Episode 32: Dr Meenakshi Jhala on Why Clinicians Make the Best Investors, Building a Clinician-Led Angel Syndicate, and How to Break Into Healthcare VC

Episode 32: Dr Meenakshi Jhala on Why Clinicians Make the Best Investors, Building a Clinician-Led Angel Syndicate, and How to Break Into Healthcare VC

What happens when a GP trainee with zero finance knowledge decides to break into healthcare VC — and ends up co-founding a clinician-led angel syndicate? In this episode, we speak with Dr Meenakshi Jhala, NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow at King's College London, Chief of Staff at Syntax, and co-founder of Tiny Ventures and DX Capital — a clinician-led angel syndicate dedicated to funding the innovations healthcare actually needs. • 🩺 Why guideline-driven medicine felt like being a tomato in a greenhouse — and what made her look beyond clinical training • 📈 How she broke into healthcare VC as a fifth-year medical student with no finance background, conducting due diligence at Rise Asset Management • 🤝 The relationship-building philosophy that unlocked every role she's ever had — and why 100% of her work has come through connections • 🚀 Building Tiny Ventures as an accelerator for aspiring investors and launching DX Capital to fund what clinicians know actually matters • 🧠 Why doctors can't just be badge collectors — and the difference between execution and ambition • 💡 How she balances clinical practice, research, a startup, and an angel syndicate without attaching emotion to any of it Meenakshi's story is a masterclass in curiosity, execution, and building a career that's genuinely yours — not the one the system designed for you. Follow us on: 🗞 Substack [https://outofprogramme.substack.com/] 💼 LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/outofprogramme] ▶ YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@OutOfProgramme] 🎧 Listen on: Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZbQCk6B9ongfOvKFCxIdx] | Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/out-of-programme/id1791647812]

Episode 31: Dr Dom Pimenta on Why NHS IT Systems Fail, Building AI That Actually Helps Clinicians, and the Gap Between Innovation and Implementation

What happens when a cardiologist realises NHS IT is failing patients — and decides to build an AI clinician that actually listens? In this episode, we speak with Dr Dom Pimenta, a former NHS cardiologist who left clinical practice to co-found Tortus AI, an intelligent ambient voice interface for clinicians backed by Entrepreneur First and Khosla Ventures. * 🏥 Why Dom's Catholic upbringing and childhood obsession with death led him to medicine — and why he eventually left * 🧠 The frustration of watching NHS IT systems fail clinicians and patients, and the moment he decided to build something better * 🔧 How Entrepreneur First helped him pivot from doctor to founder, and the reality of raising venture capital as a clinician * ⚖️ The ethics of AI in healthcare — why "human-in-the-loop" matters and what Dom learned from deploying AI in live clinical environments * 📈 What Tortus AI actually does, how it works, and why ambient voice interfaces might be the future of clinical documentation * 🎯 Dom's advice for clinicians considering the leap into healthtech entrepreneurship — and what he'd do differently Dom's story is a candid exploration of what it takes to leave a secure clinical career, bet on yourself, and build technology that might actually fix the system you left behind. Follow us on: 🗞 Substack [https://outofprogramme.substack.com/] 💼 LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/outofprogramme] ▶ YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@OutOfProgramme] 🎧 Listen on: Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZbQCk6B9ongfOvKFCxIdx] | Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/out-of-programme/id1791647812]

Episode 30: Dr Rishi Das-Gupta on the journey to becoming an NHS Trust Chief Innovation Officer and Scaling System Change Across South London

What happens when a doctor spends a decade at McKinsey, returns to the NHS, and creates a Chief Innovation Officer role from scratch? In this episode, we speak with Dr Rishi Das-Gupta, former Chief Innovation Officer at Royal Brompton Hospital and now CEO of Health Innovation Network South London and DigitalHealth.London. He shares how he went from covering the whole hospital overnight as a junior doctor to reshaping how the NHS adopts technology at scale. • 🏥 The one-in-four on-call rota that showed him what the NHS was getting wrong • 🧮 Why he left medicine for McKinsey — and why two years became ten • 🧠 Building a US healthcare practice and lessons from data-rich industries • 🔧 Returning to the NHS after a decade away and creating a Chief Innovation Officer role • ⚖️ Why implementation beats strategy — and making change happen inside hospital systems • 📈 The future of NHS digital transformation and why he's optimistic about what's next Rishi's story is a masterclass in leaving medicine, gaining industry perspective, and returning to transform the system from within. Follow us on: 🗞 Substack [https://outofprogramme.substack.com/] 💼 LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/outofprogramme] ▶ YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@OutOfProgramme] 🎧 Listen on: Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZbQCk6B9ongfOvKFCxIdx] | Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/out-of-programme/id1791647812]

Episode 29: Dr James Somauroo on a Near-Miss £40M Fund, Why Doctors Make Better Marketers, and Building SomX with His Wife

What if the path to your true calling isn't through following expectations, but through recognising where your real talents lie? In this episode, we speak with Dr James Somauroo, former anaesthetist turned health tech entrepreneur, who transformed his realisation that he was "better at fixing the system than treating patients" into a remarkable career building the infrastructure for health innovation. • 👨‍⚕️ From immigrant family expectations to discovering his true strengths lay elsewhere • 🏛️ The Bruce Keough Fellowship and co-founding the Clinical Entrepreneur Programme • 🚀 Leading Digital Health London Accelerator and running his own health tech accelerator • 💰 The £40M fund that almost was—lessons from a deal undone by COVID • 🎙️ Building SomX from scratch with his wife Jess, bootstrapped to success • 💡 Why clinicians should seek purpose, not just "any port in a storm" James's journey from reluctant doctor to communications agency CEO reveals how embracing your authentic skills—even when they defy expectations—can lead to extraordinary impact. Follow us on: 🗞 Substack [https://outofprogramme.substack.com/] 💼 LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/outofprogramme] ▶ YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@OutOfProgramme] 🎧 Listen on: Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZbQCk6B9ongfOvKFCxIdx] | Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/out-of-programme/id1791647812]

Episode 28: Dr Farzana Rahman on Building a Radiologist-Led Team, Why Junior Doctors Thrive in Startups, and Hexarad's Series B Growth

What happens when four radiologists decide to build a health tech company while still working clinically – and end up raising Series B funding while hiring junior doctors into non-clinical roles? In this episode, we speak with Dr Farzana Rahman, a consultant radiologist and CEO of Hexarad, a technology and services company that helps hospitals deliver faster and more efficient radiology reporting. Her journey reveals how clinician founders think differently about scaling, hiring, and the future of health tech in the UK. * 🏥 The path from consultant radiologist to startup founder – without a business background * 💻 Why four radiologists founding a company together was never really a question of who'd be CEO * 🧠 The unique qualities junior doctors bring to startups (and why tech companies need them) * 🚀 Building Hexarad as a side project, then making the leap to full-time founder * ⚖️ Scaling a Series B company with a radiologist–led executive team – and the challenges of health tech in the UK * 🤝 Radical candour, coaching, and building a culture where people aren't afraid to ask for help Farzana's story reveals how lived clinical experience becomes an unfair advantage in building for healthcare – and why the best startup founders might just be the ones who've already thrived under pressure. Follow us on: 🗞 Substack [https://outofprogramme.substack.com/] 💼 LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/outofprogramme] ▶ YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@OutOfProgramme] 🎧 Listen on: Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZbQCk6B9ongfOvKFCxIdx] | Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/out-of-programme/id1791647812]