Mastering MedTech

Melita Ball

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TECHNOLOGIE
ZWEIWÖCHENTLICH

Bringing a medtech device to market is complex—but it doesn’t have to be chaotic. On Mastering MedTech, regulatory strategist and MBCA Consulting founder Melita Ball helps founders navigate the path from concept to clearance. This podcast demystifies the regulatory maze, offers proven startup frameworks, and unpacks real stories from founders, engineers, and compliance experts.

1. JAN.

From Operational Chaos to Scalable Systems w. Graydon Hansen

Seventy-one percent turnover. Production excursions every 89 days. Low engagement across the board. Graydon Hansen walked into Abbott's largest medical device plant in China facing these challenges and turned it into a top performer over five and a half years. In this episode, Graydon shares the two pillars of operational turnaround: getting your hands into everything and changing the way your people think. You'll learn why leaders who stay off the shop floor miss critical insights, how converting from paper to electronic batch records transforms quality management, and why the biggest operational mistake startups make is not looking forward to where they want to be in five years. Graydon also breaks down the three A's of AI implementation (available, actionable, accurate data), why AI skepticism comes from limited understanding rather than real risk, and how to convince conservative quality teams that AI will help them work more effectively. If you think compliance and operational efficiency are competing priorities, this conversation will change your perspective entirely. Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction: From commercial fishing to running Abbott's China plant 03:00 - Why the troubled China plant attracted Graydon and what made it worth taking on 04:00 - Two pillars of operational turnaround: Hands-on leadership and changing mindsets 06:00 - The shop floor strategy: Why leaders must be visible every day 08:00 - Learning from Japan's discriminating consumer and fixing supplier quality 09:00 - Scaling operations: The five whys and asking why you can't add another shift 11:00 - What a 25-year-old startup looks like operationally (and why it's common) 13:00 - Converting paper systems to electronic while maintaining product quality 16:00 - Why compliance and operational success are the same thing, not competing priorities 18:00 - Three common misconceptions about AI in medtech 20:00 - The three A's: Available, actionable, accurate data for AI implementation 22:00 - Convincing conservative quality teams that AI helps them, not threatens them 26:00 - Handling marketplace skepticism about AI in medtech 29:00 - Why Google Drive is not the answer for quality management systems 32:00 - When startups should invest in digital systems (hint: from the very beginning) 34:00 - Rapid fire: Operational excellence advice, scaling resources, biggest mistakes Follow Melita and Graydon: Connect with Melita: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melitaball/ Website: https://www.mbcaconsulting.com/ Connect with Graydon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/graydonhansen/ Website: https://www.medtechoperationsstrategiesandsolutions.com/

37 Min.
04.12.2025

Quality Foundations for MedTech Success w. Veronica Kingston

Most medtech founders want to skip straight to building their product. Veronica Kingston has spent 30 years watching that approach lead to expensive recalls, failed regulatory submissions, and collapsed acquisition deals. As Senior Director of Quality Management Systems and Design Quality Assurance at Thermo Fisher Scientific, she's worked with startups, navigated mergers and acquisitions, and remediated global compliance disasters. In this episode, Veronica breaks down the biggest misconception about design controls (that you can retrofit them later), explains why the most expensive mistake startups make is ignoring the framework upfront, and reveals the three compliance issues that consistently require remediation. She shares practical advice on when to bring in quality and regulatory expertise, how to build teams that can navigate gray areas, and what to do when you're facing your first FDA 483. Timestamps: [00:00:00] Introduction to Veronica Kingston's 30-year quality career [00:03:10] The biggest differences between small and large company quality approaches [00:05:10] What design controls really are and why they matter [00:09:10] The biggest misconception: that you can retrofit design controls [00:11:00] Forgotten elements: supplier controls and design for manufacturability [00:13:05] Essential elements needed before you start building [00:14:55] What to say to founders who claim they're too busy for planning [00:16:15] The value of fractional quality leadership [00:17:50] Hiring experienced vs inexperienced talent: when and why [00:19:50] Key skills that make someone successful in startup quality roles [00:21:35] Building and developing quality teams [00:23:00] Crisis management: digging out of regulatory holes [00:25:00] The top three compliance issues requiring remediation [00:27:15] Advice for companies facing their first FDA 483 [00:30:10] How regulatory issues impact exit strategy and acquisition [00:31:10] Rapid fire: essential advice for medtech founders Follow Melita and Veronica: Connect with Melita: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melitaball Website: https://www.mbcaconsulting.com/about-us Connect with Veronica: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronica-kingston-377725b7/

