Lennart Thurfjell

Spotify

We had developed the technology together with clinicians in an EU-project. Results were so good so we decided that we must ensure that what we had developed would have a continued life and making an impact also outside the project.

The most frustrating is probably the amount of time it takes to ensure that the startup is sufficiently funded. The most rewarding is being quick both in terms of decision making and development.

Hard to say which is the no. 1 mistake, but one difficult thing is to ensure that the company has the right amount of financing. I think common mistakes are both growing the company and costs to quick, but also to be underfunded and hence to slow.

If I restrict this to the medical device software business, I would say:
1) make sure you get your regulatory strategy in place early
2) getting products out and approve will most likely take much longer than you initially plan for
3) do underestimate the amount of time you will need to spend to chase money.

I have worked in start-ups and in large organizations before, and most recently before Combinostics, I was 10 years with GE Healthcare. When I got the chance, I felt it was time to go back to the small company/start-up world.

Companies launching disruptive technology. Spotify is, of course, a great example and in the healthcare world, which is my business area, we see many new companies launching products where machine learning helps physicians in decision making.