The Solid Value Roadmap™ is a short, targeted engagement for early-stage start-ups (typically those who are pre-revenue and pre-seed funding).

Most early-stage firms have a theory of value or perhaps the beginnings of evidence-based value (pilot data, anecdotal value, etc.), but many are facing issues related to their value that they either are unaware of or unable to address. Understanding the components that influence value and identifying gaps in the value evidence can allow founders to focus their efforts on the issues most likely to be raised by key stakeholders, including users, payers, and investors.

Common issues faced by early-stage firms

Many early-stage firms thing they simply lack a clear demonstration of value, but upon a closer look, I have found that these organizations are often struggling with one or more of the following:

• A lack of demand among their current target audience
• Misalignment of who incurs costs and who receives benefits (e.g., nurses asked to implement the innovation on the front lines incur a “cost” of disruption but do not experience monetary savings by the hospital)
• An inability to measure, quantify, monetize, or attribute value to the innovation
• Insufficient value for key stakeholders:
  • the opportunity is too small (e.g., rare disease, current care gap is not very costly)
  • value capture is too small (e.g., doesn’t “move the needle” enough)
  • requires too much investment (e.g., money, time, effort)
• Too much uncertainty or risk that has not been mitigated or addressed

What does the engagement entail?

• An initial list of plausible value messages that align with your overall value prop and direction
• A cursory literature search of available evidence to support these value messages and identify any gaps
• An evaluation of how well the evidence addresses the key components that influence value for relevant perspectives (e.g., clinician, payer, investor, patient, etc.)
• The identification of critical gaps to address
• A suggested strategy for both immediate next steps and longer-term vision, including for evidence generation, value message development, and external-facing material creation

What type of information will I receive?

Each report will incluide specific sections, including suggested value messages:

 specific needs or gaps:

 and recommendations:

This engagement is designed to meet the specific needs (and budget) of early-stage start-ups. Reach out for more information.