The Med Device Cyber Podcast

Why Most Medtech Companies Fail at Global Expansion (And How to Fix It)


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Thinking about taking your medical device to China? Or maybe you're a Chinese company looking at the US market?

William Jin has spent over 30 years helping companies do exactly that, and he'll tell you straight up that most of them aren't ready. Not because they lack good products, but because they didn't think about cybersecurity early enough.

William was trained as a medical doctor in Shanghai, then moved into the medtech industry working for companies like McCulloch and Stryker. Now he helps businesses on both sides of the Pacific figure out how to actually get their products approved and sold in each other's markets. The problems he sees are surprisingly similar whether you're going East or West.

In this conversation, William walks through the real barriers to global expansion. We're talking about practical stuff like why using Google Cloud can completely block you from the Chinese market, how data sovereignty laws affect AI-powered devices, and why that Baxter ventilator recall should matter to everyone building connected medical devices.

If you're in medtech and thinking about international markets, this is the reality check you need. William's advice is simple but critical: plan for your target markets before you start building. Otherwise, you'll spend millions redesigning later, or worse, you'll realize you can't enter those markets at all.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 The costly mistake of not planning for global markets early

00:44 Meet William Jin: Medical doctor turned medtech market strategist

03:15 What's really stopping Chinese companies from entering Western markets

07:20 Why Chinese medtech exports to the US dropped while Europe increased

11:40 The Google Cloud problem nobody warns you about

15:50 How China's data regulations affect your algorithms and cloud architecture

19:30 Reverse engineering your markets: Start with the end in mind

23:00 Where Chinese companies dominate and where they struggle internationally

26:45 The Baxter recall that was really about cybersecurity

28:50 Why cybersecurity product recalls are fundamentally different

29:20 William's final advice for medtech innovators

29:40 Wrapping up: Design to disposal, not as an afterthought

The Med Device Cyber Podcast is brought to you by Blue Goat Cyber, cybersecurity experts providing essential security solutions for the medical device industry. Learn more by visiting https://bluegoatcyber.com

If you're interested in our services or partnering with us, schedule a Discovery Session: https://meetings.hubspot.com/blue-goat-cyber/discovery-session

Christian Espinosa is the CEO and founder of Blue Goat Cyber. Trevor Slattery is the Chief Operating Officer of MedTech Cybersecurity at Blue Goat Cyber.

Christian Espinosa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianespinosa/

Blue Goat Cyber on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blue-goat-cyber/

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The Med Device Cyber PodcastBy Blue Goat Cyber