In this episode, we sat down with Kara Egan, founder and CEO of Teal Health.

Teal Health is the company behind the first FDA-authorized at-home cervical cancer screening wand.

Before founding Teal, Kara worked in healthcare and software investing at .406 Ventures and Emergence Capital, and held product and marketing roles at Zendesk and Stitch Labs.  

In this interview, Kara discusses building support and follow-up into at-home screening, how Teal expanded its comparative clinical study to support broader market adoption, and how healthcare incentives, reimbursement, and institutional trust shape new care models.

KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

In this episode, we sat down with Karthik Ganesh, CEO of OnMed.

OnMed is the healthcare technology company behind OnMed CareStation, a “Clinic-in-a-Box” designed to expand access to primary and urgent care. 

Before OnMed, Karthik served as CEO of EmpiRx Health, leading the company through rapid growth and a successful private equity transaction in 2021. Throughout his career, he’s held leadership roles at QualCare, CareAllies, and Aetna, and advised healthcare organizations through Deloitte and EY.

In this interview, Karthik discusses why hybrid care models still require a human touch, how enterprise healthcare buyers evaluate value propositions differently, why brand and culture should shape execution early, and how operating under constraints can sharpen innovation.

KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

In this episode, we sat down with Dr. Connie Lehman, founder and CEO of Clairity.

Clairity is the first FDA-authorized AI platform that predicts a woman's five-year risk of developing breast cancer using only a routine screening mammogram.

A physician scientist with over 300 peer-reviewed publications, Connie is a Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School and Breast Imaging Specialist at Massachusetts General Brigham (on leave). She holds an MD and PhD from Yale and was named to Forbes' 50 Over 50 Innovators and TIME 100 World’s Most Influential Leaders in Health.

In this interview, Connie discusses her experience translating academic research into a commercially viable startup, the massive undertaking of generating clinical evidence when you’re creating a new category, and how Clairity is approaching adoption on two fronts: fitting into physician workflows and building access pathways for patients.

KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

In this episode, we sat down with Antony Odell, co-founder and CEO of Echopoint Medical.

Echopoint is a London-based UCL spinout developing iKOr, an optical microcatheter for coronary diagnostics.

Antony brings over 30 years of medtech experience across Johnson & Johnson, Fresenius, and Stryker, before transitioning into startups as CEO of Tayside Flow Technologies and Tissue Regenix. He holds a BSc in Physiology and Biochemistry.

In this interview, Antony discusses translating academic IP into a commercial device, choosing early clinical sites to balance speed and learning, managing non-dilutive funding as a long-term discipline, and outlines the most important responsibilities of an early-stage medtech CEO.

KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

In this episode, we sat down with Kurt Jacobus, co-founder and CEO of restor3d.

restor3d provides patient-specific orthopedic implants using 3D printing and advanced software.

Kurt has over two decades of experience in medtech entrepreneurship, including successful exits to Enovis and NuVasive. Prior to his career in medical devices, Kurt was a consultant at McKinsey & Company. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and is an Adjunct Professor at Georgia Tech. 

In this interview, Kurt discusses how restor3d used the FDA's 520(b) pathway to generate revenue and regulatory proof simultaneously, why self-regulating beyond FDA requirements makes submissions a competitive barrier, and how to approach investor relationships and board construction with long-term thinking.

KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

In this episode, we sat down with Alfred Griffin, co-founder and CEO of LightForce.

LightForce is the developer of the world's first fully customized 3D-printed bracket system directly personalized for each patient's digital treatment plan.

Alfred holds a DMD and PhD in Craniofacial Biology from the Medical University of South Carolina and completed his orthodontic residency at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, where he currently serves as faculty and the Board of Fellows. An ABO-certified practicing orthodontist, he continues to see patients every month while running the company.

In this interview, Alfred shares how applying existing technology to an overlooked market can unlock a larger opportunity, how adoption friction is a design problem, and why scaling a new category requires treating operations as a core product investment.

KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

In this episode, we sat down with Laura Yecies, CEO of Osteoboost.

Osteoboost is the first FDA-cleared drug-free prescription treatment for osteopenia in postmenopausal women.

Laura brings over 30 years of experience across technology, digital health, and medical innovation, with a focus on overlooked gaps in women's health. She previously served as CEO of SugarSync (acquired by J2 Global), Catchsold (sold to Apple), and Neurosync, a neurotechnology company. 

In this interview, Laura discusses why choosing a Class II prescription path creates a regulatory moat, how designing for daily comfort and a frictionless experience drives commercialization, and how channeling early patient demand turned a waitlist into a launch strategy.

KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

In this episode, we sat down with Stephen Belcher, co-founder and CEO of Secure Closure.

Secure Closure is developing Quattro-Close, a device designed for large-bore femoral access sites.

Trained as a veterinarian, Stephen has spent more than 25 years in the medical device industry, with deep experience in vascular access and closure technologies. He previously held commercial and marketing roles at Abbott Vascular, Edwards Lifesciences, and Teleflex, where he was involved in launching key closure devices, including ProGlide, StarClose, SAPIEN 3, and MANTA.

In this interview, Stephen discusses what actually drives physician adoption in high-stakes procedural fields, how real-world clinical and patient challenges should shape device design decisions, and what early-stage fundraising looks like when traditional medtech VCs are increasingly committing capital at later stages.

KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

In this episode, we sat down with Daniel Estay, founder and CEO of SonoVascular.

SonoVascular has developed a novel mechanical-pharmaco ultrasound facilitated thrombectomy system, SonoThrombectomy, that utilizes microbubble-mediated cavitation as a core enabling mechanism to remove blood clots more effectively.

Dan has over 35 years of global medtech experience, including business development roles at Johnson & Johnson, where he worked on deals that helped create the world's first drug-eluting stent, and six years leading Abbott's cardiovascular device business across Asia-Pacific and Japan. He also serves as a Mentor-in-Residence at Duke University's New Ventures group.

In this interview, Dan discusses how to evaluate whether a medtech opportunity is commercially viable beyond technical feasibility, how trust and long-standing relationships matter more than geography when selecting first-in-human sites, and why cap table strategy requires deliberate thinking from the earliest stages — including when to transition from convertible notes to priced rounds.

KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW

In this episode, we sat down with Matthias Hofmann, CEO of Eyebot.

Eyebot is commercializing retail kiosks that deliver quick, efficient vision testing.

Before Eyebot, Matthias led product development at Formlabs and served as an R&D lead at EyeNetra, where he helped bring the first smartphone-based vision test to market. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering with graduate work in vision science and optics. 

In this interview, Matthias discusses how early missteps informed Eyebot's strategy, how he proved demand before raising capital, and how iterative clinical studies established commercial credibility — along with his unconventional advice on fundraising.

KEY MOMENTS FROM THE INTERVIEW