My Way Digital Health - medical school spin out venture

My Diabetes My Way now has around 40,000 registrants (people with diabetes) in NHS Scotland and has been made available throughout the UK while it is also pursuing its first international contracts.

Dr Debbie Wake - CEO and clinical lead of My Way Digital Health, was a University senior lecturer and honorary NHS endocrine consultant when she and Dr Scott Cunningham (University employed clinical consultant at the time) spun MyWayDigitalHealth out of the University of Dundee’s Medical School in 2017. Since then, the company has grown to employ 18 people in Dundee and Edinburgh while it has also secured around £3 million in Innovation funding and contracts.

MWDH business awards include; Scottish EDGE, Bio Dundee, The Courier Business Award for Enterprise in Education, UoD Venture staff award, London Digital Health Accelerator, NHS Innovation Accelerator, and finalists in AccelerateHER, Women Ahead and Converge Challenge. MyWay is also one of the inaugural Scotland First Minister Unlocking Ambition cohort.

Here are Debbie’s Top 5 tips in setting up a business venture in Scotland:

Make the most of every opportunity

Scotland is an amazing place to start a business! Make the most of every opportunity. We received start of support, mentorship, training, PR and funding through various programmes and organisations including the University of Dundee Entrepreneurship centre, Converge Challenge, Bio Dundee, Scottish Edge, Scottish Enterprise, and Entrepreneurial Scotland are one of the First Minsters Unlocking Ambition Cohort. We’ve also benefitted greatly from Innovate UK funding. Find out what’s on offer and go for it!

Find your passion

If you are going to start up a business it needs to be in something you are passionate about! Starting up a business is really hard but in those dark moments it is your passion for what you are doing that will keep you going.

Make sure there is a customer need

Many businesses fail because they have overestimated the customer's needs. You might have a cool product, but if there is no demand for it, then so what? Understanding your marketplace. Are you delivering something that people want? Can you provide it at the right price? In the right format? At the right time? Early customer research will pay dividends.

Don’t be scared to ask

You’ll need a lot of help building your business. Don’t be scared to ask people for advice and help. Think about who could really help you scale your business. Who has been there and done it already? You’ll be surprised by how often people say ‘yes!'

Think big!

In Scotland, we tend to be modest about our offerings and often businesses fail to reach their true potential. A recent trip to Silicon Valley has made me think differently. From the onset, you should think about the global potential of your idea and consider the steps you need to take to get it there. Aim high when you consider investment needs, mentors, advisors and partners.