Hobnobbing with Arden Tomison from Thalamos

So, what does Thalamos do?

Thalamos exists to solve the digital challenges facing mental healthcare. Our first solution is a secure cloud hosted Electronic Health Record system which Psychiatrists can use in the field.

What’s behind the business idea?

A number of my family and friends are either psychiatrists or involved in the treatment of mental ill-health in some way or another. For years I’ve been listening to their frustrations about the lack of technology solutions and the knock on affect this has on patients.

With suicide now the biggest killer of men under 50 and mental health representing one of the greatest health challenges of our generation we thought we’d act.

Was it hard becoming a business owner?

It did feel like a big decision, but it was the obvious one. It’s certainly hard but I believe we’re doing entirely the right thing which makes overcoming challenges considerably less daunting.

How did you recruit your employees?

It starts with speaking with your own network. My background is in executive search so this element I didn’t find particularly challenging. LinkedIn was a big help.

Was there a breakthrough moment?

We’re still super early stage but there have been a few. Raising our first investment was the first vote of confidence in our concept. On-boarding our steering group however was better still. Our focus is to empower doctors to improve outcomes, to do this properly we need the guidance from our customers as to what they need.

How is the company doing?

Pressing forward. We have some very clear and ambitions goals which we’re working towards. The current fundraise is key but it’s progressing well so we’re happy.

Do you have any regrets? If so how did you over come them?

Early on there was one fairly significant “learning experience”. It was an error of judgement which cost a lot of money. I’ve reflected on this a lot, less so the outcome because that’s now unchangeable but rather the decision process leading up to it. This reflection has led me to augment the non-executive & advisory team with specialist skill sets who can advise in variety of different situations. With this team now in place I’m confident we won’t make that mistake again. I’m sure there will be others we do make though…

What makes you stand out from your competitors?

In the 12 months since we got going we’ve yet to come across anyone doing the same as us. Our biggest competitor is inertia, clinicians hesitant to change. We stand out because we represent a technological solution to what was hitherto a paper process.

What is your definition of a positive customer experience?

A Doctor is able to deliver better more effective care to their patient.

You’re currently reaching out for investors, what do you plan to do when you have raised this funding?

Product, product, product. Developing software is expensive. Developing medical software even more so. We have our development partners ready yo go, the investment is to bring the next phase of the product to life. We are launching on 1^st July 2019 so all product focus is on hitting that deadline.

If you could help a business now with a single piece of advice, what would it be?

Ask for advice. People do want to help you but the best advice is not offered freely it’s requested specifically.

Finally, Arden what is your favourite biscuit?!

Hands down the chocolate HobNob!