Who’s Actually in the Room
Most founders building a health or longevity device think they have one buyer. They don’t. There are at least seven, and each one evaluates a device differently, moves on a different timeline, and kills deals for different reasons. Pitch all seven the same way and you’ll lose most of them.
This module maps the buyer landscape. By the end, you’ll know who you’re actually selling to, what each one cares about, and where your device fits.
The Seven Buyers
Assisted living operators are the facilities themselves. They buy to reduce liability and staff burden, not because a technology is impressive. If a device doesn’t reduce a fall, a call light, or a shift of labor, it doesn’t register.
Memory care is a subset of senior living, but a different conversation entirely. Cognitive decline changes what “safety” means. Wandering, agitation, and medication compliance matter more here than general fall risk. A device that doesn’t speak to those specific fears gets passed over.
PACE programs (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) are capitated: they receive a fixed amount per patient per month from Medicare and Medicaid and must cover all care within that budget. That changes the pitch entirely. This isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a way to avoid the hospital or nursing home stay that blows their budget. Cost-avoidance language gets a second meeting. Feature lists don’t.
Home care franchise networks put aides in the home day to day. They’re rarely the budget holder, corporate is, but they’re the ones who use or ignore the device in practice. If it doesn’t fit an aide’s existing routine, it gets turned off regardless of what corporate paid for it.
PERS companies (Personal Emergency Response Systems, the medical alert pendant world) are better thought of as channel partners than end buyers. They already own the customer relationship and the monitoring infrastructure. The right conversation isn’t “buy my device,” it’s “let’s bundle.”
DME distributors (Durable Medical Equipment) run on billing codes, insurance reimbursement, and thin margins on high volume. Without a path to reimbursement or a clear billing code, most won’t touch a device, because the math doesn’t work for them.
CAPS remodelers (Certified Aging-in-Place Specialists) are contractors trained to modify homes for older adults: grab bars, curbless showers, better lighting. They’re already inside the home having the “how do we keep mom safe” conversation with the family, which makes them a strong bundling partner. One remodeler won’t move volume, but a network of them becomes a steady referral channel.
Family caregiver platforms serve adult children managing a parent’s care remotely. They’re not the end user and not the facility, they’re the family member trying to keep tabs on someone who doesn’t live with them. This buyer wants peace of mind, not a dashboard full of metrics.
Why This Matters
The common mistake: one pitch deck, one demo, run at all seven buyers. It fails because a PACE program cares about hospital avoidance, a family caregiver platform cares about peace of mind, and a DME distributor cares about reimbursement codes. Three different conversations, and a one-size-fits-all pitch speaks to none of them well.
The founders who get this right build one core value proposition, then translate it into the language each buyer actually uses. Same device, seven different front doors.
Where to Start
Don’t try to sell to all seven at once. Pick the one or two whose incentives line up most directly with what the device already does well. A device focused on fall detection fits fastest with PACE programs and assisted living operators, since fall prevention maps directly to their cost pressure. A more passive, lifestyle-oriented device fits better with family caregiver platforms and PERS companies.
Trying to cover all seven channels at once is how founders burn a year of runway with nothing to show for it.
Whether you’re a small company trying to keep up, a startup convinced you’ve cracked the code, or one of the big players trying to rationalize a bloated portfolio, I’m happy to spend an hour with you. No pitch, no agenda, just a straight conversation.
Schedule a meeting with me: https://calendly.com/blueconnectpartners