I think people are being a little too hard on the author. Startups in healthcare are hard. Been there, done that, have the t-shirt (literally, that's all that left). I even made the same fatal mistake - not identifying who the buyer really is. And when I say identifying the buyer, I don't mean it in that hand-wavey, vague way like "doctors" or "insurance companies". The starting point has to be something like "ophthalmologists in small practices (1-10 doctors) in New England who are trying to acquire new patients through social media."

And here's something that's absolutely critical for all engineers trying to build a startup in healthcare to really understand. Healthcare is so alluring because tech people are so idealistic. We think, "Wow, we we can write some code, and then save lives!" And that's sometimes true. But when you are thinking of your customer, revenue model, sales strategy - all that business stuff - the mistake we make is thinking healthcare is different and the same rules don't apply. We think if we can save lives, we can make a business. But the key insight is that you have to take a step back and just treat healthcare like any other for-profit business. Doctors and hospitals care about what generates revenue. Insurance companies want to save money. Pharma companies are looking to advertise to new customers. It's no different than other industries. The psychiatrist's reaction to the sales pitch is the classic thing a doctor will tell when you're not helping their bottom line. As I was reading the post, I could almost predict how she was going to respond.

And if you figure that business stuff out, who knows, you might just build a healthcare business that saves a life or two.