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In this episode, Chris McAuliffe, CEO of Theragen, shares his extensive journey in the medical device industry with a focus on non-invasive spine fusion. He recounts his personal experience as a patient undergoing spinal fusion surgery and how it has influenced his work and product design. The discussion covers the challenges of spinal fusion, the role of non-invasive electrical stimulation in patient recovery, and the importance of VIP customer service in healthcare. Chris's insights highlight the importance of understanding the end user experience, ensuring patient compliance, and leveraging data for enhanced patient outcomes.

00:00 Introduction and Guest Overview
02:25 Chris McAuliffe's Journey in Medical Devices
03:18 The Fascination with Electrical Stimulation
09:10 Understanding Non-Invasive Spine Fusion
15:06 Chris's Personal Experience with Spine Surgery
20:42 Post-Operative Challenges and Insights
30:17 Theragen's ActaStim-S Device
32:31 Mission and Product Overview
33:35 Challenges of Patient Compliance
35:25 Innovative Features of the Device
37:22 Data and Patient Engagement
41:22 Big Data and Machine Learning in Healthcare
51:54 VIP Customer Care Philosophy
54:16 Customer Testimonials and Impact
01:00:20 Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Links from this episode:

• Chris McAuliffe LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcmcauliffe/
• Theragen  https://actastim.com/

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Connect with Mastering Medical Device:

• Website: https://www.masteringmedicaldevice.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mastering-medical-device
• Patrick Kothe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-kothe
• Patrick Kothe Twitter: https://twitter.com/patrickkothe

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In this episode, we dive into the essentials of branding with expert Howie Chan, founder of Healthy Brand Consulting. The discussion covers the critical role of understanding and managing one's brand, both for companies and individuals. Howie shares insights from his journey from biomedical engineering to branding, offers practical advice for building and differentiating a brand, and highlights the importance of company values and leadership in navigating external events. Whether you're responsible for your company's brand or interested in personal branding, this episode provides valuable lessons on aligning brand strategy with business goals and values.

00:00 Introduction to Branding and Guest Speaker
02:28 Howie Chan's Journey from Biomedical Engineering to Branding
04:10 Field Experience and Transition to Marketing
09:06 Understanding and Managing a Brand
12:40 Brand Differentiation and Value
16:50 Challenges in Brand Management
23:00 Branding in the Medical Device Industry
31:02 Navigating Social Issues in the Marketplace
32:36 The Importance of Self-Awareness for Companies
33:37 Aligning Company Actions with Core Values
34:52 The Cost of Silence vs. Taking a Stand
35:33 Timeliness and Crisis Communication
36:56 Personal Beliefs vs. Company Beliefs
43:10 The Role of Leadership in Decision Making
48:05 Applying Company Branding Lessons to Personal Branding
53:35 Howie’s Insights on Branding and Consulting
57:12 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

Links from this episode:

• Howie Chan LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/howiechaniam/
• HealthyBrand Consulting  https://www.healthybrandconsulting.com/

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Connect with Mastering Medical Device:

• Website: https://www.masteringmedicaldevice.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mastering-medical-device
• Patrick Kothe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-kothe
• Patrick Kothe Twitter: https://twitter.com/patrickkothe

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In this episode, the discussion centers around the crucial role of advisory boards in guiding company strategies, product development, and business initiatives within the medical device sector. Featuring insights from Paul Hickey, CEO of ReShape Life Sciences, the conversation delves into best practices for forming and managing advisory boards, emphasizing the importance of team involvement and maintaining high-quality standards. Paul shares his extensive career journey across different companies, detailing how advisory boards have provided key insights and contributed to successful product innovations. The episode also explores the fight against obesity and how ReShape is working to deliver effective solutions. Key takeaways include the strategic formation of advisory boards, the need for cross-functional collaboration, and the pursuit of unarticulated customer needs for innovation.

00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Advisory Boards
01:15 Meet Paul Hickey: Career Journey and Insights
02:17 Transitioning from Aerospace to Medical Devices
09:41 The Importance of Quality in Medical Devices
17:17 Forming and Managing Effective Advisory Boards
40:06 Reshape Life Sciences: Tackling Obesity
47:13 Career Advice and Final Thoughts

Links from this episode:

• Paul Hickey LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-f-h-4955a78/
• ReShape Lifesciences  https://www.reshapelifesciences.com/

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Connect with Mastering Medical Device:

• Website: https://www.masteringmedicaldevice.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mastering-medical-device
• Patrick Kothe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-kothe
• Patrick Kothe Twitter: https://twitter.com/patrickkothe

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Joe Steele is Head of Commercialization at Hemosonics, where they are providing point-of-care solutions to help clinicians make more informed decisions on blood product usage.   In this episode Joe shares  why moving up the ladder too fast may not be the best way to go, why experiencing failure will help in the long-run, how to use wisdom from past experiences and apply it to new situations, the challenges of hiring, training and managing a group of hard-charging people, getting into the C suite, and how Hemosonics is helping doctors make blood product usage decisions quicker and better.

Links from this episode:

• Joe Steele LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/janthonysteele/
• Hemosonics  https://hemosonics.com/

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Connect with Mastering Medical Device:

• Website: https://www.masteringmedicaldevice.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mastering-medical-device
• Patrick Kothe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-kothe
• Patrick Kothe Twitter: https://twitter.com/patrickkothe

Support the show for as little as $3/month: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1286645/support

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Stuart Simpson is CEO of Think Surgical. During his stellar 24-year career at Stryker he led an orthopedic industry transformation that established surgical robotic joint replacement as a standard of care, beginning with the acquisition of Mako Surgical in 2013. In this episode he shares  his roots in medical device and how orthopedics became his passion, how competition is deeply imbedded in him, the challenges surgeons and hospitals face with the proliferation of robotics in the OR, how Think Surgical is trying to solve clinical, logistical and monetary issues, and his thoughts on how you can become a stronger leader.

