Introduction

Research consistently identifies building something nobody wants as a leading reason startups fail. Not bad technology. Not poor execution. The wrong problem. In healthcare, the challenge runs deeper. A solution that addresses the wrong problem will fail. But so will one that solves the right problem while failing to address the needs of the full network of stakeholders required for clinical adoption. The user, buyer, payer, and decision-maker are rarely the same person, and each has criteria that must be met.

Most commercialization programs stress the importance of teams conducting stakeholder interviews to get the full picture. But the right picture will emerge only if the interviews are done well. An interview that feels productive but generates bad data is far worse than no interview at all.

Teams introducing bias into their interviews are rarely aware they are doing it. The problem is not effort or intent. It is the absence of structured feedback to help teams build the skills they need. The VERITAS rules give teams the structure they need to build those skills. They are a set of 12 rules, organized by the severity of damage each violation causes, for conducting exploratory interviews that produce data you can actually build on. These rules have evolved over 10 years with teams participating in the CRAASH program. They work. But they need to be practiced.