Jo Halliday, co-founder and CEO of Talking Medicines
Jo Halliday is an award-winning CEO and entrepreneur. Having worked for FTSE brands including Coca-Cola, Grand Met and Jim Beam, Jo co-founded Talking Medicines, the world’s first patient intelligence company designed to meet the needs of pharma.
What were you doing before launching your business?
My background is in brand management for major drinks labels. I joined Coca Cola’s marketing team straight out of university and spent the first year working with the sales team which is something I would recommend to every aspiring marketeer. You get to know the customer and their needs in a way that you wouldn’t be able to otherwise.
After this formative experience, I then went on to work for a number of other FMCG brands, including managing the global marketing for Jim Beam brands and Whyte and Mackay, where I also worked on new product development which gave me my first taste of bringing new brands to market.
However, I wanted to spend more time with my ever-growing family, so I decided that it was time for a change and I set myself up as a marketing consultant, mainly for FMCG clients.
The consultancy life worked well for me, leading me on to join Chartered Brands – a company which bought and invested in underperforming brands from big FMCG companies, increasing their value. I was lucky enough to be involved in a successful management buyout, which really sparked my interest in entrepreneurship.
After leaving Chartered Brands I moved into the life science sector where I co-founded a digital health start up. Switching to a new sector was undoubtedly a steep learning curve, but it was a challenge which gave me the desire to work within life sciences. This led me into the opportunity to create Talking Medicines in 2013.
Getting involved in tech is still a hot topic for women, what was the motivation for you?
While not a conscious part of my decision to get involved in tech, there is a noticeable shortage of women in the AI, Tech and pharmaceutical industries, especially at the executive level. At Talking Medicines, we are proud to have two female founders – myself and Dr Elizabeth Fairley. As industry leaders, we both know how important it is to represent woman in the sector. As a Women’s Enterprise Scotland Ambassador, I know a lot of women who are doing great work but, because of a multitude of reasons, are less able to tell their story in the same way I can. Being in this privileged position, I feel I can be a voice to champion all women entrepreneurs in the tech sector.
By regularly speaking at events, both online and in person, sharing experiences and resources, I hope to inspire potential female entrepreneurs who have the ideas but are unsure how to take them forward.
I also feel it is important to help women into the industry in an encouraging environment. More than half of the Talking Medicines team are women, and for some it is their first job after leaving education.
How have you found your journey so far and what has been your greatest accomplishment?
Setting up Talking Medicines as a mission-led business and successfully raising significant funding from four seed funding rounds to be able to then grow in ambition and capabilities has been one of my biggest accomplishments to date. Being part of a company that I believe in passionately, and one which is founded on the social purpose of improving patient outcomes, has been hugely rewarding but also very hard at times. I’ve always prided myself on my resilience – ever since school days – and I firmly believe that this resilience has kept me going and working through the problems that running a business can throw up.
What has been the most challenging thing so far?
As with any start-up, finding investment is always a major hurdle and challenge. With a disruptor business like Talking Medicines, convincing investors to believe in the team and the opportunity ahead of the product/market fit is challenging in the early days of company growth. However, convincing investors to put forward risk capital is part and parcel of being an entrepreneur. You have to be resilient and single minded in articulating and achieving your goal.
Of course, there is an upside to this. We now have a great group of highly engaged investors who believe in the product, are able to add value, and are who are part of our journey.
You have created a business that is adaptable and progressive. What has that process been like for you?
As you would expect there have been challenges along the way as well as hugely rewarding moments. I have no regrets about the journey we have been through. It all adds to the domain knowledge and ability to scale. My own background in marketing is complimentary to my co-founders’ experience in life sciences, which helps in terms of diversity of thought. We have employed a skilled and bright team to create a learning and growth environment which helps stimulate the forward motion of the Company. I’ve thrived on the challenge of creating something new and innovative.
Who is your target audience?
The service that we provide will help pharmaceutical companies understand patient experience in the real world when they take their medicines, putting them as a stakeholder right in the centre of data driven decision making. We are working with CMOs, CIOs, Innovation Directors, Chief Digital Officers, Customer Excellence in global Pharma companies, to convince them that our AI platform, PatientMetRx® is a must-have digital tool in their marketing suite.
What advice would you give to fellow entrepreneurs stuck on mapping out a strong business model?
Having a good team around you is so important. It’s simply not possible to know everything all the time, so having a team who are able to complement your skills is vital to the success of any business. The ability to bounce ideas off people is invaluable as is the presence of others who are willing to challenge your assumptions and ideas.
Related to this point, I would also say that finding a good mentor and building a strong network are equally important. Any problems that you’re encountering are most likely to have been encountered by others previously, so having somewhere to turn for advice can be an invaluable resource.
What plans do you have for business over the next two years?
We are now looking to expand our operation to North America and will be moving ahead on those plans early in 2022. This will enable us to work more closely with our customers, allowing us to listen to their feedback and to stimulate further product development for PatientMetRx®. We will be expanding our team and further strengthening our commitment to ESG, as we look to achieve net zero for our business.
Overview of Talking Medicines works:
The pharmaceutical industry has always struggled to understand the real-world experiences of its patients and its products. We set up Talking Medicines as the answer to this problem – establishing the world’s first patient intelligence company designed to meet the needs of pharma. Combining Artificial Intelligence with our own industry expertise, Talking Medicines is able to filter the Patient Voice to hone in on the real-world experience of patients with regulated medicine brands. Our data platform PatientMetRx® combines machine learning with natural language processing to provide on-demand, science-based insights about patient confidence and experience. By structuring and translating the patient’s voice from social platforms into empowering metrics, we can help our customers deliver both commercial success and better patient outcomes.
