The journey of a leader is filled with hurdles and challenges eventually concluding with success. While sometimes, opportunities can be incidental and pure luck, it’s the attitude to make the most of those situations that matters. Runam Mehta, CEO, HealthCube is one of those diligent leaders, who after a successful career in Physiotherapy, got a chance to be inside of the healthcaredelivery industry and through her sheer hard workhas become the CEO of HealthCube. Under her guidance, HealthCubeis ready to disrupt POC diagnostics with its innovative products and expand its footprints globally.

In an exclusive interview with Women Entrepreneur, Runam shares her prior experience in the market, the evolution of HealthCube under her leadership and much more:

Shed Some Light On Your Early Educational Journey And The Prior Industry Experience That You Bring To The Table. What Motivated You To Venture Into The Field Of Healthcare?

I have had more than one incidental change in my career. I am a Physiotherapist by education and a businessperson by profession. I did my Bachelor of Physiotherapy, M.D.T Cert. Physiotherapy from Sancheti Institute. Even in my 20s, I founded a successful company called Work Ergonomics to spread awareness about postural problems and repetitive strain injuries. After moving to Bangalore, I realized that Physios were grossly underpaid and therefore under-appreciated.

I refused to work for a measly sum of rupees 11000 with absolutely no growth prospects and started exploring ways to disrupt the market. During that time, I was unemployed for almost a year before coming across Portea. Portea was looking to organize the disorganized home care market and hired me to build their Physio business. Once I was clear that I wanted to pursue a career in business and not go back to a clinical role, I decided to go get myself the right education and completed my Exec MBA from IIMB while continuing to work full time. Since then there has been no looking back.

What Are The Various Roles And Responsibilities That You Currently Shoulder At Healthcube? What Are Some Of The Major Challenges You Have Faced So Far While Leading The Firm And How Do You Overcome Them?

As the CEO, I am responsible for scaling the business of HealthCube’s path-breaking ecosystem across Indian and international markets. I am also responsible for P&L and people. In terms of challenges, the biggest challenge throughout the journey has been finding the right product-market fit. HealthCubeoffers medically validated and clinically applicable devices, but it has been challenging to find acceptance at ground level.

Getting the business model and pricing strategy right is critical and also needssome trial and error. Times are changing and with public and private sectors investing in improving the last-mile delivery of healthcare, our system is finding wider acceptance. Usually, startups fail because they waste money and resources on products that no one wants to buy.

I prioritized product-market fit above all other goals, building products based on market feedback. To achieve product-market fit, we conducted a market survey, brought down production costs, and even explored new segments. Building a product for the market is easier than finding a market for the product that is built.

"Getting a team aligned to a common goal and consistently working on the fundamental business metric is critical to success"

Getting a team aligned to a common goal and consistently working towards the same is critical to success. Keeping an eye on the bigger picture is important, however, it’s the execution that drives excellence.

What Are Some Of The Major Milestones That You Have Achieved Over The Years? What Has Been The Driving Force Behind Your Successful Stint As A Business Leader?

I joined HealthCube to head growth and within 9 months the board unanimously voted to appoint me as CEO. Successfully re-building the sales function after the pandemic hit us hard while simultaneously opening new segments is something I am proud of. The hard work landed us with the biggest purchase order ever in the history of HealthCube.

This milestone order will definitely result in referral sales and achieve the target of 10x growth. At HealthCube, I have phased out a non-performing product, introduced 2 new ones, and canceled loss-making partnerships directly impacting the financial health of the organization. I was the fastest-growing individual at Portea Medical – India’s largest home healthcare company. I spearheaded the most comprehensive, award-winning home isolation program for COVID-19 patients. Supporting 4 lakh people in 7 states, it was mentioned in HBR Innovation and the warrior of change.

I managed Portea’s key relationships and worked with partners to deliver healthcare services in a reliable and effective manner. I also shaped the B2B acquisition strategy for the company across multiple channels and markets across India. Innovative thinking and problem-solving skills as well as relentless and unorthodox approaches to achieving objectives have been the guiding force behind my success.

How Has Healthcube’s Growth Journey Been Under Your Leadership? Tell Us About The Leadership Philosophies/Mantras That You Rely On To Create A Successful Organization?

HealthCube is an ISO 13485 certified company that designs and manufactures point-of-care diagnostic devices to enhance the quality of primary care in diverse settings. HealthCube’smultiparametric technology can test for over 30 parameters including blood glucose, hemoglobin, and so on, and even perform ECGs. Many changes are already underway at HealthCube including the renewal of our commitment to innovation in the POC diagnostic space. We recently won the BioSmart Startup of the year award which is a great validation of how far we have come .

Runam Mehta, CEO, Healthcube

After a successful stint at Portea Medical,Runam joined HealthCube and became its CEO just 9 months after joining the organization. Under her guidance, HealthCube has seen the biggest purchase order ever in its history. Before her career in healthcare delivery, she had a successful stint in physiotherapy.