Clarity in the Chaos: First-Time Launches, Lasting Impact

What you’ll learn:

What’s the strategy behind strategy?

Strategy is more fluid than ever across a landscape where market signals are more prolific and immediate. Traditional approaches that served us well in a linear, campaign-centric environment are no longer optimal.

Curated by Brian Kaiser, EVP, Head of Strategy, Klick has launched the Difference-Making Strategy series, explorations that reveal what happens when you dissect your craft… and then rewire it.

These conversations reveal how Klick is adapting its approach to strategy to lead the way in a rapidly evolving marketplace. From gaming to AI and storytelling to experiences, our expectations of strategy are growing to include more than ever before.

Brian was eager to meet with Jackie Piccolo, SVP,  Strategy, at Klick Health, to discuss one of the most dynamic and high-stakes challenges we face: preparing start-ups for their first launch. In this conversation, Jackie and Brian explore what makes early-stage work so distinct, how AI is changing the game, and why ruthless prioritization—and a little chaos—is often part of the process.

Brian Kaiser [BK]: I’ve been looking forward to this conversation. You had flagged building strategy for early-stage, first-time launchers as your passion. So, what fascinates you about this phase in a company’s life cycle?

Jackie Piccolo [JP]: I love the challenge of building everything from scratch. When we're working with early-stage, first-time launchers that are still deep in clinical development, we're starting from a blank canvas. We have the enviable job of shaping what we want the future of this company, product, and disease state to look like. 

At this stage, you're planning what needs to happen for the product to be a success once it launches. You're not locked into templates or processes, and you’re using your imagination to the max. You can and have to innovate thoughtfully and quickly. 

Klick is really good at this because it’s in our roots—our values align naturally with start-ups—playing the long game, being entrepreneurial, and staying flexible. You need a roadmap, but you also need to be able to shift direction at a moment’s notice. These companies have never done anything like this before, so it’s about finding the right balance between structure and creativity. You have to be okay with leaning into the chaos. 

Embracing Uncertainty and Thinking Like an Investor

BK: You have to hack the opportunity because it’s not as if the marketplace is waiting for you to make a move.

JP: Exactly, you’re building an opportunity from the ground up—you have to convince the world of the purpose and meaning of a new treatment, what unmet need it solves, and start building influence in the communities that can drive adoption. A clear message, market foresight, and strong relationship-building are critical when in clinical trial development and fundraising periods. 

BK: However, working with first-time launchers comes with risk. How do you evaluate those opportunities?

JP:  You almost have to think like an investor. We assess the team, the early data, the current market, and the leadership. We’re looking for clients that have blockbuster potential or meet a deep unmet need. 

For us, it’s about future planning, too, and we’re looking for companies that are comfortable bringing us in as a core strategic partner. These small early investments can grow significantly, and we believe starting a relationship early compounds their launch potential. 

We hope that when launch time comes, we’re already embedded in the team’s fabric, deeply aligned on strategy and vision, and are ready to scale alongside them. Our partnership becomes a critical pillar of the launch.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All: The Myth of the Standard Playbook

BK: What surprised you the most about this work?

JP: Initially, I wanted to build standardized processes and products for early-stage clients. I learned quickly that every start-up is different. Yes, everyone needs a roadmap, but what shapes it and what we need to bring to the table can vary dramatically. The market, team dynamics, and goals demand flexibility, inventiveness, and adaptability.

BK: How does that manifest in practice?

JP: It’s about constantly reevaluating and aligning on the truths of the business. 

First, what is the value of the asset? This changes as data evolves and as we hear stakeholders’ perceptions. 

Second, what market are we entering? Is it saturated and competitive or a new category with deep unmet needs? 

Third, what does the conversation around that therapeutic area look like? How engaged are consumers and HCPs? Some categories, like weight loss for instance, are unprecedentedly consumer driven. 

You need to understand these truths, revisit them often before launch, and use them to define priorities, goals, and workstreams.

Adapting and Prioritizing to Navigate the Chaos

BK: So, it seems like it’s more of a mindset than a playbook.

