Beginner's Mind
Blueprints for Builders and Investors
Hosted by Christian Soschner
From pre-seed to post-IPO, every company—especially in deep tech, biotech, AI, and climate tech—lives or dies by the frameworks it follows.
On Beginner’s Mind, Christian Soschner uncovers the leadership principles behind the world’s most impactful companies—through deep-dive interviews, strategic book reviews, and patterns drawn from history’s greatest business, military, and political minds.
With over 200 interviews, panels, and livestreams, the show ranks in the Top 10% globally—and is recognized as the #1 deep tech podcast.
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What it really takes to turn breakthrough science into business—how to grow it, lead it, and shape the world around it.
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- Founder & Investor Blueprints: How breakthrough technologies scale from lab to IPO
- Historical & Biographical Frameworks: Timeless playbooks from the world's great builders
- Leadership & Communication Mastery: Tools to inspire, persuade, and lead at scale
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Beginner's Mind
#71: Heike Schoen - How To Rescue Your Clinical Trial When at Risk to Fail
Did you know that almost 90% of all product ideas fail in clinical trials?
Surprising to me was that lack of efficacy doesn't seem to be the main reason why clinical trials fail in the first place. Other factors are at play, and most of them are manageable risks when the right team is at work.
In this episode:
- Strategic considerations for setting up a clinical trial
- Inhouse vs Outsourced Clinical Study Management
- Why clinical trials fail
- Steps to getting your clinical trial back on track
- Future trends of clinical trials
Who is the expert in the show?
Heike Schön, Lumis International GmbH with more than 25 years of experience in international clinical research and drug development.
đź“ž Book a meeting here: Link
đź“° Article: Medium
Youtube: https://youtu.be/r0qphO8Qs3o
Podcast notes: Link
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(02:25) Who Is Heike Schön, Lumis International and Lumis Consulting?
(04:20) Topics in the Episode
(04:30) Kick-Off
(05:00) Background to Lumis International and Heike Schön
(10:20) When is the Right Time to Start with the Planning of a Clinical Trial?
(12:10) The Role of a Sponsor of a Clinical Trial
(14:30) Who is Responsible for the Clinical Trial as a Sponsor?
(16:55) When Should a Company Start to Implement Clinical Trial Management in the Organisation?
(18:30) Funding Requirements for Clinical Trials
(20:00) The Reality of Inhouse and Outhouse Clinical Trial Management
(22:15) What to Think About When Planning Oversight Management
(25:00) Relationship and Culture Management in Clinical Trials
(27:25) Budget and Ressource Requirement for Clinical Trials
(28: 45) 3 Steps to a Successful Clinical Trial
(30:40) The 3 Main Reasons Why Clinical Trials Fail
(33:30) Considerations for Patient Enrollment as a Key Success Factor for Clinical Trials
(37:30) … and when enrolment fails, what are the steps to rescue the trial?
(42:45) Do Inhouse Studies Require Rescue?
(44:30) How to Rescue a Clinical Trial
(48:30) Root Cause Analysis as a Starting Point to Rescue a Trial
(52:25) Preventive Measures to Avoid Failure Early on
(53:30) How Important is Leadership in a Clinical Trial?
(56:30) The 3 Main Reasons to Stop a Clinical Trial – The Point of no Return
(59:00) How are the Cost Calculated for Rescue Study Management?
(01:00:15) Planning of a Clinical Trial – A Key Aspect of a Successful Trial
(01:02:15) How to Plan Realistic Timelines and Numbers
(01:07:15) The Role of Feasibility Studies in Clinical Trials
(01:09:30) How Clinical Trial Management Evolved in the last 30 years
(01:11:15) Upcoming Trends in Clinical Trial Management
(01:13:15) Decentralized Clinical Trials
(01:15:00) Artificial Intelligence And Big Data in Clinical Trial Management
(01:17:55) The Digital Twin
(01:19:15) The Human Factor and Leadership in Clinical Trial Management
(01:21:10) The Patient in Clinical Trials
(01:22:55) Planning and its contribution to clinical trial s
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