Venkataramani Suresh: A Purpose Driven Leader Committed To Providing Affordable And Quality Cancer Care
Venkataramani Suresh
Co-Founder & Chief Business Officer
Venkataramani Suresh engaged in an interactive session with CEO Insights, here’s the snippet from the same.
Tell us about your educational journey and prior industry experience. What led to the establishment of Karkinos Healthcare?
I am an Engineering graduate with a post-graduate in management. I have also participated in management development programmes at The Wharton Business School, Indian School of Business and Tata Management Centre in Pune.
My time at Naukri.com (Info Edge) allowed me to develop the intrapreneurial instincts needed to build and scale enterprises from scratch, constantly challenge all assumptions, explore, and innovate.
I started as a Branch Manager at Info Edge and rose through the ranks to become the Chief Sales Officer, overseeing a team of over Nine Hundred young and dynamic business development professionals spread across India and the Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC) countries.
Venkat, my best friend Founded Karkinos and the journey began with a general discussion on the gaps in the healthcare ecosystem and Oncology in particular. Several conversations about this led to us banding together for this great cause: to establish "cancer centres
without walls" to solve the accessibility and afford ability gaps in cancer care.
Define Karkinos Healthcare as an organization and its current position in the industry?
Lack of awareness, insufficient infrastructure, and resources(oncology beds, linear accelerators, oncologists, radiotherapy technicians, and so on), low insurance penetration, high out-of-pocket expenses, and poor standards of care are some of the pressing issues that must be addressed when it comes to cancer.
Karkinos is a technology-led oncology platform with a mission to build and offer personalized cancer care solutions. The company, led by a blend of globally acclaimed medical professionals and technologists, is on a mission to provide highquality cancer care closer to one’s home and ensure no person is deprived of care for want of access or affordability. Karkinos has an early mover advantage in cancer care and offers a unique value proposition backed by over three hundred years of combined clinical expertise.
What are the unique services provided by Karkinos Healthcare which make it unique from its competitors?What has been the success mantra that constantly helps you arrive at positive outcomes?
Our USP is our focus on early detection of the top six forms of cancer (Breast, Cervical, Lung, Oral, Colorectal and Prostate), driving behavioural change from reactive to proactive care, offering an end-to-end signature patient navigation system through our distributed cancer care network led by technology. We also have globally accepted and approved clinical protocols, an advisory panel of world-renowned oncologists, virtual tumour boards, world class oncology-focused labs, and biobanks. We are backed by investors of eminence Viz, The Tata Group, Reliance Industries & Rakuten Medical to name a few. Our ultimate dream is to see a world devoid of cancer.
My success mantra has been Consider the big picture and set stretch goals and work hard since there is no quick fix for success. Constantly question all assumptions. Tenacious execution aligned with short and long term
Define Karkinos Healthcare as an organization and its current position in the industry?
Lack of awareness, insufficient infrastructure, and resources(oncology beds, linear accelerators, oncologists, radiotherapy technicians, and so on), low insurance penetration, high out-of-pocket expenses, and poor standards of care are some of the pressing issues that must be addressed when it comes to cancer.
Karkinos is a technology-led oncology platform with a mission to build and offer personalized cancer care solutions. The company, led by a blend of globally acclaimed medical professionals and technologists, is on a mission to provide highquality cancer care closer to one’s home and ensure no person is deprived of care for want of access or affordability. Karkinos has an early mover advantage in cancer care and offers a unique value proposition backed by over three hundred years of combined clinical expertise.
The tides will turn in your favour & if they don’t, introspect, focus on your internal locus of control, and go back to basics
What are the unique services provided by Karkinos Healthcare which make it unique from its competitors?What has been the success mantra that constantly helps you arrive at positive outcomes?
Our USP is our focus on early detection of the top six forms of cancer (Breast, Cervical, Lung, Oral, Colorectal and Prostate), driving behavioural change from reactive to proactive care, offering an end-to-end signature patient navigation system through our distributed cancer care network led by technology. We also have globally accepted and approved clinical protocols, an advisory panel of world-renowned oncologists, virtual tumour boards, world class oncology-focused labs, and biobanks. We are backed by investors of eminence Viz, The Tata Group, Reliance Industries & Rakuten Medical to name a few. Our ultimate dream is to see a world devoid of cancer.
