Most SaaS founders assume the hardest part of launching a product is building it. For Jessica Maslin, co-founder and president of Mieron, building the world’s first VR neurotherapy program was only the first hurdle. The bigger challenge? Positioning it so healthcare providers — most of whom had never even tried VR — could see it as an essential part of patient care.
Lesson 1: Meet the Buyer in Their Language, Not Yours
Jessica knew early that VR came with a communication gap. Developers and gamers understood latency, tracking, and immersion — but hospital administrators spoke in billing codes, patient outcomes, and compliance.
Instead of leading with technical specs, Mieron’s pitch framed the platform as:
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A therapeutic tool like the Lokomat or Bosu ball, not a gadget.
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A pain management solution at a time when opioid alternatives are a national priority.
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A measurable outcomes driver, with analytics providers could plug directly into patient charts.
Marketing takeaway: If you want adoption, especially in complex industries, translate your SaaS into the mental model your buyers already use.
Lesson 2: Web Design Must Overcome “You Have to Try It” Syndrome
Selling VR is notoriously difficult without a headset demo. Mieron couldn’t rely on trade shows or in-hospital visits during COVID, so they redesigned their web presence to:
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Use video and motion graphics to simulate the in-headset experience.
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Showcase real patient stories — like a 5-year-old spinal stroke survivor crawling joyfully during therapy.
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Provide clear, segmented buyer journeys — one path for enterprise healthcare decision-makers, another for patient advocates and rehab centers.
Web strategy takeaway: When buyers can’t touch the product, your site has to bridge the experience gap through storytelling, visuals, and buyer-specific flows.
Lesson 3: Buyer Intelligence Shapes the Roadmap
Early facility feedback revealed what mattered most:
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Sessions had to be short, easy to set up, and fit into existing therapy schedules.
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The content library needed variety by mobility level, from head-and-neck exercises to full gait training.
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Data capture had to be EHR-friendly for seamless provider adoption.
By filtering feature requests through the “does this increase adoption?” lens, Mieron avoided over-engineering and focused on high-impact use cases.
Retention takeaway: For SaaS in niche markets, retention starts with building exactly what the buyer needs to implement today — not chasing flashy features.
Lesson 4: Positioning the Brand for Enterprise Buyers
Early branding was heavily experiential — a fit for consumer VR. But selling into hospital networks, outpatient rehab programs, and insurance partners required a shift:
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More clinical imagery alongside human stories.
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Language that emphasized compliance, safety, and evidence-based outcomes.
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Case studies that showed ROI for providers, not just improved patient morale.
Brand positioning takeaway: In B2B SaaS, especially healthtech, your branding must reassure buyers that you’re a reliable, standards-compliant partner — not just an innovative product.
Lesson 5: Adapt the Go-to-Market When the Market Changes
Mieron entered 2020 ready to push a consumer rehab product. Then COVID shut down in-person therapy. Instead of waiting it out, Jessica’s team:
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Analyzed the Cares Act and found new telehealth billing codes for physical and occupational therapy.
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Built a telehealth-ready VR kit so therapists could guide patients remotely.
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Launched a 20-day mental wellness program to address pandemic-driven isolation and burnout.
GTM takeaway: Buyer intelligence isn’t just for product decisions — it can reveal entirely new sales channels when market conditions shift.
The Buyer-Centric Playbook from Mieron
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Translate the tech into the buyer’s language.
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Design your web experience to simulate product use.
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Prioritize features that make adoption easy today.
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Position your brand for the decision-maker’s trust.
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Pivot GTM strategy when external factors change the buying environment.
Why this matters for SaaS founders: Jessica’s story proves that even breakthrough products fail without buyer-centric positioning. By aligning Mieron’s web design, marketing, and sales strategy to how healthcare buyers think, she turned an emerging technology into an adopted therapy tool used in facilities around the world.