The importance of purpose
Authors:
Annie Lamont is a managing partner at Oak HC/FT and the first lady of the state of Connecticut. David Knott is a senior partner in McKinsey’s New York office.
Twenty years ago, there was a big push toward physician-practice-management roll-ups. It was really a financial play. The doctors thought they were receiving equity that was going to appreciate. But the quality of the software and information systems was poor, and the companies weren’t delivering the value that they should have been.
That taught me an important lesson: it doesn’t make sense to invest purely for financial reasons. If somebody gets into healthcare to make money, it’s dangerous because they don’t necessarily put the patient first and are rarely a long-term success. It was the beginning of our mantra: “If a company does not lower healthcare costs and improve outcomes, we have no interest.”
Why did I become a VC [venture capitalist]? To innovate and change healthcare for the better. The by-product of that is making money (something my investors appreciate). When we find entrepreneurs who are principally driven by their missions and also have great business sense, that is a winning combination. It is not hard to determine which entrepreneurs truly care about mission and purpose versus those who think it is a fast way to make a buck. Healthcare is hard, and it’s rarely a fast way to riches. We need entrepreneurs who are ready to build for the long term.
I have to believe that I’m helping to improve the system. I want to support innovation for good, transformation for good. That is my true north.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Annie Lamont is a managing partner at Oak HC/FT and the first lady of the state of Connecticut. David Knott is a senior partner in McKinsey’s New York office.