My success mantra has been Consider the big picture and set stretch goals and work hard since there is no quick fix for success. Constantly question all assumptions. Tenacious execution aligned with short and long term
objectives. Give more than one hundred per cent of yours, lastly, if you want some thing go for it. If the tides do not turn in your favour, we must reflect, focus on your locus of control, and return to basics.
Being the Chief Business Officer, how do you plan to apply your exceptional understanding of this domain to Karkinos Healthcare and take it to the next level?
Investing time, effort, and resources into meeting customers and gaining insights from all of our key stakeholders - HR professionals, corporate employees, citizens, doctors hospital administrators, government, and NGOs to address the cancer burden of the society at large. Building high-performing teams to move care from reactive to proactive. Using the Digital approach to create a unique distributed cancer care network that ensures high-quality cancer care is accessible and affordable to all. Raising awareness about the early detection of cancer and encouraging a behavioural shift through a combination of technology and cognitive impact.
Based on your strong professional background. What advice would you like to give to budding entrepreneurs?
Do not start a business unless you are prepared to marry the concept for the rest of your life. If you work hard to solve problems at scale, money will follow. Value creation, not valuation, should be the goal for all stakeholders. Relentless execution is the need of the hour and not just a path-breaking idea. Build a culture of trust, transparency, honesty, performance, and empowerment. Practice Thri Karana Suddhi Harmony of thought, word, and deed. Lastly, effective communication is key to developing and scaling businesses.
Venkataramani Suresh, Co-Founder & Chief Business Officer, Karkinos Healthcare Pvt Ltd
Having a wide range of experience in different domains of the business industry, Venkataramani Suresh is on a mission to ensure quality cancer care is made affordable and accessible to all
Hobbies:Watching and playing Cricket, Reading
Favourite Cuisine:Vada Pav and Pongal
Favourite Book:Autobiography of a yogi, Execution: the discipline of getting things done, a book by Lawrence Bossidy and Ram Charan
Favourite Travel Destination: Scotland
Awards and Recognitions:
Info Edge Merit Award 2018 for consistent top-line growth and productivity. Speaker in Global HR forums, NASSCOM and CII
Being the Chief Business Officer, how do you plan to apply your exceptional understanding of this domain to Karkinos Healthcare and take it to the next level?
Investing time, effort, and resources into meeting customers and gaining insights from all of our key stakeholders - HR professionals, corporate employees, citizens, doctors hospital administrators, government, and NGOs to address the cancer burden of the society at large. Building high-performing teams to move care from reactive to proactive. Using the Digital approach to create a unique distributed cancer care network that ensures high-quality cancer care is accessible and affordable to all. Raising awareness about the early detection of cancer and encouraging a behavioural shift through a combination of technology and cognitive impact.
Based on your strong professional background. What advice would you like to give to budding entrepreneurs?
Do not start a business unless you are prepared to marry the concept for the rest of your life. If you work hard to solve problems at scale, money will follow. Value creation, not valuation, should be the goal for all stakeholders. Relentless execution is the need of the hour and not just a path-breaking idea. Build a culture of trust, transparency, honesty, performance, and empowerment. Practice Thri Karana Suddhi Harmony of thought, word, and deed. Lastly, effective communication is key to developing and scaling businesses.
Venkataramani Suresh, Co-Founder & Chief Business Officer, Karkinos Healthcare Pvt Ltd
Having a wide range of experience in different domains of the business industry, Venkataramani Suresh is on a mission to ensure quality cancer care is made affordable and accessible to all
Hobbies:Watching and playing Cricket, Reading
Favourite Cuisine:Vada Pav and Pongal
Favourite Book:Autobiography of a yogi, Execution: the discipline of getting things done, a book by Lawrence Bossidy and Ram Charan
Favourite Travel Destination: Scotland
Awards and Recognitions:
Info Edge Merit Award 2018 for consistent top-line growth and productivity. Speaker in Global HR forums, NASSCOM and CII