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The Hidden Complexities of Building a Healthcare Tech Brand: Lessons from Datacubed Health’s GTM Journey

Most healthcare tech startups chase the shiny object syndrome – building flashy solutions that struggle to gain traction in a heavily regulated market. But in a recent Category Visionaries episode, Datacubed Health CEO Brett Kleger revealed a counterintuitive approach: sometimes, being the reliable choice trumps being the innovative one.

When Brett joined Datacubed Health in 2020, he inherited a company with strong academic roots and innovative technology, but limited market penetration. The challenge wasn’t just about having superior technology – it was about fundamentally rethinking how to bring that technology to market in an industry resistant to change.

The Pivot from Academic Innovation to Enterprise Solution

The transformation began with a critical insight: having great technology wasn’t enough. “When I looked at the space right now, a lot of companies are good technology companies can build it, but you need to understand the exact vertical that you’re in and that buying customer,” Brett explains. This understanding led to a strategic shift in how the company approached talent acquisition and market positioning.

Instead of just focusing on technical innovation, Brett prioritized bringing in industry veterans who understood the nuanced dynamics of clinical trials. “My focus from a personnel perspective was bringing in the experience or the knowledgeable talent to surround it with an incredible product,” he notes. This decision marked a crucial pivot from being primarily innovation-driven to becoming market-focused.

Redefining Category Conversations with Analysts

One of the most interesting aspects of Brett’s go-to-market strategy is his approach to market categorization. Rather than accepting broad industry categories, he actively works to reshape how analysts define their market segment.

“What I often try to do with them is help them understand and better define the category and better define the area so that it’s more discreet and more specific, rather than just a broad based category that means too much,” Brett explains. This isn’t just semantic gymnastics – it’s about aligning market definitions with actual buyer behavior: “The buyers aren’t looking at the $40 billion area. They’re looking at how do you solve this specific problem.”

The Two-Tier Marketing Philosophy

Brett’s marketing strategy reflects a sophisticated understanding of B2B healthcare tech buying patterns. Instead of pursuing a one-size-fits-all approach, he implements a two-tier strategy:

1. Persona-based targeting: “Part of the marketing philosophy is Persona based marketing. How do you reach different buyer personalities and market what they need?”
2. Brand equity building: “Building the brand equity with broad based marketing, with thought leadership, just so that our customers can know the brand, can understand what the brands about.”

Measuring Brand Success Through Sales Efficiency

Perhaps most intriguingly, Brett has developed an unconventional approach to measuring brand ROI. Instead of focusing solely on lead generation metrics, he evaluates success through the lens of sales team efficiency: “The way that I would measure that is really looking at my sales team when they are coming back and meeting with customers, are they having to spend more and more time to explain to the customer this is the company, this is who we are and start from scratch or did they get in and where I call it level three, level four where the customer knows datacube tells already.”

The Change Management Reality

For founders entering regulated markets, Brett offers a sobering reality check about change management: “Don’t underestimate the change management required if it’s in this space… It might require the company that you’re working with, the customer working with, to change jobs of ten or twelve different people.”

This insight gets to the heart of why many healthcare tech startups struggle: they underestimate the organizational complexity of adoption in regulated industries. Having great technology isn’t enough when your solution requires fundamental changes to how people work.

The story of Datacubed Health’s go-to-market evolution offers a masterclass in navigating regulated markets. It’s not about being the loudest voice in the room or having the most innovative technology. Instead, success comes from understanding the complex web of relationships, regulations, and organizational dynamics that govern how decisions are really made in healthcare tech.

For founders building in regulated markets, the lesson is clear: sometimes, the path to market leadership isn’t about disruption – it’s about becoming the trusted, reliable choice that makes change management feel less risky. As Brett puts it, “We don’t want to be a sexy tool. We don’t want to be the shiny object that comes and goes very quickly but cant deliver. We want to be seen as the company that knows the space and can deliver reliably.”