35 Min.
20.11.2025

5 Legal Mistakes That Kill Startups w. Elizabeth Parsons

Starting a medtech company without legal guidance is like performing surgery without sterilizing your instruments. Elizabeth Parsons has seen brilliant innovations die not from failed technology, but from preventable legal mistakes that founders never saw coming. As principal of Elizabeth Parsons, PLLC and an NBCA Board member, she's watched founders give away equity to fraudsters, lose their IP to co-founder disputes, face personal liability from pierced corporate veils, and spend hundreds of thousands fixing what could have been prevented with minimal investment upfront. In this episode, Elizabeth walks through five critical legal areas where early-stage founders consistently stumble: founder agreements, entity governance, IP ownership, fundraising compliance, and trademark protection. She shares real stories of costly mistakes, explains why legal help is not a luxury but a necessity, and reveals exactly when founders should bring attorneys into the conversation (hint: it's earlier than you think). Timestamps: [00:00:00] Introduction to Elizabeth Parsons and her journey from Wall Street to startups [00:02:35] Why Elizabeth is passionate about medtech founders [00:04:05] The biggest misconception: legal help as a luxury [00:06:15] Overview of the five legal mistakes that can kill a business [00:10:10] Landmine #1: Failing to document founder agreements [00:13:45] The 30% equity fraud story [00:15:50] Landmine #2: Not understanding entity governance and piercing the corporate veil [00:19:15] Real story of a founder who mixed personal and business expenses [00:22:00] Landmine #3: Unclear IP ownership and assignment [00:25:35] Landmine #4: Fundraising without understanding securities laws [00:30:00] The dangers of crowdfunding for medtech companies [00:32:10] Landmine #5: Neglecting trademark protection [00:36:00] Warning signs that indicate you need legal help [00:39:10] The reality of being a founder who can't do everything [00:40:25] When and how to approach legal decisions [00:43:50] Rapid fire: essential legal advice for founders [00:47:10] Where to find Elizabeth and her practice Follow Melita and Elizabeth: Connect with Melita: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melitaball Website: https://www.mbcaconsulting.com/about-us Connect with Elizabeth: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/elizabeth-parsons-pllc/ Website: https://parsonsadvisory.com/

48 Min.
23.10.2025

Human vs. AI: How to Balance Clinical Trials w. Olivia Longacre

AI is transforming clinical research faster than regulations can keep up. Olivia Longacre has spent over a decade on the front lines of global clinical trials, and she's watching MedTech companies make a critical mistake: treating AI as a replacement for human intelligence rather than a tool that requires constant oversight. With over 20,000 startups now working on software as medical devices, the stakes have never been higher. In this episode, Olivia breaks down the most promising AI applications in clinical research, from patient recruitment to centralized monitoring, and reveals the dangerous pitfalls that founders must avoid. She shares real stories of AI hallucinations that made it to publication, explains the crucial difference between data access and data rights, and discusses why the intersection of technology and regulatory expertise isn't quite there yet. Timestamps: [00:00:00] Introduction to Olivia Longacre and AI's impact on clinical research [00:01:00] How AI is outpacing governance and regulatory frameworks [00:02:25] The shift from onsite to centralized monitoring [00:03:50] What centralized monitoring means for speed and cost [00:05:30] The most promising AI applications for small companies [00:07:40] Where companies get overly excited about AI [00:08:35] The danger of "set it and forget it" thinking [00:09:25] Real story of AI creating a non-existent medical term [00:12:15] Why human intelligence plus AI is critical [00:14:55] Building teams that blend technical and clinical expertise [00:18:15] What founders should ask when evaluating AI tools [00:19:10] Data privacy and the difference between access and rights [00:22:40] The gray area of laboratory samples and patient consent [00:26:20] Looking ahead: the future of clinical research [00:30:00] Skills clinical research professionals need to stay relevant [00:31:00] Rapid fire questions Follow Melita and Olivia: Connect with Melita: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melitaball Website: https://www.mbcaconsulting.com/about-us Connect with Olivia: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-longacre/