JP: Totally. I love learning through adaptation and finding clarity in chaos—seeing the signals through the noise. You need to be comfortable with both breaking and building things. You can’t stay in one box. These companies are lean. If you need to tackle something outside your role, you do it. 

BK: How do you keep the client from getting lost in the chaos?

JP: You focus on what matters most now, without losing sight of what’s next through ruthless prioritization and constant vision.

Sometimes, priorities shift due to funding. You can start with a core set of strategic priorities, run out of funding, and need to shift focus. That’s when you pivot to what will help you at that moment: market research, forecasting analytics, stakeholder engagement, corporate comms, investor narratives, and so on. We support that shift consciously and deliberately, but never let our team completely drop our strategic planning for launch—you’ve got to keep going.  

BK: Forward motion matters.

JP: Think of it like riding a bike: you stay balanced when you keep pedaling. We help clients keep moving by keeping one eye on the future, even when they might be focused on short-term challenges. We provide a balance that is essential in those moments.

BK: How are we approaching this differently than most?

JP: Integration—in two different ways: how integrated we are with our client teams and across our own Klick disciplines. 

Because we’re a full-service commercialization partner, we look to become embedded in our clients’ day-to-day. We go beyond delivering on tasks and become a source of knowledge they can rely on to think ahead, ask the hard questions, and frame everything through a strategic lens. 

Our integrated team collaborates across strategy, creative, analytics, medical communications, and market access. And we’re not just a collection of experts, we know each other. That familiarity allows us to be agile, efficient, and strategically consistent across the myriad of launch workstreams. No insight is lost, everything is connected. That doesn’t happen when things are siloed.

​​Experience + AI: Accelerating Innovation

BK: What is helping you to shape how we evolve our approach? Where does this go next?

JP: With each company we work with, we get to try something new and uncover what trends repeat themselves. 

Through experience, we’ve started to see several archetypes of launch that allow us to predict what priorities will look like at different parts of the pre-commercial life cycle based on a business’s unique truths. That’s all thanks to vast and varied experience. Having that foundational starting point makes it faster and easier to customize and innovate.

AI is also huge—it helps us find insights quickly and precisely. We can understand major cultural conversations or synthesize KOL interviews much faster now. It’s making us smarter and more efficient.

BK: Is AI changing how companies go to market?

JP: Definitely. AI tools are being used to understand the market and the science. 

We can build personas, pressure-test strategies, and even create synthetic advisory boards. It helps us make informed decisions when we don’t have time for full research. It’s not replacing strategy but augmenting it.

BK: What do the next 2 to 3 years look like?

JP: Faster everything. Better, more efficient tools for insight generation. More and more deep partnerships where we’re truly seen as part of the launch team. 

I hope we keep moving our partnerships even earlier in clinical development to help align science and asset identification with market needs. The earlier we get involved, the more we can set a company up for success. 

Advice for First-Time Launches 

BK: What advice would you give to someone shifting their attention from solving challenges for a traditional pharma player to those faced by a first-time launcher?

JP: In big pharma, your remit is often narrow. In a start-up, you touch everything, and the reality is no start-up team has deep expertise in every single area necessary for strong commercialization. 

The best start-up teams are confident but humble. They know what they don’t know and ask for help or insight. That’s a strength, not a weakness. You need to be comfortable not being the expert in every area, but rolling up your sleeves, learning, and experimenting.

BK: What’s different today than a few years ago?

JP: Trust and relationships are everything. Patients have more information than ever. The HCP-patient relationship is evolving, and the trust and power dynamics are shifting quickly, especially with AI. AI might handle more diagnostic tasks, which might shift how you find patients. 

First-time launchers have an opportunity to explore new engagement models as part of their go-to-market plan. They aren’t tied to legacy approaches, which gives them a unique ability to innovate.

BK: Which taps into our strengths as a strategy team.

JP: We can help clients focus on what matters and catch a glimpse of the future. We bring in intelligence, synthesize it, and help them navigate the chaos.

Follow us for more Difference-Making Strategy conversations. To find out more about this topic or how Klick can help you redefine your strategies, contact Brian and his team today.