Episode 26: Raising Non-Dilutive Funding and why It's Important to Have a Policy/Government Strategy, Even as a Startup
Funding and Policy Advice for Startups
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In this episode you’ll discover:
Why it is important to shape health policy
Where to look for untapped resources to access funding for entrepreneurs and growing businesses
Why we need to address women’s health gaps and create a better ecosystem to support related health innovation
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Read the transcript:
Carrie Nixon (00:15):
Welcome back to Decoding Healthcare Innovation. Today I am joined by Liz Powell, founder and president of G2G Consulting. Hi Liz, how are you?
Liz Powell (00:25):
Hi, good. How are you?
Carrie Nixon (00:28):
I'm doing great. I'm doing great. Are you ready?
Liz Powell (00:31):
I am.
Carrie Nixon (00:32):
Okay. So Liz has over 20 years of experience as working in Policy and Capital Capital Hill as both an attorney and a lobbyist. She started G2G in 2007 and since then they have notably raised more than 400 million in non-dilutive funding for their clients, many of whom are in the healthcare innovation space. They also help shape regulations and healthcare policies, organized advocacy campaigns. Liz is a powerhouse JD with an MPH from Harvard, and she helped launch the Women's Health Innovation Coalition in 2020 which I've been a member of for a while and I'm going to make her talk about that a little bit later in the show. I'd asked her to come join me to talk about a few things. I'm not sure digital health companies have on their radar. I know this because I work with a number of them and they're always surprised to hear it when I bring it up.
(01:26):
And no one better than Liz to talk about it. These things can be absolutely transformative for these company's success and that is raising non-dilutive funding and also having a policy and government strategy, even as an early stage company, this can be a super powerful tool to have in your tool belt. So I know these are topics that are sort of a core part of what Liz does on a day-to-day basis, and I'm super lucky to have her with me today. And before we dive into the sort of substance on this, I'd love Liz for you to share a bit about your journey. I like to think that if we can demystify how successful people, especially successful women have chartered their path, we can create opportunity for the next great successes. So tell me a little bit more about you.
Liz Powell (02:19):
Yeah, well thanks so much. Sure. So I actually discovered a lot of health issues that concerned me when I was in college and then realized government is the one that's determining so many of these decisions, setting policies, funding levels, all kinds of things that are impacting health. So right out of college, I went to DC thought I could change the world by working with government, still working on that one. And I worked my way up on Capitol Hill and did a lot of little interesting policy work and it really spanned far beyond health. I actually did defense armed services work, small business committee work so really interesting exposure. And I then got my law degree and my master's in public health did a couple interesting things like a year in London working on the health committee. And then I started doing some consulting and realized that the more I talked with entrepreneurs as well as nonprofits who were doing great things but did not know how to navigate government, I saw an opportunity and I thought I could be that bridge. And so I started G2G, which stands for Government to Growth. So we're all about growth and we work with a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of startups, a lot of growing companies. And then we work with some nonprofits, all great causes, all working to make a difference.
Carrie Nixon (03:39):
It's amazing. It's amazing how many people come and have these conversations with me here and elsewhere that started with their own sort of health journey. And something that I love about being in this industry is because of that deep personal connection to something that's sort of common to us all. It tends to be a very positive industry, tends to be very forward looking and really focused on health and happiness. And if you're going to be a lawyer, if you're going to be a lobbyist, I find that having, being able to put my energy behind something that I find to be positive and helpful for the world is gratifying. Sounds like you do too.
Liz Powell (04:23):
Yes, absolutely. Yeah.
Carrie Nixon (04:25):
So Liz, I know you mentioned defense. I know you work in the tech sector. I know you do a number of things. You are, don't only work in the healthcare innovation space, but that's my favorite topic and I'm in charge of the show. So that's what we're going to focus on today. And so first it's been my experience, especially in the last few years, that innovation is moving just a skosh faster than law and policy. Would you agree?
Liz Powell (04:55):
More than a skosh, but yes.
