Scott Nelson Live

In this episode, we’re chatting with Dr. Scott Wolf, a prolific medical device entrepreneur and investor who founded Aerin Medical to bring non-surgical therapies to patients with common nasal airway problems. 

Prior to founding Aerin Medical, Scott started Zeltiq Aesthetics, the maker of CoolSculpting. His other startups include Endogastric Solutions and Cardiac Dimensions, and he was a partner at Prospect Venture Partners as well as VP at Frazier Healthcare Ventures, both leading life science venture capital firms. Scott received his M.D. from George Washington University and his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

You won’t find many people with more hands-on medtech experience than Dr. Scott Wolf, and today he’s going to share his expertise with the Medsider community. In this interview, we’ll discuss Aerin’s technology, break down the advantages of cash-pay versus insurance reimbursement, and get Scott’s advice for would-be founders hoping to turn a great idea into a real prototype.

In this episode, we’re talking with Rohan Dixit, the Founder and CEO of Lief Therapeutics, which makes consumer- and clinical-grade wearable devices for mental health. 

Rohan is a neuroscientist who started his career as a researcher with Stanford and Harvard. Rohan founded BrainBot, his first company, at age 23. He’s been the CEO of Lief since 2015.

Today, Rohan’s going to break down how Lief started, and we’ll get into product development, how he approaches clinical research, why they initially launched their device as an over-the-counter consumer product, and many other topics related to medtech startups.

In this episode, we’re talking with Nadim Yared, the CEO of CVRx, a pioneer in neuromodulation for cardiovascular diseases. 

Nadim has been CEO for 15 years and led CVRx through some major pivots and incredible successes. Today, we’re going to discuss his journey with the company, including Nadim’s expertise on clinical trial strategy, startup funding, and working with FDA & CMS. 

But first, here’s a bit more about Nadim Yared and his background: 

Nadim holds two graduate degrees, and started his career with GE. After getting his MBA at INSEAD, he went on to run several business units for GE, then spent four years as the head of Medtronic’s Surgical Navigation division. Nadim was then recruited to take the helm at CVRx in 2006, and has been CEO ever since. 

In this episode, we’re talking with the CEO of Lungpacer Medical, Doug Evans. Lungpacer is developing a novel therapeutic solution that preserves the strength of the diaphragm muscle for critically-ill patients on mechanical ventilation.

Doug is also a board member of Intact Vascular, which was acquired by Philips, and the former COO of Kensey Nash. He’s a medtech veteran with decades of experience launching startups, developing products, working with payers & regulators, and commercializing novel technologies. Today, we’re going to discuss all these topics and hear more about Lungpacer’s impressive technology. But first, here’s a bit more about Doug Evans and his background:

Doug started his career at GE in business development and later joined Kensey Nash when it was just a startup with fewer than ten employees. As COO, he led Kensey’s growth to over 400 employees, across the span of 20 years, before they were acquired by Royal DSM. After that, Doug began working with other startups like Intact Vascular and TELA Bio.

Doug holds a master's degree in electrical engineering and photonics from Penn, as well as an MBA. He knows the medtech startup landscape better than just about anyone, and we’re grateful he’s sharing his perspective with the Medsider community.

We recently caught up with Renee Ryan, the CEO of Cala Health, a bioelectronic medicine company that’s focused on wearable neuromodulation therapies that deliver individualized peripheral nerve stimulation. Renee has 25 years of experience in healthcare as an executive and investor, and in this episode, she shares her expertise with the Medsider community. 

Renee will discuss some common mistakes that medtech startups make, and talk about what she looks for as an investor in early-stage companies. She shares tips on navigating the regulatory waters and obtaining insurance coverage & reimbursement. Renee also gives us some key learnings from her time at Johnson & Johnson, and talks about what’s new at Cala Health, including their recent FDA breakthrough device designation. 

But first, here’s a bit more on Renee’s background:

She has 25 years of experience in the healthcare space. Previously, Renee led the medical technology investments for Johnson & Johnson Innovation on the West Coast and Asia Pacific for 8 years. While at J&J, she made over 15 new investments, including the Series A for Cala Health. Prior to her time at J&J, she was a healthcare investment banker at RW Baird, Jefferies, and Goldman Sachs. Renee has a great eye for innovation, and we’re excited to welcome her to Medsider today. 