34 Min.
09.10.2025

Quality Mindset From Day One w. Rick Holecek

Rick Holecek walked into a quality nightmare: 27 open CAPAs from a botched audit report, a semi-paper-based system struggling to keep up with growth, and a small team stretched impossibly thin. As VP of Quality at Irrimax, a wound irrigation company that's grown from 30 to 76 employees in six years, Rick had to make fast decisions that would either save or sink the company's regulatory standing. In this episode, Rick shares the intense triage process that separated legitimate findings from recommendations disguised as audit failures, the lightning-fast implementation of a full electronic quality management system in just weeks, and the leadership philosophy that tears down walls between engineering and quality. Plus, Rick offers his vision for AI-powered predictive quality systems and why the old "quality as police" model is dead. Timestamps: [00:00] Welcome and introduction to Irrimax [02:10] Current regulatory priorities and QMSR migration [03:00] The 27 CAPA crisis: what went wrong [05:30] Triaging and closing unnecessary CAPAs [06:30] Pivoting from paper to electronic QMS in weeks [08:00] Exploring AI-powered quality management systems [12:00] The magic wand: predictive AI for quality [13:20] Breaking down walls between engineering and quality [15:00] Building a quality culture from day one [17:00] A collaboration story that changed everything [20:00] Rapid fire: challenges, resources, and superpowers [23:40] What MedTech teams should stop doing today Follow Melita and Rick: Connect with Melita: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-holecek-04b51b12/ Website: https://www.mbcaconsulting.com/about-us Connect with Rick: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-holecek-04b51b12/ Website: https://www.irrisept.com/about/

25 Min.
25.09.2025

Building a MedTech Startup from the Ground Up

In this episode of Mastering MedTech, host Melita Ball sits down with Marie Wesselhoft, President and Co-founder of ZelosDx, to discuss what it really takes to build and scale a medtech startup on the bleeding edge of innovation. With more than 35 years in healthcare innovation and diagnostics, Marie shares hard-won lessons on navigating pivots, understanding the true value of strategic partnerships, and staying laser-focused on the patient. You’ll hear how she turned a regulatory setback into a new product pathway, what she learned from launching her first product to Harvard, and why "fast, focused, and flexible" has become her mantra. 00:00 Introduction to Long-Term Partnerships 00:34 Welcome to Mastering Med Tech 00:55 Guest Introduction: Marie Russell Hoft 01:32 Marie’s Journey in Healthcare Innovation 02:44 Founding ZelosDX and the Quest for Brain Biomarkers 04:45 The Role of Incubators and Ecosystems 13:41 Challenges and Changes in the Startup Landscape 17:01 The Importance of Pivoting in Entrepreneurship 23:08 The Essence of Long-Term Consulting Partnerships 26:08 Evaluating and Choosing the Right Partners 27:30 The Importance of Early and Extensive Partnerships 29:02 Transitioning from Client to Board Member 30:47 Advice for Founders on Managing Partnerships 32:20 Balancing Vision and Control in Partnerships 35:02 Supporting Entrepreneurs through Ecosystems 37:29 Common Mistakes in Early-Stage Life Sciences Companies 39:18 Regulatory Strategy from Day One 43:26 Excitement for the Next Generation of Healthcare Innovators 47:12 Rapid Fire Questions and Final Takeaways Follow Melita and Marie: Connect with Melita: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melitaball/ Website: https://www.mbcaconsulting.com/ Connect with Marie: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marie-wesselhoft-9926731/ Website: https://zelosdx.com/

48 Min.
STAFFEL 1 – TRAILER

Mastering MedTech - Trailer

Bringing a medtech device to market is complex—but it doesn’t have to be chaotic. On Mastering MedTech, regulatory strategist and MBCA Consulting founder Melita Ball helps founders navigate the path from concept to clearance. This podcast demystifies the regulatory maze, offers proven startup frameworks, and unpacks real stories from founders, engineers, and compliance experts. Whether you’re building SaMD, diagnostics, or physical devices, each episode gives you the tools and clarity to avoid costly mistakes, meet compliance, and scale faster. If you’re ready to bring a breakthrough product to market smarter, faster, and fully compliant—this is your compass.

1 Min.

TRAILER

Mastering MedTech - Trailer

Bringing a medtech device to market is complex—but it doesn’t have to be chaotic. On Mastering MedTech, regulatory strategist and MBCA Consulting founder Melita Ball helps founders navigate the path from concept to clearance. This podcast demystifies the regulatory maze, offers proven startup frameworks, and unpacks real stories from founders, engineers, and compliance experts. Whether you’re building SaMD, diagnostics, or physical devices, each episode gives you the tools and clarity to avoid costly mistakes, meet compliance, and scale faster. If you’re ready to bring a breakthrough product to market smarter, faster, and fully compliant—this is your compass.

S1

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1 Min.

Bringing a medtech device to market is complex—but it doesn’t have to be chaotic. On Mastering MedTech, regulatory strategist and MBCA Consulting founder Melita Ball helps founders navigate the path from concept to clearance. This podcast demystifies the regulatory maze, offers proven startup frameworks, and unpacks real stories from founders, engineers, and compliance experts.

Erstellt von

Melita Ball
Jahre aktiv

2025 - 2026
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7
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© Melita Ball
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Mastering MedTech