What Would Lisa Suennen Say?
I was recently asked by a terrific group, the Women Alumnae of Mercer, to explain equity, stock options and related concepts to a group of people interested in entrepreneurship, startups, venture capital and the related pile of stuff. Jodi Hubler, a super cool healthcare expert and friend, also participated in this program as we explained […]
This article originally appeared in Healthcare Musings. Recently I was chatting with an interesting person who works closely with young companies and who himself is considering whether he should further his own education in health tech. He asked me this question: What are the biggest challenges in the adoption of AI in healthcare and what […]
“Let those winds of time blow over my head, I’d rather die while I’m living than live while I’m dead.” — Growing Older but Not Up, Jimmy Buffett I have always believed that music is a powerful force in emotional health. I can’t imagine anyone not having an emotional reaction to hearing certain songs, whether […]
I have advised (and continue to advise) a number of companies large and small about go-to-market strategies and how to think about launch and market entry. There are, as you can imagine, huge differences in how to approach these depending on whether one is a pharma/medical device company, a health services company or a digital […]
Ever since the stock market realized that gravity was a real thing, people have been asking me, often multiple times a day, what this may mean for the world of venture capital and startups. And because this is my third rodeo (I was in venture capital during the 2000 stock market mini-implosion (aka the Dot […]
The world is filled with great partnerships and terrible ones. For every Ben & Jerry or Ernie & Bert there is also an Ishmael & Moby Dick or a Batman & The Joker. In business, great partnerships can be the path to great success. Failed partnerships can be the path to ruin. Getting this right […]
I had the pleasure of keynoting the recent UCLA Medtech Partnering Conference, where they asked me to speak on digital health,* and particularly its current state and where I see the opportunities and challenges over the next few years. I was happy to speak at this conference in part because it creates a forum to […]
Few of you are likely old enough to remember “Who’s on First?,” the famous comedy bit from Abbott and Costello, but that’s a shame. If you haven’t heard it, you really should seek it out (listen here) because it’s one of the funniest comedy skits in history, at least in the view of me and […]
In the venture capital class I teach at Haas, the one topic that never fails to confuse is valuation, or how a private company is valued in an investment transaction. I’m not sure if it’s because math is hard, because valuation is based largely on not exactly math, or because it’s hard to keep track […]
I got an email this week from a smart and well-meaning entrepreneur. Despite the entrepreneur’s fine personal qualities, the email’s first paragraph had a total of 6 lines and in those 6 lines, it featured the word data 13 times. In other words, this email was beating the previously set world email record of using […]
Lisa Suennen is a venture capital investor and the managing partner of Venture Valkyrie, LLC, which publishes the Venture Valkyrie blog and co-produces the Tech Tonics podcast. She is also co-founder of CSweetener, a women's healthcare mentoring organization.