From Clinician to Founder: The 4-Step Framework You Need to Know

Introduction

If you're a clinician with a vision, an itch to solve a problem you keep seeing in healthcare, and a desire to build something of your own—you're not alone. More and more doctors, GPs, surgeons, and specialists are transitioning from clinical work to building purpose-led ventures. But many get stuck at the starting line, unsure of how to turn ideas into action.

That’s why I want to share one of my favourite frameworks with you: the Double Diamond approach from the UK Design Council. I use it in the emergency department, in quality improvement projects, and in my work with coaching clients.

It’s a simple, powerful model that can help you move from idea to impact, and from clinician to founder.

The Double Diamond: A Clinician Founder’s Map

The Double Diamond model is split into four phases, grouped into two big sections:

1. Problem Space

2. Solution Space

   
   

   

   
   

Each section includes a stage of divergent thinking (expanding your options), followed by convergent thinking (narrowing down to a single focus).

Let me walk you through each phase, and how to apply it to your own founder journey.

Phase 1: Explore the Problems You Could Solve (Diverge)

Start by exploring your past.

The problems you’ve already solved for yourself—whether that’s passing the PLABs, transitioning to the UK system, getting into training, launching your first QI project, or coaching others—hold the clues to your niche.

Make a list of challenges you’ve overcome. That list becomes your first diamond: a wide array of possible problems to solve.

Ask:

• What did past versions of me struggle with?

• What do people keep asking me for help with?

• What feels personally meaningful to work on?

This is your opportunity to get broad before you go deep.

Phase 2: Choose the Right Problem to Focus On (Converge)

Now it's time to converge. You need to pick one problem worth building around.

You can use:

• Market research (surveys, DMs, calls)

• Alignment checks (values, vision, skill set)

• The Ikigai model (what you love, are good at, can be paid for, and the world needs)

I recommend scoring each idea on things like:

• Do I enjoy working on this?

• Do people want and pay for this?

• Is this aligned with the change I want to create?

Score each from 1–5, total it up, and pick the one that ranks highest. That becomes your problem statement.

Remember: You’re not picking a forever problem. You’re picking your first problem to build traction.

Phase 3: Explore All the Possible Solutions (Diverge Again)

Once you’ve chosen a problem, ask: What are all the ways I could solve this?

For example:

• A book

• A course

• A workshop

• A 1:1 coaching offer

• A group program

• A software tool

• A content platform

Brainstorm. Go wide.

Then ask: Which of these gets me excited? Which have others shown interest in?

This phase is about mapping the landscape of possibility.

Phase 4: Choose One Solution and Build Your MVP (Converge Again)

Here’s where it gets real. You pick the one solution that makes the most sense to test first.

Use:

• Feedback from your network

• Early user conversations

• Your own energy and excitement

Then: Build a simple version of it.

Your goal isn’t perfection. It’s a minimum viable product (MVP):

• One person

• One problem

• One product

Launch. Test. Improve. Iterate.

Final Thoughts: This Is How Clinician Founders Start

Every founder I work with goes through this messy middle. They have too many ideas, too many directions, and not enough clarity.

The Double Diamond helps you:

• Clarify what matters

• Focus on what works

• Build something real

Whether you want to start a coaching business, build a digital product, or launch your own clinic—this is how you start with clarity.

Need help applying this to your own ideas?Take the quiz: coachwithshub.com/quiz

About the Author

Dr. Shubhendu Kulshreshtha is an emergency medicine doctor, executive coach, and founder of The Clinician Founder Podcast. He helps clinicians turn their ideas into impactful, income-generating ventures—without quitting medicine. Through frameworks like the Double Diamond and his signature Clinician Ladder, he guides doctors from feeling stuck to building with clarity, confidence, and traction.