When COVID-19 hit New York City in March 2020, Marcel Botha and a small consortium built a low-cost ventilator — SpiraWave — in just 30 days, shipping 3,000 units to the city. Marcel and Yaniv talk about compressing 18 months of product development into one month, and the philosophy behind building products that are technically bold and commercially viable.

About Marcel Botha

Marcel Botha is an entrepreneur, engineer, architect, and investor. Through his firm 10X Beta, he has helped medical professionals develop and commercialize products ranging from electronic stethoscopes to surgical instruments. He holds a master’s from MIT’s Media Lab.

What We Cover

• Marcel’s path from architecture in Cape Town to MIT’s Media Lab
• The product development philosophy behind 10X Beta
• How Marcel selects which ideas to pursue — and which to pass on
• Building a ventilator in 30 days during COVID
• Why if you can’t ship at scale, your contribution doesn’t count

Timestamps

(00:00) The satellite phone call that changed everything
(03:00) From Cape Town to MIT
(14:00) Idea selection at 10X Beta
(18:00) Validose: an intranasal drug delivery device
(23:00) The SpiraWave ventilator project
(33:00) Shipping 3,000 units: why scale matters

Key Takeaways

1. Overnight success takes 10–15 years. SpiraWave was built in 30 days because the team had decades of shared experience.
2. If you can’t ship at scale, your contribution doesn’t matter. Delivering 3,000 units is the actual achievement.
3. Build wrappers, not replacements. Validose wraps existing drug packaging — that’s how you bypass IP barriers and reach market faster.

Resources & Links Mentioned

• 10X Beta
• SpiraWave / SpiroDevices
• New Lab

Where to Find Marcel Botha

Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/marcelbotha

Where to Find Yaniv Corem

Link in bio: sleek.bio/yanivcorem
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yanivcorem

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