Ian Chiang, Partner at Flare Capital Partners

Ian Chiang is a Partner at Flare Capital Partners, a leading venture capital firm focused on early-stage healthcare technology and services companies. With extensive experience in digital health, Ian has been instrumental in guiding startups that are shaping the future of healthcare. His work with Flare Capital spans across AI, value-based care, and innovative specialty care models that aim to improve outcomes and reduce costs. In our conversation, Ian shares his insights on:

• Current Health Tech Landscape: Ian discusses why this is a pivotal time for digital health, fueled by generative AI and the move towards sustainable healthcare solutions.
• Generative AI and Scaling Specialty Care: Ian highlights how AI streamlines operations, improves documentation, and expands specialty care access in fields like oncology and cardiology, creating scalable, cost-effective care models.
• Successful Startup Pitches and Cultural Alignment: Key elements Ian values in pitches include clarity, scalability, and profitability. He also stresses the importance of early cultural alignment between founders and investors to avoid tension.
• Product-Market Fit: Ian offers advice on how startups can validate market demand, gather feedback, and use metrics to demonstrate strong product-market fit.
• Advice for Product Managers: Ian provides guidance for PMs joining startups, emphasizing mission alignment, adaptability, and understanding company growth via the cap table.
• Investment Principles: Ian’s criteria focus on long-term value, customer fit, operational efficiency, and team adaptability.
• Transitioning to Venture Capital: Ian shares tips for PMs entering VC, including shifting from control to influence, recognizing patterns, and building a two-way learning relationship with founders.

In this episode of Concept to Care, Ian provides a comprehensive view into the venture capital perspective on healthcare innovation. His insights on product-market fit, cultural alignment with investors, and the evolving role of AI in healthcare are invaluable for founders, product managers, and healthcare leaders looking to drive impactful change in the industry.

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Where to find Ian Chiang:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-chiang-mba/
• email: ian@flarecapital.com
• Flare Capital Partners: https://www.flarecapital.com/

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Where to find Angela and Omar:

• Angela Suthrave
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-suthrave/
  • X: https://twitter.com/ASuthrave
  • email: angela@concepttocare.com
• Omar Mousa
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omarmousa/
  • X: https://twitter.com/OmarMHealth
  • email: omar@concepttocare.com

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Referenced:

• Flare Capital Partners: https://www.flarecapital.com/
• Cigna CareAllies: https://www.careallies.com/
• Flare Capital Expert Roundtable Series #10: Generative AI: Hype or Here to Stay?: https://www.flarecapital.com/insight/flare-capital-partners-expert-roundtable-series-generative-ai-hype-or-here-to-stay
• Advancing clinical decision support: The role of artificial intelligence across six domains: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666990024000090
• What is the magic number: https://www.scalevp.com/insights/from-0-to-1m-the-magic-number/
• The physician we wish we can clone, Dr. Angela Fitch: https://www.flarecapital.com/people/angela-fitch-md
• Best practices for crafting a seed round pitch deck: https://visible.vc/blog/seed-round-pitch-deck/
• Term sheet 101: https://www.rho.co/blog/term-sheet
• Ian’s favorite frameworks:
  • Jobs-to-be-done framework: https://www.christenseninstitute.org/theory/jobs-to-be-done/
  • Nonconsumption is your fiercest competition—and it’s winning: https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/non-consumption-is-your-fiercest-competition-and-its-winning/
• Disruptive Innovation Theory: https://www.christenseninstitute.org/theory/disruptive-innovation/#:~:text=Definition,upmarket%2C eventually displacing established competitors.
• The innovators dilemma: https://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Dilemma-Revolutionary-Change-Business/dp/0062060244
• The innovators solution: https://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Solution-Creating-Sustaining-Successful/dp/1422196577
• What is value based care: https://www.cms.gov/priorities/innovation/key-concepts/value-based-care
• What is the Quadruple Aim: https://www.strategiesforqualitycare.com/quadruple-aim
• What is the Quintuple Aim: https://www.chesshealthsolutions.com/2023/08/01/the-quintuple-aim-what-is-it-and-why-does-it-matter/#:~:text=The Quintuple Aim is an,system to establish health equity.

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