Carrie Nixon (04:57):
Yeah. So I guess my question for you is what do innovators do with that? They're fulfilling their mission, they're trying to create business models that will bring their innovations into the world. What do they do? Can they actually influence policy in a meaningful way to open up a market for them or to open up opportunities for them? Or do they need to be Walmart or Siemens to have that kind of influence?
Liz Powell (05:22):
Such a great question because I think that's a big myth that they, lot of people think they have to be one of those large companies and that they're too early to engage in government, which is not true. I think all sizes of businesses are of interest to Congress and in fact, there's a lot of members who are really interested in small businesses. They want to help entrepreneurs and small businesses get off the ground grow because that means jobs and they're all about jobs back home. So I think that there's a lot of support systems. There's a whole small business innovation research program just for small businesses. There are entrepreneurial assistance programs also run out of the small business administration and then within the different agencies. So Department of Defense has a huge small business program and opportunity grant opportunities. Obviously MH has the S bare program as well. NSF department of Energy, I mean a lot of people don't think Department Energy, but they've got those super computers, which is really key for a lot of digital health folks. So there's lots of different resources across government whether you're talking about congress or the federal agencies for small businesses, for entrepreneurs, for startups.
Carrie Nixon (06:31):
And I want to dive into that. I wish I knew a lot more about the funding opportunities especially in the agencies. And we're going to dive into that. Before we get to the money part help me understand how healthcare innovation innovators should think about a policy strategy. So for instance, a lot of my clients they're focused on reimbursement strategy and their ability to get their innovation or their process or their system or their company positioned for reimbursement is really key to their ability to grow. But there's a lot more out there than reimbursement. From a policy perspective, what are you seeing companies how are you seeing companies create a policy strategy?
Liz Powell (07:24):
Yeah, so I think it's really important to think about what you're trying to get out of government, what are your biggest challenges, biggest opportunities, and then turn that into a strategy. So if you're looking for funding you want to think about if you're in the health space, obviously MH is a good source, but it's not the only source. And even within MH, a lot of people forget NCATs, which is all about platform technologies that can be used across several different spaces of health research. So beyond that, there's Department of Defense, they've got broad agency announcements, they've got program announcements, there's a special congressionally directed military research program. NSF has this new pitch platform that makes it much easier, faster to get an answer back to DOD. There's DARPA, then there are these consortiums that have sort of sprung out of government like Mtech, MCDC, Army, there's so many opportunities, rich opportunities, but you have to start with what your needs are.
(08:25):
You have to know these are the barriers, these are the challenges that I'm facing with my business in order to figure out where to go after targets. Most people we work with, they want funding. So we're all about where's the funding, what's the best way to get funding? But there's other things too, like CMS reimbursement, there's other regulatory changes like the effort to close that gap between FDA approval and CMS reimbursement. That's another big one. So there's regulatory policy, funding, there's all kinds of opportunities to shape the process. And I'll tell you the number one person to start with is your own member of Congress. They are literally there for you. They are paid by you to be there. So I think that's a really good starting point and a lot of those offices can really help you navigate those different targets to go after.
Carrie Nixon (09:12):
Yeah, I'm glad you said that because I was sort of thinking tactically, where do these folks start? I mean certainly there are experts like you who sort of know how to navigate across government resources, but some of these companies are super small. One man, two man or one woman, two woman shops. And so I'm glad you said that because I'm absolutely a big fan of this. Not just in terms of business policy, but policies that matter to you and your family and your community. Starting with your local representative is super key. I have always been met with an open ear but these folks have a lot of priorities that they're dealing with. So what's sort of the next step for someone who's already gone to their local representative? What does it look like next?
Liz Powell (10:01):
Well, I think it's really important to remember that you're a specialist and your field really well, and they do not, usually there's very few scientists in Congress, definitely the staff, very few there. So you want to make sure that you start off by educating and you make it super simple. What I say is eighth grade level or easier to understand and you want it to be succinct. They don't need to get into the weeds about how your product works or your technology functions. It's more there's a problem out there that you are able to address and then you've got this unique solution. And if you can partner with the government, get a million dollars, you can provide this result. Just really simple way of communicating, I'd say is number one far above anything else. Then number two is you want to stay in touch and you don't want to stay in a touch in an annoying way as in every day or even weekly, but every few weeks, every few months, you do want to make sure that you are a resource for them, that you're not there with your handheld out, but you actually want to be a resource for your field of business, for your field of health, whatever area you're working in so that it's like a two-way street and it's not just you're looking for funding or what have you from that office.
