🔑 From pro breakdancer to Oxford EIR | Benny Axt

Today, in 10 minutes or less, you’ll learn:

• 🕺 How a former pro breakdancer pivoted into healthcare and built a 6-continent career
• 🎯 The exact steps he took to turn organic conversations into board advisory roles
• 💼 How he structures his consulting deals that work for both cash flow and equity upside

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🌍️ From pro breakdancer to Oxford EIR | Benny Axt

Since starting this newsletter, I’ve been proud of featuring stories of amazing portfolio careers across tech, finance, and health.

This time, I’m excited to spotlight Benny Axt, a healthcare leader who has led an adventurous, impactful global career—while building an impressive portfolio of board advisory and consulting clients.

Benny and I connected as Dartmouth alums and expats (naturally diving into the fun world of international taxes 😂)

One fun fact from our chat:

He had a 1-year stint as a professional breakdancer in South Korea before he launched his career in health care!

In the past few weeks, I’ve been gently nudging him to come and share his story with our Portfolio Path readership.

I’m very happy that we finally roped him in - just in time to announce this feature in lockstep with him launching his next chapter at Oxford.

Without further ado, here is Benny:

Benny Axt is an Entrepreneur in Residence in the Health Tech team at Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), the largest university-affiliated investment company in the world. As a seasoned healthcare strategist, operator, and corporate development leader, he has spent over 15 years building health care businesses across 6 continents.

His experience experience includes scaling venture-backed start-ups, leading strategic turnarounds, guiding international expansion strategies, and supporting IPOs. In addition to his role in venture capital, he serves as a board advisor and healthcare consultant to leaders who seek guidance with healthcare strategy, operations, project and program management, and international expansion.

You’ve had 15 years of experience building healthcare businesses across 6 continents. How did you first get into health care, then grow your career?

I spent half a dozen years working around the world after university—a year in Asia, one year in Africa, and several years in South America. After returning to the US, I pursued an international MBA to build a stronger professional toolkit around my disparate global business experience.

Before starting the MBA, I spoke with an alumnus of my b-school who ran a boutique consultancy. He offered me a position as a consultant in his firm. Many of our engagements focused on healthcare and life sciences—it helped that his dad was the head of infectious diseases at the Mayo Clinic.

When I finished the MBA, I was recruited to join the DaVita Redwoods MBA Leadership Program. Initially, I was an operator in the Bay Area.

In 2014, an opportunity arose to support DaVita's International CEO with a historic contract in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). As the Kingdom sought to privatize healthcare services, DaVita won the largest healthcare delivery tender on record, supporting half of the end-stage renal disease patient population.

I was one of the first expatriates on the ground and had a hand in building the infrastructure, services, and team to execute the contract. Our success in the Kingdom helped launch my global healthcare career, which has given me opportunities to work in healthcare systems on six continents.

In addition to being an entrepreneur and operator, you’re a board advisor and healthcare consultant. What was the key turning point that made you decide to pursue these opportunities?

I had a unique vantage point into the North American health tech ecosystem while working as the Vice President of Strategy for Dialogue Health Technologies Inc., one of the largest healthcare technology companies in Canada. In addition to strategy, I oversaw corporate development and innovation while supporting the CEO as Chief of Staff. I joined the company during the scale-up and was part of the 6-person leadership team.

This experience gave me a chance to connect with people across the health tech ecosystem such as investment bankers and healthtech CEOs. In many of my interactions, I heard consistent pain points that I had personal experience solving—such as how to guide international healthcare companies on US market entrance, challenges with innovation and product market fit, and cohesion among C-level teams.

Following these conversations, I often found myself sharing articles or posts that I had written on a certain topic. I would then be asked to structure a proposal to help provide support on the issue. The business development began organically and it quickly became clear that I should put more thought into establishing a more formal consulting practice.

What was the process like for getting your first board advisory positions?

My first board advisory role was the result of a relationship that I cultivated in a McKinsey forum attended by various healthcare leaders from around the world.

I formed a quick rapport with Mark Wien, the CEO of PocketPatientMD (PPMD). We spent time on the sidelines discussing Africa and the various opportunities and challenges he was facing to scale his digital platform in low- and middle-income countries. We had several conversations thereafter, which culminated in a board advisory arrangement.

One opportunity can serendipitously beget another. As part of my board work with PPMD, I cultivated a friendship with another PPMD board advisor who is a Gambian pulmonologist in West Texas. He plans to return to The Gambia in a few years and contacted me to help him think through development of a hospital and the launch of a medical education service line. The timing of his call came just before I started a Master program at Dartmouth. I pulled together a Dartmouth consulting team to provide support and was offered a board advisory position.

Another opportunity came through a word-of-mouth recommendation from a former colleague in Germany.

How did you structure your consulting offers at first? How about now?

When I began my consulting practice, I focused on a typical fee-based, cost-plus consulting model. I often asked for an upfront retainer and milestone-based payments throughout an engagement.

Board advisory work differs. My brother-in-law works at the Founder's Institute and I've always been a fan of their Founder / Advisor Standard Template (FAST Agreement) for structuring equity-based compensation. Over time, I've adopted a hybrid approach with cash and equity, though I tend to structure most consulting engagements with an approach that skews more heavily towards cash-based compensation.

Ultimately, I try to remain flexible and structure engagements in accordance with the needs of the CEOs that I serve.

Balancing multiple commitments is a challenge for many of our readers. Can you walk us through how you developed your consulting practice while still maintaining executive roles?

When I was pondering the launch of a consulting practice, I reached out to a mentor of mine in the UK who sits on various boards across the world. 

His responsibilities extended far beyond the corporation where he worked so I was curious about how he had structured an effective agreement which allowed him to take on external work. 

He opened my eyes to possibilities that I hadn’t considered, such as negotiating external consulting hours into an employment contract. Generally speaking, these conversations need to happen in advance of starting any new position with clearly aligned contractual covenants (e.g. non-competes, scope, hours, etc.).

I’m a naturally gregarious person and I strive to maintain relationships. For example, I have a personal goal to meet with 500 new people over the next year.  As a head nod to the book Your Network is Your Net Worth by Porter Gale, I’ve often found that second and third degree connections are most effective for surfacing opportunities.  

What advice would you give to senior professionals looking to build a portfolio of consulting and advising work like yours?

A few things to consider: 

1. It can take years to build a book of business so have patience when you launch and get creative about initial leads. For example, if you are just starting out, you can gain some experience providing your services via accelerators or entrepreneurship centers at different universities. These organizations may not be commercially lucrative out of the gate, but you will have a chance to hone your craft and build an initial book of business.  Serving as a mentor in these types of programs is also a wonderful way to meet entrepreneurs and develop some brand equity in your area of expertise.  
2. Social media is a critical vehicle for personal branding. My preferred medium is LinkedIn. I suggest starting with one channel and mastering that channel before taking a multi-pronged approach.
3. Never underestimate your value! Everyone has unique skills so know your value proposition and don’t sell yourself short on the tremendous gifts that you are bringing to the world.

Where can we go to learn more about you?

Please visit my websites: Bennyaxt.com and Heroesofcare.com.  As mentioned, I’ve got a goal to meet 500 new people this year so feel free to get in touch via email too.

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