We recently caught up with medtech start-up extraordinaire, Mike Wallace, who shares his insights and experiences with the Medsider community. Mike is the co-founder and CEO of DeVoro Medical, an early-stage medical device company focused on developing innovative devices for peripheral thrombectomy.

Mike says the initial idea or concept for a medtech company is just 5% of the journey. Medsider is all about shining light on that other 95%!

In this conversation with Mike, he’ll give tips to newcomers, including some mistakes entrepreneurs often make in the early stages of their companies. Mike explains how you can pivot when an idea doesn’t pan out, and he’ll give his expertise on seed-stage fundraising as well as navigating the regulatory waters. Plus, more on his current work with DeVoro, including how he started working on problems related to peripheral thrombectomy.

But first, a bit more on Mike’s medtech background:

Prior to co-founding DeVoro Medical, Mike served as Chief Technical Officer and VP of Operations for Silk Road Medical. Mike has spent most of his professional career working for medical device start-ups, some of which include Target Therapeutics (acquired by Boston Scientific), BARRX Medical (acquired by Covidien), and Baxano (acquired by Trans1). In addition, Mike has co-founded and exited three other start-ups: TW Medical and GW Medical Neuro (both acquired by Stryker Corp) and CardioProlific (acquired by Philips). 

Mike graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware, holds a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Davis, and is the co-inventor or primary inventor on over 130 issued U.S. patents.

In this episode, we’re catching up with Bruce Shook, the President & CEO of Vesper Medical. Bruce is a medical device executive with more than 30 years of experience, and today, he’s sharing his insights with the Medsider community!

In this conversation, we’ll discuss key aspects of running a medtech company, from the early design and fundraising stages through an eventual sale and exit. Bruce shares his expertise on raising start-up capital, designing and prototyping products, navigating the regulatory landscape, and managing reimbursement and coverage strategies. 

But first, here’s a bit about Bruce Shook’s background:

Most recently, Bruce served as CEO of Intact Vascular, which sold to Philips. Prior to Intact Vascular and Vesper Medical, Bruce was co-founder, Director, President and CEO of Neuronetics, a publicly traded device company that markets a non-invasive brain stimulation technology for the treatment of depression.

Previously, he was co-founder, Director, President and CEO at Neuron Therapeutics, a venture-backed company developing a drug/device product for the treatment of CNS disorders. Bruce also served as President of Abiomed, where he obtained a PMA for the first ventricular assist device. Bruce also developed cardiac pacing and anti-arrhythmia products at Cordis Corporation.

Bruce holds advanced degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Business Administration from Columbia University and the MIT Sloan School of Management. He also earned a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Penn State University. 

In this episode,  we’re talking with Mike Kujak, the President & CEO of Francis Medical.

Mike breaks down Francis’ innovative new water vapor technologies, and provides some advice about developing the alpha & beta versions of a medtech product. We’ll also discuss how to navigate the early-stage regulatory environment, and hear Mike’s views on how best to plan & execute a clinical research strategy.

Then we’ll discuss fundraising strategies and ask Mike what’s next for Francis Medical as the company plans for its second-generation development program. 

But first, a bit more on Mike's background...

Most recently, Mike was the Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of International Markets for NxThera. Prior to that, he was the Vice President and General Manager of the Prostate Health business unit of American Medical Systems.

Mike received his MBA from the University of St. Thomas and has a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and chemistry from the University of South Dakota.

In this episode, we caught up with Sean Saint, the CEO of Companion Medical, which recently sold to Medtronic. Sean has more than 20 years of engineering experience in medical devices and various start-ups. Here are a few topics we covered in this interview:

This interview brings us to the end of a throwback mini-series that I’ve been releasing over the past few months with some of my favorite Medsider guests of all time.

On this particular episode, I chatted with Rich Ferrari, Managing Director of De Novo Ventures, and one of the most well-known VCs in the Medtech space. Here are some of the points we covered: