A Spotlight on...ransom notes, colonial repair shops, The Innovator's Dilemma, and an Indian startup fixing to remove luck from the business of staying alive
Finally, a glimmer of light at the end of the healthcare tunnel for India. Beautifully articulated with all possible doubts / counterpoints addressed. Thank you team Tigerfeathers and Debarun!
Tech blip--The share button link is broken. It pulls up the Meesho article link. Pls fix
Debarun, this is truly illuminative writing. Until I hit the last bit about incentives being inverted becoming a thorn rather than a rose, it accepted human foibles in a ruthlessly analysed business model. And then transcended it.
It is also true that every system of trust built over decades and then accepted as part of the scenery becomes a target for scamming the hell out of it. Nothing is a better harvest than those who stop being a little cautious.
"5.5 crore (55 million) Indians are thrust into medical bankruptcy every year because of a single hospital bill." This blew my mind. That's the combined population of Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai! Mayank Banerjee and team, please keep doing what you're doing.
Very well written! I dont understand how the unit economics would work for Even's secondary care units. Shouldn't those margins and return ratios be lower than those of other secondary (and much lower than mature tertiary care) providers? Seems like utilization would be similar to established chains, ARPOB would be much lower than those units and only cost savings i can think of are referral fees and doctors (not sure about this)
You're right that standalone hospital EBITDA is slightly lower vs mature tertiary units and that's intentional. Salaries are actually higher than peers to attract good clinical talent which is then offset by zero referral fees. The IRR case isn't about per-bed economics at all. It's entirely about compressing the loss-making period. As detailed in the piece, traditional Hospitals need a lot longer to breakeven. Even builds hospitals quicky while pre-loading demand through their member base, so breakeven happens a few months post-opening.
Finally, a glimmer of light at the end of the healthcare tunnel for India. Beautifully articulated with all possible doubts / counterpoints addressed. Thank you team Tigerfeathers and Debarun!
Tech blip--The share button link is broken. It pulls up the Meesho article link. Pls fix
Thank you! What Mayank and team are doing at Even makes the optimism warranted.
This is excellent. Sharing widely
Thank you! Means everything when someone finds it worth sharing.
Debarun, great piece. Give us more! (Albeit with a bit more of a critical lens.)
Thank you, means a lot. What specifically felt under critiqued? Always useful to know where the skepticism sits for future work.
Thank you for the novella. Very illuminating.
Debarun, this is truly illuminative writing. Until I hit the last bit about incentives being inverted becoming a thorn rather than a rose, it accepted human foibles in a ruthlessly analysed business model. And then transcended it.
It is also true that every system of trust built over decades and then accepted as part of the scenery becomes a target for scamming the hell out of it. Nothing is a better harvest than those who stop being a little cautious.
awesome article! Kudos and well done!!
"5.5 crore (55 million) Indians are thrust into medical bankruptcy every year because of a single hospital bill." This blew my mind. That's the combined population of Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai! Mayank Banerjee and team, please keep doing what you're doing.
Rooting hard for Mayank and the team!
Very well written! I dont understand how the unit economics would work for Even's secondary care units. Shouldn't those margins and return ratios be lower than those of other secondary (and much lower than mature tertiary care) providers? Seems like utilization would be similar to established chains, ARPOB would be much lower than those units and only cost savings i can think of are referral fees and doctors (not sure about this)
You're right that standalone hospital EBITDA is slightly lower vs mature tertiary units and that's intentional. Salaries are actually higher than peers to attract good clinical talent which is then offset by zero referral fees. The IRR case isn't about per-bed economics at all. It's entirely about compressing the loss-making period. As detailed in the piece, traditional Hospitals need a lot longer to breakeven. Even builds hospitals quicky while pre-loading demand through their member base, so breakeven happens a few months post-opening.