions. Before launching their platform, Innovaccer conducted extensive market research to understand the challenges faced by healthcare organizations and the potential for innovation in healthcare IT.
Identifying Pain Points: Innovaccer surveyed healthcare providers to understand their difficulties with data integration, care coordination, and patient engagement. They found widespread frustration with siloed systems and inefficient workflows.
Competitive Analysis: Analyzed competitors offering similar solutions in healthcare analytics and interoperability. Identified gaps in comprehensive data aggregation, real-time analytics, and actionable insights.
Regulatory Compliance: Ensured their platform complied with HIPAA and other healthcare data privacy regulations. This compliance was crucial to gaining trust from healthcare providers wary of data security issues.
Customer Validation: Conducted pilot programs with several healthcare organizations to validate the platform's effectiveness in improving care outcomes and operational efficiency. Gathered feedback to refine features and user interface.
Nanox is B2B health tech startup revolutionizing medical imaging with its digital X-ray system it used Market Research to find Market opportunity and scale and launch its products.
"We’re not competitor obsessed, we’re customer obsessed. We start with what the customer needs and we work backwards." - Jeff Bezos
From Pitchworks We understand why early stage founders can not afford time , effort or skill set of research that the reason we invest on 365 days on market intelligence program and deploy lead market researcher for each of the early stage portfolios we invest. This helps us make better investment decision and be more closer to customer needs our portfolio founders more successful. Even on the first engagement with the portfolio fir we expect only expect Market Research thesis match , for the portfolio who don't match we still want to work with them if we are proven wrong with the market research.
To help founders in their market research, particularly in their self-pilot mode, Pitchworks VC Studio has built our own playbook and kept it open for founders to practice. This playbook offers step-by-step guidance and practical tools to navigate the complexities of market research and validation.
If any founder need a copy, please mail us to gokul@pitchworks.club and sudharsan@pitchworks.club.
In this blog we wanted to give overview of how to set the foundations of market research and contentious market intelligence even before you start.
Defining a research objective is a critical step in conducting effective market research. It sets the direction for your study and helps ensure that your research efforts are focused and productive. Here’s a detailed guide on how to define a research objective, including writing down the problem, listing research questions, choosing a methodology, and selecting data sources. Define Research Objective
The research objective is a clear, concise statement that outlines the purpose of your study. It should specify what you aim to achieve with your research and guide your data collection and analysis efforts.
How to Define a Research Objective:
Be Specific: Clearly state what you want to learn or understand.
Be Achievable: Ensure that the objective is realistic given your resources and timeframe.
Be Relevant: Align the objective with your business goals and market needs.
Be Measurable: Define criteria for success so you can evaluate the results.
Example Objective: "To understand the key factors influencing the adoption of telemedicine services among urban healthcare providers."
Pitchworks VC Studio after 3 years of research project have listed a list of questions for scoping the market research project.
Timeboxing Timeboxing market research ensures efficiency, focus, and timely decision-making. It sets clear deadlines, allocates specific time slots for tasks, and helps prioritize key areas. This method prevents over-analysis, reduces costs, and speeds up product development. It also enhances team accountability and maintains momentum in the project.
Without timeboxing, market research can lead to analysis paralysis, delayed projects, increased costs, and missed market opportunities. The lack of defined time limits may result in unfocused efforts and diminished team productivity.
Without a proper budget, market research can lead to unexpected costs, insufficient data quality, and delayed project timelines.
Planning a budget for market research ensures effective allocation of resources, avoiding overspending while covering essential areas. It helps prioritize key research components, set realistic goals, and measure return on investment. A well-planned budget also facilitates timely and informed decision-making, enhancing overall project efficiency.
A robust tool stack for market research includes survey platforms (like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms), data analytics tools (such as Google Analytics and Tableau), and social media monitoring tools (like Hootsuite or Brandwatch). Additionally, CRM software (such as Hubspot) and market research databases (like Statista) are essential for gathering and analyzing customer data efficiently.
