By Gil Bashe (pictured), chair global health and purpose, FINN Partners, and correspondent to Health Tech World
Every January, the health innovation world converges on San Francisco for the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, a crucible of innovation, strategy, and investment. For many companies, it’s a defining opportunity—a chance to secure funding, forge partnerships and unveil groundbreaking science and solutions. But success at JP Morgan Healthcare requires more than a compelling pitch deck; it demands preparation, authenticity, and a clear understanding of the event’s significance.
For more than two decades, the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference has been the epicenter of the life sciences community. Companies from across the spectrum—biopharma giants, nimble startups, medtech pioneers, and digital health innovators—flock to this annual gathering to reconnect with industry colleagues, seek partnerships, and court potential investors.
The conference traces its roots to the Hambrecht & Quist (H&Q) Conference, which began in the early 1980s as a platform to connect companies – then mostly pharma – with investors. When JP Morgan acquired H&Q in 1999, the event transformed into the global phenomenon it is today, drawing leaders from every corner of the healthcare ecosystem.
Officially, fewer than 10,000 people are able to secure prized passes to enter the hallowed conference corridors. However, the “happening” draws more than 30,000 additional attendees, who flood San Francisco and raise hotel room prices to astronomical levels. If you are from a start-up, it’s wise to stay 20 or 30 miles outside the city’s center and grab a Lyft to the meeting.
These attendees leverage this unique concentration of life science professionals to advance business and industry goals, making San Francisco the Mecca of life sciences for the week. This way, JPM enables unparalleled opportunities to gain insights, build relationships, and shape the industry’s future.
Health innovators from around the globe are increasingly drawn to JP Morgan. Israeli startups showcase cutting-edge medical devices and digital health solutions, building on the nation’s reputation for breakthrough smart technologies. Companies from India have increasingly sought to harmonize their regulatory system with the US FDA gold standard, showcase affordability and scalability, and seek global partnerships to expand their reach. UK-based companies leverage the conference to attract investment for advanced biotech and pharmaceutical development. These international players join the massive US contingent, reflecting the conference’s global impact.
Preparation: The Currency of Credibility
In this high-stakes arena, with thousands of companies vying for attention, preparation is the currency of credibility. Investors expect you to know your business sector and their particular investment portfolio and model cold.
Research each firm’s investment thesis. Are they focused on early-stage biotech or scaling digital health platforms? Tailor your narrative to align with their priorities – don’t waste their time or yours. Practice your pitch relentlessly, but also prepare to pivot. The best meetings are conversations, not monologues.
Metrics matter. Be ready to discuss clinical milestones, regulatory pathways, and market potential. Investors are drawn to founders who balance optimism with realism. Showing transparency about regulatory and competitive challenges and clear plans for addressing them demonstrates strategic foresight and builds confidence in your ability to press forward.
Key Investor Fundamentals
Having served as a divisional group company CEO at a multi-billion holding company and, afterward, as a portfolio-company CEO with GTCR Golder Rauner, a private equity firm managing $10 billion in active investments, I’ve learned invaluable lessons about what investors seek and what their behaviour at the meeting table may suggest. Here are six fundamentals:
- Market Knowledge Beyond the Founder’s Story: Your story in founding the business is sure to be heartwarming, but Investors want to understand why your innovation – whether it is incremental or instrumental—is necessary. Being better clinically or more convenient operationally is not enough. In medicine, culture crushes change – even much-needed change and investors know that adopting “the new” in the health sector is a steep mountain to scale.
- Understanding Decision-Makers and Gatekeepers: Identify the sector’s decision-makers and buying gatekeepers. Beyond clinical advocates, CFOs or CTOs play pivotal roles in purchasing decisions regarding provider systems. While doctors may be wowed by your AI or LLM technology, you must convince the finance and IT people who must fund, onboard, and serve the system.
- Transparent Economic Model: Clearly articulate who pays for the product or service. Whether private or public payers (e.g., CMS Part B or D), understanding the financial ecosystem is mission-critical. Do you need a new J-code for medical devices, supplies, or medicines when billing for claims to health insurance? Can you use an existing code? Investors and business development partners will be asking.
- Proven Leadership: Investors value leaders with a strong track record of successfully navigating regulatory and customer acquisition challenges. Highlight your team’s diversity—not just in demographics but also in their unique skills and perspectives. A strong, broadly experienced, cohesive team signals resilience, nimbleness, and adaptability. Investors are actively looking for leaders with a vision for future possibilities and a clear ROI.
- Resilience: Investors expect an outcome – a return on their capital. Investing isn’t a hobby or just writing a check – it’s their time to support the enterprise. At the end of the day, investors want to know you’re a good investment – as leaders, builders, and, if necessary, ready to pivot to survive and thrive. Be prepared to answer those questions.
Authenticity: Know Your Information Cold
In an industry built on trust—between patients and providers, regulators and innovators —authenticity is non-negotiable. Investors are skilled at discerning sincerity from spin. They’re not just investing in technologies but in people, their judgment and character, and potential outcomes.
Sharing the “why” behind your company’s journey is essential; it humanizes your pitch and fosters deeper connections with your audience. But it’s not the reason investment groups go all-in to support an enterprise. For them, it’s about economic potential. So, if your father, mother, or best friend suffered from the condition you are working to address, do not expect an investor’s decision to hang that life experience. It does not. It’s about putting capital to work to make a difference and secure a solid return on investment.
The Role of Communication Leaders
Internal and external communications staff are critical in shaping the company message and your presentation. Third-party validation through key trade media, conferences, and patient advocacy groups elevates the company’s voice and importance.
“To maximize investment potential, companies need to build an investment thesis and communications program that shows they are in for the duration of the commercial journey,” says Fern Lazar, managing partner, global health practice lead at FINN Partners. Lazar, a veteran of 25 JPM Conferences, advises: “As capital raising becomes increasingly more challenging, building an investor relations narrative that conveys commercial prowess in addition to scientific acumen is key to instilling confidence that leads to action among analysts, investors, and strategic investors.”
Investors also ask the same question in many different ways to see whether your story changes to please them or is consistent, providing that you have truly drilled down on the market dynamic. If a meeting is set for 90 minutes and investors’ questions extend your time together to two hours or longer, that doesn’t suggest interest. Investors use these meetings to conduct their due diligence on a sector or space. A solid and experienced communications and investor relations team will qualify your meetings to maximize your time.
The health sector differs from technology, and investors are far more discerning than in tech, where the “wow” drives coverage and initial interest. Crafting a narrative that resonates with investors requires strategic alignment of recognition of unmet market challenges, the presentation of compelling data, and an evidence-backed vision of how to enter the market successfully and competitively.
The Bigger Picture
More than an opportunity to attend countless receptions and participate in a cascade of photo ops, the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference is a barometer for the industry’s future. And, just now, in our post-pandemic world, the stakes have never been higher. The health ecosystem must deliver innovation that’s not just practical but accessible, economically sustainable, and supported by data and customer case studies.
Your mindset and preparation for JP Morgan will make all the difference. Prepare with precision, show up with authenticity, and understand the unique opportunities this Mecca of life sciences offers. Beyond securing funding meetings, it’s about building relationships and shaping your company’s and health’s future. The investors you meet are not just gatekeepers of capital but potential advocates for your mission. Treat every interaction as an opportunity to align your vision with theirs. Together, you can turn possibility into progress and ideas into impact.
While most will discuss capital-raised and secured partnerships, in the health sector, the ultimate return on investment is measured in lives improved and saved. When planning your JP Morgan strategy and, indeed, when considering your company’s vision and mission, let that higher purpose be your guide.
