The next stage of nymbly
January 23, 2021
It can be simultaneously easy and hard to explain what nymbly does. I specialize in working with eCOA technology and digital health startups so the “who” is pretty targeted. But as a generalist by nature and preference, answering the “what do you do?” question can feel tricky.
When asked, I like to say that I organize the chaos. Or, that I manage the tricky interconnectedness issues that come with scaling a business. And that I help founders focus on the business instead of getting stuck in the business. This usually resonates enough for us to jump right into problem-solving — what’s going on, where do you need to be, and what would help you get there.
I founded nymbly because I believe there are common challenges in scaling a business. And that if you’re looking for help, resources on customer acquisition or marketing strategies get all the airtime. I take an operational and strategic perspective to make sure the rest of the business is ready to manage all those new customers or leads.
Over the last few months, I’ve become aware of a new trend I’d like to address. I purposefully say “become aware” because it isn’t a surprise — it’s more that I’m more conscious of it and its impact now that I’m looking at startups from the outside.
Ready? Here it is:
When it comes to client relationships, you’re thinking too much about yourself.
See? Simple… but oh, so hard. Startups are, understandably, so heads down on building a product that they stop being able to see things from the client’s perspective. Combine that with who those clients are — pharma and CRO companies — and you’ve got a killer combo. From what I’ve seen, this impacts your ability to convert new leads in the sales process and (devastatingly) leads to polarization during the product configuration stage.
You know what your product can and can’t do and try to justify it as hard as you can. Your clients need what they need and they get frustrated when you aren’t speaking in their language or understanding their position.
The stakes on this are high. As a health tech startup, it’s life or death if you can’t get new clients or retain the clients you get.
You usually learn what these clients need the hard way. Here’s why:
Pharma and CRO clinical project teams are big and have murky, blended responsibilities (e.g., why are there 12 people on my call and why do THREE people have to sign off on this?)
Different clients need different things. Is this a boutique pharma where the success of the company rides on a few molecules? You’re going to need to give them white-glove service. Are you working with a CRO who’s precious about the relationship they have with the sponsor? If so, you need to make sure the right information is getting through and negotiate getting some direct-sponsor airtime to build confidence in your solution.
“Clinical research” does not come in one flavor. Is this a Phase 1b or a Phase 3 study? Is your product collecting primary/secondary endpoints or exploratory ones? Is it an oncology study or an acne study? If you make a patient-centric product, each of these studies needs different things.
The list goes on. And as far as I can tell, there is no instructional guide for this. You hire people who have been through it or you learn it the hard way (I certainly did!)
That’s the need I want to address. I was inspired by Rand Fishkin’s description of providing “cheat codes” in his book Lost and Founder. Over the next 10 weeks, I’ll be developing a workshop that will give you cheat codes to managing pharma/CRO client relationships and equalize the knowledge on your startup team.
I’ll share the story of how I build it here, so stay tuned!