Links from this episode:

• Stuart Simpson LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-f-simpson/
• Think Surgical  https://thinksurgical.com/

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Connect with Mastering Medical Device:

• Website: https://www.masteringmedicaldevice.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mastering-medical-device
• Patrick Kothe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-kothe
• Patrick Kothe Twitter: https://twitter.com/patrickkothe

Support the show for as little as $3/month: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1286645/support

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Dave Rosa is CEO of NeuroOne Medical Technologies, a company that has developed high-definition, minimally invasive diagnostic and treatment devices based on a unique thin film electrode technology, with an initial focus on epilepsy and the fast-growing neurostimulation market. In this episode he shares some times when tough feedback helped him grow as a leader, why taking the stretch assignment was the better choice, structuring a marketing group, key criteria when evaluating distribution options in a start-up company, and how NeuroOne is providing technology helpful to patients and clinicians.

Links from this episode:

• Dave Rosa LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/daverosa/
• NeuroOne Medical Technologies  https://nmtc1.com/

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Connect with Mastering Medical Device:

• Website: https://www.masteringmedicaldevice.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mastering-medical-device
• Patrick Kothe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-kothe
• Patrick Kothe Twitter: https://twitter.com/patrickkothe

Support the show for as little as $3/month: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1286645/support

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Ken Riordan, Regulatory Affairs Project Manager at Telos Partners, brings a unique but essential perspective to his clients having worked in both the public and private sector. He was a lead reviewer for the FDA where he conducted scientific and engineering reviews of pre-market applications for cardiovascular devices. Ken’s broad experience in the private sector with Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Philips Respironics and others enables him to apply creative and effective solutions to his clients.  In this episode Ken shares what it was like to work at FDA, how reviewers are chosen, how collaboration within the agency works, what you should know about the three new Guidance’s on the 510(k) process that were recently released, and how Telos Partners helps medical device companies.

Links from this episode:

• Ken Riordan LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ken-riordan/
• Telos Partners  https://www.telospartnersllc.com/

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Connect with Mastering Medical Device:

• Website: https://www.masteringmedicaldevice.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mastering-medical-device
• Patrick Kothe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-kothe
• Patrick Kothe Twitter: https://twitter.com/patrickkothe

Support the show for as little as $3/month: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1286645/support

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Scott Wolf, MD is the Founder & Chief Medical Officer of Aerin Medical, where they are providing products to bring relief from nasal airway obstruction and chronic rhinitis. Scott is a prolific medical device entrepreneur across a broad range of therapeutic areas, and has also been a venture capitalist. In this episode we discuss how he identifies ideas, what criteria he uses to select ideas to work on, how VC’s evaluate opportunities, what entrepreneurs should know before they meet with investors, the problems Aerin is addressing, and how they are serving the ENT community.

Links from this episode:

• Scott Wolf, MD LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjwolf/
• Aerin Medical  https://aerinmedical.com/

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Connect with Mastering Medical Device:

• Website: https://www.masteringmedicaldevice.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mastering-medical-device
• Patrick Kothe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-kothe
• Patrick Kothe Twitter: https://twitter.com/patrickkothe

Support the show for as little as $3/month: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1286645/support

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Rollie Calrson is the CEO of Immunexpress, a company that is pioneering technology that can rapidly detect sepsis. Rollie contributed to the success of Abbott Laboratories for 20 years, starting off in R&D, then transitioning to leadership positions in global businesses and start-up ventures. His attraction to start-ups led him to become CEO of Asuragen and then WaferGen Biosystems. In this episode we discuss how he prepared for new opportunities, the benefits of extreme ownership, balancing company vision and mission, alignment of everyone in a company, why sepsis is such a big problem, and what Immunexpress is doing to help clinicians better manage sepsis patients.  

Links from this episode:

• Rollie Carlson LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rollie-carlson-ph-d-059074a/
• Immunexpress  https://immunexpress.com/

Support the show

Connect with Mastering Medical Device:

• Website: https://www.masteringmedicaldevice.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mastering-medical-device
• Patrick Kothe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-kothe
• Patrick Kothe Twitter: https://twitter.com/patrickkothe

Support the show for as little as $3/month: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1286645/support

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Weronika Michaluk is Digital Health Principal and SaMD Lead at HTD Health, a company dedicated to planning, designing and developing custom healthcare software. Weronika is an experienced professional with a diverse background in the fields of biomedical engineering, international business, and public health. In this episode she shares the differences between the waterfall and agile methodologies, what sprints and scrums are, controlling scope creep, working with a company that does not have agile experience, assuring regulatory compliance, and the tools and tech stack that are used in today’s software development environment. 

Links from this episode:

• Weronika Michaluk LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/weronika-michaluk-mba-43811698
• HTD Health  https://htdhealth.com

Support the show

Connect with Mastering Medical Device:

• Website: https://www.masteringmedicaldevice.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mastering-medical-device
• Patrick Kothe LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-kothe
• Patrick Kothe Twitter: https://twitter.com/patrickkothe

Support the show for as little as $3/month: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1286645/support

Thanks for listening!