The Doctor Manager software, developed by François Weiss, fills key digitalization gaps in the medical sector for specialists.
By his own admission, François Weiss—son of a surgeon—seemed destined for a medical career. Until, to everyone’s surprise, he enrolled at Solvay Business School. “I didn’t want the constraints my father had to deal with as a regulated healthcare professional,” he explains. He also confesses to an early entrepreneurial streak: “I’ve always worked. I tutored math and coached sports, then started coding websites for friends. I launched my first business during my third year at Solvay.”
Back to his roots
After graduation, François reconnected with medicine by co-developing ‘Surgery Manager’ with his father, a first version of a medical software tool for specialists. “According to French statistics, two-thirds of doctors experience burnout,” he says. “Doctors are twice as likely to suffer from burnout as the general population, and that number hasn’t changed in 15 years despite digitalization.” Specialists are particularly underserved. “Digitalization efforts mainly targeted GPs—the frontline—for political and budgetary reasons. The tools were built around administrative constraints, not actual physician needs, and certainly not specialists. We wanted to give them back their freedom, so they could focus solely on their patients.”
A second version
The challenge was steep. “We weren’t growing as fast as we wanted,” François admits. “Our software lacked flexibility and we made idealistic tech choices that led us to focus too much on external infrastructure instead of helping doctors concretely.” In 2021, a tough decision was made: start from scratch. “Our investors, including the Brussels Region, were surprised but supportive. We didn’t raise new funds but took out loans to preserve our team and business. I warned my wife it would be hard. It turned out even harder than expected…”
Listening to doctors
Doctor Manager’s strength? “We don’t claim to be the best. But there’s one thing we do really well: listening to doctors and translating their needs into a coherent solution. Our tools automate consultations. The doctor trains the software, and it takes care of the rest, so the doctor can focus on the patient.”
On the road to success
Since early 2025, Doctor Manager is finally certified for connected services like e-prescriptions. The next goal: expand to all specialties with quality as a priority. “Doctors entrust us with sensitive medical data. We must offer the best solution and never let them down.” Results speak for themselves: “Around 300 out of 6,000 eligible specialists in Belgium now use Doctor Manager. We generate €600,000 in annual recurring revenue and aim for €900,000 by year’s end. With 5% monthly organic growth, our ambition now knows no limits.”
The flip side of entrepreneurship
Yet François remains clear-eyed. “The term startup sounds cool and the media loves success stories, but people only see the tip of the iceberg. They don’t see the personal sacrifices, sleepless nights, or difficult choices. People assume we’re motivated by money, but it’s the opposite. If I wanted money, I’d have joined a big consultancy firm. Measuring a startup’s success by how many millions it raises is absurd. Raising funds is a useful tool—but it’s not the goal. It’s a springboard. It brings pressure from investors who want results. And if you’re young and inexperienced, it can be a trap. We were lucky to have kind, supportive investors. But in the long run, the best success is a startup that builds a viable business model on its own. That’s the hardest, but most meaningful kind of success.”
Ode to Brussels and lifetech.brussels
For this Brussels native, working with local support structures—especially the lifetech cluster—was a natural choice. He mentions his participation in an economic mission to Morocco in early 2024 and the valuable support received ahead of the Startup Awards final. “I plan to spend more time with the cluster team to develop our ideas and benefit from their network and proactive mindset.”
François sees only positives in Brussels: “It’s a fantastic, central city, close to everything, with a train to the airport and Eurostar to Paris. It’s very comfortable, full of brilliant people, successful companies, culture, and endless discoveries, even if you’ve lived here forever. Hiring here is easy. In our company culture—time, ambition, share, care—‘time’ comes first. Every minute not spent helping doctors is a wasted one. Brussels is one of the best cities for that.”
