Starting, Scaling, and Selling a Healthcare Startup with Dr. Jose Barreau

Oncologist and physician founder Dr. Jose Barreau went from identifying a communication problem inside the hospital to building Doc Halo, growing it into Halo Health, raising venture capital, and ultimately selling the company in 2021. In this conversation, Jose joins Dr. Alison Curfman to talk about what that path actually looked like: starting with zero business or development experience, finding the right technical partners, deciding when to reduce clinical work, creating financial runway, navigating venture capital, and learning to become comfortable with feedback and sales. They also discuss why clinical experience can be an advantage for physician founders, and why doctors do not need an MBA, a technical background, or every answer before they begin building. Chapters00:00 Introduction01:37 Solving a communication problem inside the hospital03:22 Starting a company with zero business or development experience05:02 Building Doc Halo while practicing medicine06:40 Finding the right technical partner and avoiding technical debt07:52 Deciding when to step away from full-time clinical practice08:49 Creating financial runway before making the leap10:37 The safety net physicians have when building a startup12:06 Staying connected to clinical medicine as a founder14:59 Learning venture capital and evaluating term sheets17:21 Finding the right advisors, lawyers, and investors18:20 Growing Halo Health and selling the company19:10 The mindset shift from physician to founder20:42 Why founders need to embrace feedback and sales21:36 Discovery calls, validation, and learning before pitching ResourcesExplore free resources for physician founders:https://startupphysicians.com/resources Learn more about Startup Physicians:https://startupphysicians.com Connect with Startup Physicians on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-physicians/