Dusty Lieb, managing partner and head of investments, Echo Health Ventures, is one of our Top 50 Emerging Leaders in corporate venturing for 2024.
As managing partner and head of investments, Dusty Lieb oversees the complete portfolio of investments and manages the strategic investment team at Echo Health Ventures. He joined Echo at its formation, having previously been with Cambia Health Solutions. Cambia is one of Echo’s four members, which also include Mosaic Health Solutions, USAble Corporation and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
Even before joining Cambia 12 years ago, Lieb was drawn to the impact that could be achieved by tying together the investment world with the corporate world. He recognised the need to connect the innovation economy with the large incumbents in healthcare. To that end, Lieb says: “I find the most exciting successes that we have are when we can help drive acceleration of business models and acceleration of commercialisation in the portfolio companies that we invest in through
creating that connective layer.”
“Invest in the relationships with the people who are driving the strategy and the operations, because your success is interconnected with theirs.”
Rob Coppedge, chief executive of Echo Health Ventures, lauds Lieb’s “strong transaction and financial background that he draws on for Echo diligence. Dusty has led innovative investments simplifying healthcare payments, enabling the market shift to care in the home, and the shift to a shared-risk healthcare environment.”
Lieb describes working to solve the unmet needs in the ecosystem as they relate to behavioural health, a trend that accelerated during the covid-19 pandemic and led to today’s supply-demand imbalance. Another focus includes investing heavily in value-based care initiatives that align with the interests of the healthcare members and providers.
For those entering the corporate venturing space, Lieb recommends spending “a lot of time deeply understanding the organisations that you are investing on behalf of, and deeply investing in the relationships with the people who are driving the strategy and the operations, because your success is interconnected with theirs.”
