The Power of Quality Data

Key Learnings From Don's Experience

• In the startup world, there’s no room for inefficiency. Spreading your efforts too thin can be risky. Choose a focus—one that aligns with your company’s strengths—and direct your efforts there.

• Precise, clean data is the backbone of any data-driven technology. With high-quality data, everything else—whether solving a problem or training an algorithm—becomes much simpler. Keeping things in-house gives you the control you need to design trials carefully and ensure accuracy and reliability at every step. It also lets you connect directly with potential users, gathering valuable insights, building trust, and refining your technology based on real-world feedback.

• Transparency and mutual respect among team members are crucial for an efficient startup. Be open about goals, challenges, and successes, and show respect for everyone’s ideas and contributions. When hiring, prioritize flexibility and growth. Start by bringing in consultants or part-timers to assess their fit before committing to full-time roles.

Don Crawford is back on Medsider after 8 years, this time as President and CEO of CorVista Health, a subsidiary of the Toronto-based Analytics for Life, which has developed ML-driven, point-of-care diagnostic systems for coronary artery disease (CAD) and pulmonary hypertension (PH). In our previous interview, we spoke about Sapheon’s incredible journey that led to a $238 million exit to Covidien. 

After earning his chemical engineering degree from Georgia Tech, Don joined Medtronic as a clinical service rep. He spent the next twenty years working in sales, specifically focused on cardiac rhythm management and interventional cardiology. Over two decades, he navigated multiple mergers and held roles at major companies like Medtronic, Guidant, and Boston Scientific. Meanwhile, he pursued an MBA at Emory University. 

After leaving corporate life in 2006, Don started consulting. During that time, one of his physician clients had a venous-related idea, literally on a napkin, which would later become Sapheon. “And six years later, after clinical trials, FDA, PMA approval, we ultimately sold that idea to Medtronic,” Don shares. Today, Sapheon continues to thrive, having shipped over one million kits worldwide. 

Sapheon’s success stemmed from its lean and efficient approach to product development and its commitment to quality management systems. “From the time I joined CorVista, everything was implemented through a quality management system, almost as early as employee number two or three,” Don shares. 

CorVista’s technology offers non-invasive, radiation-free testing with results in under 15 minutes, streamlining diagnostics and expanding access to cardiac care, especially in underserved areas. The CorVista System, the world’s first point-of-care solution for evaluating the presence of significant CAD and PH, has achieved FDA clearance for both indications, and earning breakthrough designation status for the PH add-on, on the basis of its superior performance to the standard of care.