(11:15):
So I think those first two things are really, really important. And then third, you want to start tracking opportunities and there are general tracking like grants.gov. However, it can be very frustrating when you're looking for funding and you type in a few words and then you get a thousand responses. So we at G2G have a more focused way of doing those searches. But I think number one is remember that you've got to start with education. Number two, staying in touch. And number three, finding a way to track those opportunities. I think those would be my first three tips for people who are trying to engage in the process.
Carrie Nixon (11:53):
That's super helpful. And I guess I don't want to jump ahead, but I know that you you're very involved in the Women's Health Innovation Coalition and that coalitions in my experience, have also been a really great way to join with other folks whose who are operating in the same space to try to leverage leverage a larger group to make change. Are you, I'm just interested, what are you working on there? What have you been able to accomplish? What are you seeing as the benefit of that coalition?
Liz Powell (12:26):
Yeah, so the Women's Health Innovation Coalition is really distinctive because there are other coalitions out there, obviously on women's health. But for our coalition, it is not just the patient advocates who are very, very important. Not just clinicians, not just lobbyists. It's sort of a whole bunch of people in that ecosystem. In addition, investors researchers, inventors, clinician advocates. It's sort of all the people that are coming together and definitely entrepreneurs and those who are leading these companies. And so that's why we call it the Women's Health Innovation Coalition because the focus is really that innovation space. And what we've been able to do is to categorize eight different categories in which a woman's health or condition or a health or condition disproportionately, solely or differently impacts women. And so everything from autoimmune disease where 80% of the patients are women to, again, three force of the patients are women, and yet 90% of the caretakers are women.
(13:36):
So there's like a double whammy with that one. You've got certain gynecological cancers like ovarian cancer, one in two women diagnosed die. That is an extremely high rate of mortality for a cancer. So cardiovascular disease aging, bone health, there's so many different categories. And then there's the larger one of adverse drug events where drugs have traditionally in our clinical trials, been tested on mostly white males. And so we have found that they are twice as common adverse drug events among women because they just weren't being studied. And there's even different impacts across race and ethnicity. And so we have to do a much better job with our diversity and clinical trials that will help everyone but especially women and minorities. So anyway, so that's sort of a little bit more that what's behind the coalition. We're doing all kinds of efforts to educate, just like I advise all of you to start with education, and then we find and track the policies that we want to influence, and then we provide very easy to understand communications with key offices that are shaping those policies. And we just did a congressional briefing last month that was very well attended addressing some of these issues. So there's a lot going on with coalition. I hope you'll check it out. It's womens.health is the website.
Carrie Nixon (14:58):
Yeah. I have been really impressed by the sort of proactive involvement of the members of the coalition. You and your team have obviously done a phenomenal job and I absolutely encourage folks out there to go check out the coalition and how they can bring their special skills to bear. One question I do have Liz is about the research component of the Innovation coalition. I think a lot of my clients sort of underestimate the impact that research can have on policy makers when you're asking for them to make a change or make an investment. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.
Liz Powell (15:46):
Oh, absolutely. Research is what is the starting point for influencing policy. They want to know that before they're willing to implement a new policy fund, a new program. And so having some of those stats I was just sharing with you about the differential impact on women has been really powerful in winning over members of Congress on the need to increase diversity in clinical trials on the need to increase NIH spending on research and impacting women's health, which is only at 11% by the way, right now. Very, very low. So I think research in
Carrie Nixon (16:23):
11%.
Liz Powell (16:24):
Yeah, very low. Yeah. So yes, your research matters. It absolutely matters. However, it can't be way up here on the rooftops. It's got to be down at a level that non-scientists can understand.
