Scientific Entrepreneurship in the Medical Technology Sector

Abstract

One of the causes of the hampering innovation in the medtech sector is the lack of business knowledge and competences of the scientific entrepreneurs, managing the medtech firms. Building a medtech firm is a challenge, and the required entrepreneurial skills are out of the comfort zone of a scientist. The Lean Start-up approach could be the solution to this problem, challenging scientific entrepreneurs to go outside their comfort one in order to gain this knowledge. However little scientific evidence exists for the practical success of this approach in the medtech sector. The aim of this research is to explore, analyze, and explain the use of the Lean Start-up approach within medtech start-ups. The main research question is “How do medtech start-ups apply the Lean Start-up approach, and how does this LSA support the business knowledge creation process within these start-ups?” 7 Dutch medtech firms that apply the approach have been investigated, as well as a deviant case that does not apply the Lean Start-up approach. The perspective of 3 incubators have also been taken into account. The ultimate goal is to build a theoretical framework of how the Lean Start-up approach is applied in the medtech sector. It is interesting to fill this gap in literature and investigate how scientific entrepreneurs operate in their uncertain high risk environment. Gaining these insights can lead to more innovative medtech innovations in a quicker and cheaper way, with the ultimate goal of lowering healthcare costs and an increase in quality of life. Results show that the Lean start-up approach appeared to be a suitable approach for scientific entrepreneurs to gain knowledge about entrepreneurship in the medical technology sector. The Lean start-up approach contributes to the awareness of the complexity of the market, but the step towards the market and business competences to get them out of the comfort zone seems to remain hard-to-reach. For gaining these skills support is required. Testing the medtech product in the market is where the biggest challenges can be found for the medtech industry. A recommendation for start-ups is to search for help. Search for people who can help in validating the business model and support in the step towards the market.