Breaking through….

One of the most interesting and exciting parts of my job here at OpenView is the variety of expansion stage software companies I get the chance to connect with on a day to day basis. As of late I have had the opportunity to speak with a number of blossoming companies in the healthcare IT sector. With the right product offering and clientele, these organizations stand to experience explosive growth in the coming years as healthcare reform continues to affect the daily operations of healthcare institutions here in the US. With its recent investments in both Prognosis and Kareo, Openview has clearly expressed its intent to stay on top of the healthcare IT market and the resulting technology trends that arise as a result….

As I engage with these various executives and touch upon the issue of expansion capital, it is easy to hear the passion in their voices as they discuss topics such as meaningful use and what role their product plays in these emerging trends. In many cases, it is difficult for them to mask their overall enthusiasm as they explain an idea they nursed from a mere thought to a revenue generating machine. However, getting to a point in the conversation where such excitement is put on display is no easy task. For starters, some may not be looking for an infusion of capital at the time of your call…others may have had a bad experience with the venture capital community in the past…..whatever the reason may be, the problem you face is not only how to overcome this initial resistance, but also how to create an environment over the phone where these executives feel comfortable speaking passionately about their product and vision. There-in lies the key…because the fun only starts once you get over this initial hurdle and steer the conversation in the right direction…

Luckily my colleagues and I have some serious ammunition at our disposal in the form of OpenView Labs. It becomes far easier to engage these driven executives when you can point to the Labs’ strategic consulting services and the operational support they stand to provide to an incumbent management team. This value-added proposition is music to their ears as these entrepreneurs begin to mull over what key initiatives they could address with the help of not only growth capital, but the brain-power and thought leadership that come along with it. This month alone our Labs team published yet another new case study which you can check out here…….

With evidence like this on hand, breaking through to exciting, expansion stage companies gets just a bit easier…