Carrie Nixon (16:38):
Right, right. Okay. Join the Women's Health Innovation Coalition. Let's get that percentage up. Yeah, so, so I want to circle back to the money stuff that's a technical term. So a great number of folks in the innovation space are raising private, private money raising equity, and we saw just an absolute explosion of that over the past two years, especially in healthcare and telehealth space and digital health space and the mental healthcare space. And I'm hearing here and there that there's starting to be sort of an equity funding slowdown post pandemic, which we had to expect but that seems like it creates more urgency around finding other forms of funding. And I know that this is sort of your specialty. So for the companies out there who are listening and thinking like, Hey, either I didn't even know that was an option, or B, I knew it was an option, but I wasn't sure if it was for me. Talk to me a little bit about what kinds of companies are accessing this funding and what the process to obtain it looks like, and maybe where it's hiding.
Liz Powell (17:59):
Yeah, all good questions. So I'll tell you I've worked with almost 200 different folks at this point directly and hundreds more indirectly. And one of my best case studies is a guy who was basically him and a part-time employee, spun out technology in regenerative medicine out of a university and really didn't know where to go. And so I said, all right, here's some targeting. I think this Department of Defense is a really good fit for you. They're doing a Latin regener medicine. So we basically just laid out this path and followed it and it worked. And so I helped this entrepreneur, this leader of this company, really grow it. They started hiring dozens and dozens of more employees as we got more research dollars coming in. We got four different pathways, so four different grants all coming in. Then we got even more, and then we sort of rose up to this point where we could go after a big barta contract that was
Carrie Nixon (19:07):
Seen one of those. Big cash.
Liz Powell (19:09):
Huge opportunity. And so I think in the end, they got 25 million, but they could have hit a hundred million if they hit benchmarks. And so there's always some challenges with some of the benchmarks that they put in there, but it was a great success story. The company grew to 80 some employees, they merged with another company, now they're over 150 employees. And so it's a great story, I think because it shows persistence over time, and it shows that even if it's just one or two people, you can still get in. It's really, I think that especially DOD, but the other agencies too, they really just want the science. If that science has merit and that science will help them advance their own mission, they're going to want to fund you. And the other thing is they want to meet you. A lot of times they do not have ways to meet the best innovators, and so you shouldn't feel shy about developing new relationships cold.
Carrie Nixon (20:04):
Yeah, I mean, I have been surprised to see a good number of government agency folks at these innovation conferences just trying to learn more and shop from the rooftops, rooftops that they are supporting research and they're supporting companies that are building in the space. So anyway, so I think the work that you're doing that they're doing is so super important. I would love to close today with some advice from you for our innovators listening. What is one thing they can do today, this afternoon that will sort of jumpstart their success having to do with your corner of the world?
Liz Powell (20:51):
Ooh, that's a tough question. If there's only one thing I might sneak in a few into my answers. So I think as I said earlier, feel free <laugh>, really understand what your needs are and get your messaging down and then track what's going on so you can fit into those opportunities. I would say those few little things are really key, and you can do those. Everything's on the web these days. There's an awful lot that you can research yourself g2gconsulting.com. We've got good resources on our website but there is a lot that you can do on your own and work with your own member of Congress. They are there for you, and they will guide you through at least some of the initial steps that you can take to access opportunities to help grow your business.
Carrie Nixon (21:39):
Awesome. Awesome. Liz, thank you so much for your time. It's been a pleasure speaking with you. I will put in the show notes links to G2G Consulting, links to the Women's Health Innovation Coalition and any other gems that I sort of pull out of watching this over today. Liz, if you think of any other resources that would be helpful, please do send them over and I will Okay. Include them as well. To anyone listening, if you hadn't already, please subscribe to decoding Healthcare Innovation and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. Join us next time when we'd be interviewing two colleagues of mine, Ashleigh Giovannini and Bethany Corbin about some emerging threats to digital health connected device companies related to privacy and security. I try not to be very hoe hum, but they've been briefing me and I thought what they knew was important enough to share. And as always, you can check out all the links and resources in the show notes. Find out more about our work with Healthcare Innovators at nixongwiltlaw.com. And Liz, thank you. Thank you again, that's all for this episode, and we will see you next time.
Liz Powell (22:50):
Thank you.