Exploratory market research is an initial investigation into a market problem or opportunity to gain insights and understand its scope without finliasing much into scope or drawing any margins. It uses open-ended approaches like focus groups, interviews, and literature reviews to gather qualitative data, helping to identify key issues and form hypotheses for further scoping the research. Product solution-based market research focuses on understanding customer needs and preferences to develop or refine a product that addresses specific market problems.
Market segmentation research involves dividing a broad target market into smaller, more homogenous groups based on shared characteristics such as demographics, behaviors, or needs. This approach allows businesses to tailor their marketing strategies and product offerings to better meet the specific needs of each segment
Choosing the Research Method can help in estimating the timeline of the project some of the methods are time consuming and few of it are result oriented.
User interviews involve one-on-one conversations with end-users to gather insights about their experiences, needs, and preferences related to a product or service. This qualitative method helps uncover detailed feedback that can guide product improvements and user experience enhancements.
Buyer interviews focus on conversations with customers who have purchased a product or service to understand their purchasing decisions, motivations, and satisfaction. These interviews provide insights into the buying process and factors that influence purchase behavior.
A focus group consists of a moderated discussion with a small group of people from the target market to gather diverse opinions and attitudes about a product, service, or concept. This method helps capture a range of perspectives and stimulates discussion that can reveal deeper insights.
Contextual inquiry is a field research method where researchers observe and interact with users in their natural environment to understand how they use a product or perform tasks. This approach provides real-world context and uncovers user behaviors, challenges, and needs that may not be evident in other research methods.
Secondary research involves analyzing existing data and research findings from sources like reports, studies, and market analyses. This method saves time and resources by leveraging previously gathered information to inform business decisions and strategies.
Market Research Report Collection
Market research report collection entails gathering comprehensive reports from industry analysts, market research firms, and other sources. These reports provide detailed data, trends, and insights about market conditions, competitive landscapes, and consumer behavior, aiding strategic planning and decision-making. Finalizing the primary goal of market research is vital as it sets a clear direction, ensuring the research is focused, relevant, and actionable. It helps in accurately identifying customer needs, market trends, and competitive gaps, leading to informed decision-making and strategic planning. At PitchWorks VC Studio, we assist founders in defining their primary research goals by providing expert mentorship, customized frameworks, and access to industry data. Our 1 week program helps founders articulate their research objectives clearly, align them with business goals, and execute a targeted research strategy, ensuring the insights gained are impactful and directly applicable to their growth plans.
Geography in market research involves analyzing the physical location of a target market to understand regional preferences, cultural differences, and market opportunities. It will help you fine tune and narrow down on RPRU ( Revenue Per User) which country suites what business model for the product or service the founder is trying to build. When we conducted out Health tech and QMS market research one of our lead research used geographic data by providing access to regional market insights, and later on used it to geographic segmentation, and tools for location-based analysis, ensuring their strategies are effectively tailored to specific markets.
Understanding Socio-economic factors can significantly alter product development, pricing, and marketing strategies. The research wil reveals insights into income levels, education, occupation, and lifestyle, influencing purchasing behavior and preferences. when you start the research start with little open ended model and go narrow as the research gives more insights.
Identify Specific Health Needs: Different age groups have unique health requirements, which helps in developing targeted health tech solutions.
Design User-Friendly Interfaces: Age segmentation ensures the technology is accessible and easy to use for different age groups, improving user adoption and satisfaction.
To focus your research effectively and minimize wasted time, consider exploring sectors in health tech such as AI in healthcare, telemedicine, or wearable health tech. These sectors are rapidly evolving, have significant impact on healthcare delivery, and offer ample opportunities for innovation and research. Choose based on your interest, industry growth trends, and potential for practical application to streamline your efforts.
Telemedicine and Telehealth: Remote delivery of healthcare services through telecommunications technology.
Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Electronic Medical Records (EMR): Digital storage and management of patient health information.
Medical Imaging and Diagnostics: Technologies such as MRI, CT scans, ultrasound, and digital pathology for diagnostic purposes.
Wearable Health Tech: Devices like smartwatches, fitness trackers, and biosensors that monitor health metrics.
