10 Reasons Doctors Are Not Great Early Evangelists

Patients are terrible early evangelists for three reasons. I highlight these three reasons in this video:

Are doctors any better? The conventional wisdom is that entrepreneurs should encourage end user collaboration, including MD and non-MD providers, in the early stages of new product development. Here are some things to consider:

1. For many doctors, their insurance IQs are not that much higher than patient insurance IQs.

2. Most doctors don't have an entrepreneurial mindset and don't think in terms of opportunity and business models.

3. Doctors frequently have biases that distort thinking and action.

4. They often don't know what they don't know but are afraid to admit it.

5. They think that their experience is generalizable to everyone else.

6. They are cheap and don't want to put skin in the game.

7. They are unwilling to talk to you about "their ideas" because they are afraid you will steal them.

8. They don't trust the suits and money people.

9. They believe that doctors make lousy business people.

10. They don't understand the life science innovation road map and their role in the process.

Design thinking is supposed to encourage end user input. However, like in many instances, you might wind up with “garbage in, garbage out” that takes you down the wrong road. Entrepreneur emptor.