By Lynn Yap | Board Advisor, Life Sciences Week 2025
In many industries, scale is celebrated as the ultimate milestone. But in health tech, scaling too soon — or scaling the wrong things — can do more harm than good. What if sustainable growth looked more like building trust than chasing traction?
The default: grow fast, figure it out later
Health tech is full of promise — AI-powered diagnostics, virtual care platforms, connected devices — all aiming to transform care at scale. But the pressure to grow quickly, often driven by investor expectations, can create a dangerous mismatch between a product’s maturity and the system it’s entering.
The result? Health tech companies that burn through funding before reaching clinical integration. Solutions that work in pilot but fall apart in procurement. Teams that scale operations before establishing system fit.
In short, scale becomes fragile.
Growth isn’t always the problem. It’s the direction that matters.
In my work with startups and digital platforms outside of life sciences, I’ve seen the difference between volume-based scaling — chasing user numbers, downloads, or visibility — and value-based scaling, which focuses on building depth, reliability, and long-term trust.
In healthcare, that distinction becomes even more critical.
A product that touches patient lives or clinician workflows can’t be iterated in the wild the same way a lifestyle app can.
Here, scaling isn’t just about going faster. It’s about becoming more integrated, robust, and adaptable. It’s about making your product more aligned with how real systems — and real people — work.
When scale is rushed, these cracks appear
Clinical fragility
Without strong evidence, early wins rarely translate into widespread adoption. Clinical validation is often seen as a late-stage milestone, when it should be baked into the roadmap from day one.
Operational drag
Companies that scale before refining operations often collapse under their own weight. More users bring more complexity, and if workflows aren’t clear, the service buckles.
Procurement misfit
Founders frequently underestimate the complexity of the NHS or health system procurement. If you’re not aligned with commissioning pathways, even the most impressive tech may be sidelined.
Misplaced metrics
Startups often adopt SaaS-style KPIs that prioritise growth (MAU, CAC, etc.) but overlook human experience, patient outcomes, or workflow integration — the very metrics that matter in health.
So what does resilient scaling look like in health tech?
It’s about slowing down where it counts and speeding up where it’s safe to do so. Here are five principles I believe we need to embrace more widely:
1. Start with system fit, not just product-market fit
A product that users like is a good start. But in health, success depends on how well your solution fits into clinical workflows, reimbursement models, and regulatory environments.
Ask early: Who has the power to adopt this — and what pressures are they under?
2. Treat trust as infrastructure
You wouldn’t launch without backend security. Don’t scale without emotional trust. That means thoughtful UX, clear communication, and predictable outcomes — especially in moments of vulnerability.
3. Align your metrics with your mission
It’s easy to default to growth KPIs that impress funders. But if your metrics don’t reflect your impact on patients, clinicians, or care systems, you risk building a business that looks good on paper but fails in practice.
4. Pilot deeply, not just broadly
A successful pilot isn’t just proof of concept — it’s an opportunity to uncover real-world friction. Don’t just count users; observe behaviours, pain points, and unintended consequences.
5. Design for durability, not just distribution
Health tech that endures is often quiet, well-integrated, and stable. That’s not flashy — but it’s exactly what busy clinical teams need. Be the solution that disappears into the background while making lives easier.
The missing middle: operational depth
One of the least talked about — but most critical — elements of scale is operational readiness. Especially in health tech, scaling isn’t just about expanding sales or user base. It’s about adapting operations to regulatory standards, managing longer procurement cycles, and supporting clinical users in complex environments.
Many startups hit a wall between Seed and Series A because they haven’t built the operational scaffolding to support their ambition. They’re excellent at building prototypes, but less equipped to handle the paperwork, governance, and integrations required to scale meaningfully.
The companies that make it through this “missing middle” tend to take a different approach. They slow down to build robust support systems, hire operational leads with healthcare experience, and co-design workflows with real-world users before chasing scale.
In health tech, the strongest scale is often the slowest
This doesn’t mean founders should play small. But it does mean asking: Are we building something that lasts — or something that spreads fast but cracks under pressure?
Scaling isn’t the enemy. Fragile scale is.
Final thought
As more health tech companies launch and grow in regions like the West Midlands, Arden Cross, and BHIC, the opportunity is clear: we can build a new generation of health innovations that are as resilient as they are ambitious.
But only if we rethink what growth really means — not just as a funding goal or product roadmap milestone, but as a systems-level challenge that calls for humility, trust, and discipline.
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About the Author
Lynn Yap is a Board Advisor to Life Sciences Week 2025 and the author of The Altruistic Capitalist. She advises startups, corporates, and founders on commercial strategy, ethical innovation, and long-term value creation.
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