Healthcare Analytics and Big Data: Analysis of large datasets to derive insights for improving healthcare delivery and outcomes.
Healthcare IoT (Internet of Things): Connected medical devices and sensors for remote monitoring and data collection.
Personalized Medicine and Genomics: Tailoring medical treatment based on individual patient characteristics and genetic information.
Healthcare Robotics: Use of robots in surgery, patient care, and automation of healthcare processes.
Mental Health Tech: Digital platforms and applications for mental health support and therapy.
Blockchain in Healthcare: Secure and transparent management of healthcare data and transactions.
Healthcare Compliance and Cybersecurity: Technologies and practices to ensure regulatory compliance and safeguard patient data.
Patient Engagement Solutions: Technologies to improve patient communication, education, and involvement in their own healthcare.
Healthcare Supply Chain Management: Technologies to optimize the supply chain of medical products and devices.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare: Applications of AI for diagnostic support, personalized treatment recommendations, and operational efficiencies.
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) in Healthcare: Use of VR and AR for medical training, patient education, and therapeutic purposes.
Remote Patient Monitoring: Monitoring patients' health remotely through devices and technology.
Digital Therapeutics: Software-based interventions to prevent, manage, or treat medical disorders.
Healthcare Payment Solutions: Technologies for billing, payments, and reimbursement processes in healthcare.
Precision Medicine: Customized healthcare treatments and interventions based on individual patient characteristics.
Regenerative Medicine and Biotechnology: Technologies and therapies that harness the body's natural ability to heal and regenerate tissues.
Example Market Research Scope in Health Tech 0 to 1
We have 6 months timeline and 1 leader Marketer, 2 Market research analysts and access to top research report, and calls with subject matter expert for a research in Mental-Health.Research demographics : US, India in the age group of teenager , adults to middle aged adult group (13- 55 years)
and in Corporate Employee and from upper working class to upper upper class group.The research is Mental Health Solution based need to know various segment, buyer capacity, One of the primary goal of the research is finding new opportunities, find risk in go to market, pricing We are gonna use the following Tool stack: Google Sheet, forms, Chat Gpt-3, Similar web, legal zoo, User Testing, Statista, Gartner, g2crowd, capterrafor Market reports User Interviews, buyer Survey, Focus Group
Example Scope 2 We have a 3-month timeline with one market leader, access to top research reports, and five consultations with subject matter experts for our health tech IT research. Our target demographics are US and India adults aged 23-55, focusing on corporate employees from upper middle to upper upper class. The research will center on Professional Service Automation tools, aiming to identify new opportunities, assess go-to-market risks, and establish pricing strategies.
Our tool stack includes Google Sheets, Forms, ChatGPT-3, SimilarWeb, LegalZoom, UserTesting, Statista, Gartner, G2 Crowd, and Capterra for market reports, user interviews, buyer surveys, and focus groups. We will heavily rely on competitor analysis for critical decision-making. Downloadable PDF: Research Survey Questions for Health Tech
Downloadable PDF: Research Survey Questions for Health Tech IT
We have compiled a set of essential questions for setting up Market research in Health tech. This PDF document is designed for your convenience, allowing you to download and print it offline. Please use this document to facilitate data collection through surveys, interviews, or focus groups as part of our research efforts.
Re-estimate the timeline and Budget ________________ Timeline in months
________________ in Resource cost
________________ in Tool stack Budget ________________ in Incentivisation budget ________________ in total budget Start using a project management tool to track all the task and sub task to track the research progress Print the questions
https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/health-tech-market-intelligence-prelim-questions/269721784 Use the google forms
Here is the complete Guide on setting up the Market Research
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Thanks you About Pitchworks VC Studio and Corporate Innovation
Pitchworks is a venture capital studio investing in health tech startups at the pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages. We work closely with startups from day one, emphasizing the importance of market validation and research to shape successful business strategies. Our approach is grounded in the belief that thorough market insights can significantly enhance a startup's trajectory. In addition, we support corporates with innovative solutions, including venture studio and venture clienting services. Pitchworks is the hub where consultants, corporates, investors, and startups come together to drive innovation and growth.
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