3 Tips to Help Discouraged Healthcare Startups Navigate the "Trough of Sorrow"

In our last post about 3 key challenges for health innovators, we touched a bit on the Trough of Sorrow, a.k.a. “The Founder’s Blues.”

The Trough of Sorrow is often attributed to the phase where the initial excitement of launching a startup begins to wane after numerous setbacks. Popular stories like Airbnb, Rent the Runway, and Uber leave us thinking that creating a disruptive innovation should be easy street. However, the reality is that commercializing an innovation is not easy, especially in healthcare.

During this season, the vast majority of innovators face a barrage of obstacles that often leads them to feeling like they’re on a one-way street to failure. They often feel discouraged and demoralized, sometimes struggling with mental health concerns like depression and anxiety.