The Forty Year Overnight Success Story - Dr Sam Hupert, CEO and Co-Founder, Pro Medicus [S5.E3]

Pro Medicus may well be one of the most under the radar growth stories of the world. Many listeners would not have heard of Pro Medicus (ASX:PME), nor its low profile and humble CEO and founder, Dr Sam Hupert. Which is funny, given that the business started in 1983 and has a current market capitalisation c$6.5 billion. This is a story of patience, persistence, and perseverance. An inspirational story that needs to be told. 

There is some ground to cover for sure - in 1983, the IBM personal computer had not even made its way to Australia, there was no venture capital community and yet, here we are almost 40 years later lauding what many assume is an overnight success story. We walk through the timeline to pull out the themes that emerge over such a long and succcessful career.  

Pro Medicus has become a leading software solution for radiologists to help manage their practice - from scheduling patients or billing patients to ensuring great clinicals outcomes, be it viewing scans on location or on mobile. Think of it almost as the clinician’s operating system – a cross between a CRM, practice management software and data visualisation bespoke for the needs of radiologists and surgeons. Sam is a gentleman, full of sage advice and views, all the while delivering them with an egoless charm that is just so genuine. Settle in, this is a story not to be missed. 

You can follow TDM (linktr.ee/tdmgrowth) and host Ed Cowan (linktr.ee/eddiecowan) across social channels.

Show notes;

History of Pro Medicus; the IT and healthcare ecosystem in 1983 (3:46) 

Initial product and demographic for version 1.0 (6:22) 

Challenges of listing Pro Medicus in 2000 during a tech crash (7:40) 

Benefit of Pro Medicus’ balance sheet strength during the GFC (11:07) 

Impact and advantages of visage technology (12:57) 

Visage acquisition and its influence on Pro Medicus’ product and cultural synergies (15:25) 

Pivotal Sutter Health deal in 2014 (18:10) 

Selling into a tier one hospital (20:03) 

Competitive advantage of partnering with universities (22:03) 

Scope of Pro Medicus’ sales representatives (23:45) 

Navigating technological changes (25:32) 

Plan for the personalization and consumerization of healthcare (26:57) 

Basic principles for talking with investors (31:28) 

Should Australia change their system around founder sell-downs (35:26) 

Role of the board to support business growth (37:38) 

Biggest changes after transition to publicly listed (39:54) 

Vision for Pro Medicus’ legacy (40:53)

This podcast is created and published for informational and entertainment purposes only. It is not financial advice. Transcripts may contain occasional errors in fact.