Interviews

Brian Fahey, CEO of Adona Medical, is leading the development of the Adona Interatrial Shunt, a smart implant designed to manage heart failure. This adjustable shunt, integrated with bi-atrial pressure monitoring, helps regulate blood flow between the heart's upper chambers and enables remote monitoring of patients. In this interview, Brian talks about the importance of identifying and mitigating medtech’s three major risk factors, how to assess ideas strategically, and how to approach investors and potential M&A transactions.

Konrad Morzkowski is the co-founder and CEO of WearLinq and a member of Forbes’ 30 under 30 list. His company developed an FDA-cleared EKG monitor, eWave, which provides continuous cardiac monitoring for weeks at a time. WearLinq also connects patients to virtual cardiologists offering diagnoses and referrals, making it particularly valuable for patients in rural or underserved areas. In this interview, Konrad shares how he optimizes fundraising efforts by aligning them with important milestones, his unconventional methods to gather voice of customer research, and how his startup moved rapidly through product design iterations.

Under Bryan Lord’s leadership, Pristine Surgical has developed Summit, a fully integrated single-use, digital arthroscope with 4K resolution. In this interview, Bryan shares the story of how he evolved his career to become a medtech entrepreneur and the lessons he learned along the way—about how to protect your competitive advantage, how to achieve market pull vs. market push, and the importance of collaborating with experienced mentors.

Amarpreet Sawhney has developed advanced biosurgery technologies, leading to several FDA-approved products, including surgical sealants, spacers, and drug delivery systems. Today, he is the CEO of a few companies, including Instylla, which is developing polymerizing liquid embolics. These embolics can be used to shut down the blood supply to hypervascular tumors and control bleeding by occluding damaged or problematic blood vessels. In this episode, Amar shares his frameworks on risk assessment for medtech startups, tips on clinical study design, and how to prioritize indications when working on platform technologies.

Under the leadership of Reinhard Krickl, Phagenesis is commercializing a neurostimulation system designed to treat dysphagia, a condition that impairs a patient's ability to swallow and prevents complications like malnutrition and aspiration pneumonia. In this interview, Reinhard shares insights on the importance of simplicity in design, what thorough market understanding truly means, and how he engages with stakeholders effectively. He also reveals the “market access checklist” he uses before entering the commercialization stage.

Sumit Nagpal is a digital health veteran who was inspired by Steve Jobs himself to become an entrepreneur. He’s now founder and CEO of Cherish Health, a company that develops intelligent radar-based sensor platforms to support proactive self-care for the elderly, frail, and those with chronic conditions. In this interview, Sumit shares his take on the importance of being stage-appropriate—both mentally and business-wise—and how to recognize patterns in the market by simply listening. Oh - and constantly learn from others because, as Steve Jobs paraphrasing Picasso put it, “great artists steal.”