Scott Nelson Live

In this episode, we sat down with Greg Walters, co-founder & CEO of Excision Medical. Excision is developing a leaflet modification system to enable lifetime management of aortic stenosis.

Greg has almost 40 years of experience in cardiovascular devices, holding leadership roles at Kensey Nash Corporation where he led the development of Angio-Seal and several endovascular programs. He later co-founded Essential Medical, which was acquired by Teleflex in 2018, and is an inventor on more than 75 U.S. and European patents.

In this interview, Greg discusses why early-stage teams should build to learn rather than to impress, using functional prototypes to generate real feedback and fundraising momentum. He outlines how disciplined safety work — not perfection — defines first-in-human readiness, and what makes a pre-revenue company attractive to strategic acquirers.

In this episode, we sat down with Jaeson Bang, Founder & CEO of Future Cardia. Future Cardia is developing a subcutaneous heart-failure monitoring platform designed to capture both electrical and mechanical cardiac signals through a simple office-based procedure.

Jaeson brings more than two decades of experience building implantable cardiac technologies across Medtronic, CVRx, EBR Systems, and Abiomed. Drawing on that background, he questioned industry assumptions around miniaturization and invasive workflows — and built a device that prioritizes performance, durability, and clinical practicality instead.

In this interview, Jaeson shares how challenging a core constraint unlocked a faster development path, why deep domain expertise matters more than thrift in regulated markets, and how raising capital outside traditional VC can preserve leverage and buy time.

In this episode, we sat down Dr. Adam Kadlec, practicing urologist and co-founder of Rivermark Medical.

Rivermark is a clinical-stage company developing FloStent, a first-line, reversible device therapy for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

Before launching Rivermark, Adam built a thriving urological practice in Milwaukee and consulted for several device companies — experiences that ultimately revealed how early true device development begins and why physicians rarely get the chance to influence innovation upstream. Partnering with medtech operator Andy Doraiswamy, Adam transitioned from clinician to CEO and is now leading Rivermark through its pivotal trial.

In this interview, Adam shares why workflow integration is one of the most overlooked drivers of adoption, how physician-innovators can build the right decision-making infrastructure, and why understanding who actually enrolls patients at clinical sites can make or break a trial. He also touches on the mindset required to stay resilient through the ups and downs of building a medtech startup.

In this episode, we sat down with Andrew Holman, MD, CEO of Inmedix.

Inmedix is commercializing CloudHRV, an FDA-cleared diagnostic that quantifies biological stress with clinical precision to guide treatment decisions in autoimmune disease and beyond.

Andrew is a practicing rheumatologist in Seattle with 25 years of clinical and research experience. His discoveries linking autonomic dysfunction to autoimmune disease outcomes led to a $10 million patent sale to Boehringer Ingelheim. After a decade in retirement, he returned to found Inmedix and pioneer the field of immuno-autonomics — preparing the market for his technology years before launch.

In this interview, Andrew shares how to build a category before commercializing a product, why clinical evidence creates competitive moats that money can't replicate, and how to raise capital from angel investors by understanding what they actually care about.

In this episode, we sat down with Colby Holtshouse, President and CEO of May Health.

May Health is developing a minimally invasive ovarian ablation therapy designed to restore ovulation in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and PCOS-related infertility.

Before May Health, Colby served as Global Medtech Commercial Lead at Organon, overseeing the worldwide launch of the Jada System following Organon’s acquisition of Alydia Health, where she held roles including COO, Interim CEO, and VP of Marketing. She has also held leadership positions at Pelvalon, AccessClosure, Medtronic, and Guidant.

In this discussion, Colby shares why early clinical evidence should be built in focused layers rather than oversized, all-at-once trials. She explains how a small, deliberate early launch can reveal the workflow nuances and real-world expectations no study ever captures. And she outlines why founders should define the raise first — and how clarity, preparation, and a deep understanding of strategic partners can dramatically accelerate the fundraising process.

In this episode, we sat down with Kaitlin Maier, co-founder and CEO of Reia. Reia has developed a self-managed pessary — a collapsible device that empowers women to treat pelvic organ prolapse comfortably and independently.

A mechanical engineering graduate of Dartmouth, Kaitlin previously worked at Sherpa Technology Group, developing patent strategies for leading life science and technology firms. 

In this conversation, Kaitlin shares how she and her co-founders turned a student project into an FDA-cleared product using resource constraints as a design advantage. She explains how to turn FDA feedback into forward momentum, why running an NIH-funded randomized controlled trial (RCT) strengthened both credibility and confidence, and how non-dilutive funding can buy the time and control founders need to build on their own terms.

In this episode, we sat down with Somer Baburek, CEO and co-founder of Hera Biotech. Hera is developing AI-driven tissue diagnostics for conditions that disproportionately affect women, including endometriosis and cervical cancer.

Before launching Hera, Somer spent nearly a decade in venture capital, where she evaluated early-stage medtech startups and learned what separates the survivors from the rest.

In this conversation, Somer explains how Hera designed global clinical pathways that balance cost and credibility, why boutique CROs can outperform big names, and how a pre-commercial startup completed three strategic acquisitions using equity and brand trust rather than cash.

In this episode, we sat down with Tim Gleeson, CEO of BRIJ Medical, a company rethinking one of the oldest procedures in medicine — surgical wound closure.

BRIJ’s Brijjit Force Modulating Tissue Bridge is a small, non-invasive clip designed to redistribute tension across incisions, helping wounds heal with fewer complications and smaller scars.

An accomplished entrepreneur and investor, Tim also founded and led Novasyte Health through its acquisition by IQVIA and later launched VIDANT Capital. A former Medtronic executive, Tim brings global experience and a lifelong passion for building impactful medtech ventures.

In this interview, Tim shares why the biggest opportunities often hide in “boring” markets, how focusing on physician champions and patient psychology drives commercial traction, and why the best fundraisers plan for twice the time and four times the cost.

In this episode, we sat down with Kate Dilligan, CEO of Cooler Heads.

Cooler Heads is a commercial-stage company addressing a problem affecting many chemotherapy patients undergoing treatment for solid tumors: hair loss and the loss of privacy that comes with it. The company's FDA-cleared medical device, Amma, makes scalp cooling accessible by fitting into infusion center workflows rather than disrupting them.

Kate brings an unconventional background to medtech — from political fundraising to developing classified software for the U.S. government. As a solo female founder who had never worked in hardware, she started Cooler Heads in 2018 after her own experience with breast cancer. By mid-2025, the company had raised $11 million in Series A funding and placed devices across 27 states, with most accounts having never offered scalp cooling before.

In this interview, Kate shares how to design for health system adoption by solving workflow problems first, why saying “no” to scope creep protects your first-generation product, and how political fundraising tactics translate directly to building investor relationships in medtech.

In this episode, we sat down with Young Juhn, CEO of Wellysis.

Wellysis is the Samsung spinout behind S-Patch, a lightweight wearable that enables long-term ECG monitoring without the discomfort of established cardiac monitoring devices.

Young has spent more than two decades bridging hospital and home-based care — from his early career at Johnson & Johnson, to more than a decade at Kaiser Permanente, to leading healthcare innovation at Samsung before spinning out Wellysis in 2019.

In this interview, Young shares why patient interviews should shape product design, how regulatory clearance is just the starting point for global commercialization, and why building a medical foundation before branching into consumer markets is critical for lasting adoption.